132 CARMICHAEL STREET — WEEKENDS
From 28A
be homemade ice cream, where the debate preceding the making involved choosing between coconut and soursop ice cream. The latter usually won. I had to buy ice from the Ice House to be used in the hand operated churn. This was the one job willingly undertaken.
“Tea” was lighter than the morning meal. It was served with either bread or biscuits along with butter and cheese. Another funny story is that in the US the first time I ordered biscuits I was surprised to see what looked like what I knew as a bake. I should have asked for crackers, a name obviously derived from the sound they make.
The day’s events sometimes ended with games, described in detail in a previous article. Girls skipped and boys played “bat an’ ball” cricket which was fun. The bat was homemade and the tennis ball came from those who were ball boys at the Bishop High School tennis courts. Balls were sometimes “lost” in hibiscus hedges bordering the courts. The ball was delivered underhand and produced a satisfying sound when hit squarely. If we could see from its trajectory that it was heading into an open window, players disappeared like the wind. If, as it sometimes happened, an adult played with us he would “beg” pardon which would allow us to continue. The end of the day was signalled by calls from Mothers, “Go wash your face and hands”. I could never understand why “face “and not “foot” when it was the latter that accumulated dust. Adults could be funny people sometimes..
CONCLUSION.
I would like to present a list of dishes prepared by my Mother over a period of time which reflects the variety found in most working class homes which were not at the bottom of the poverty line. Bread, Bakes, Konkee - cornmeal, grated coconut and pumpkin boiled in banana leaf, Quinchiss- grated coconut baked between cassava flour kept in shape in metal hoop between three to four inches in diameter on a tawa, Black cake, Sponge cake at Christmas, Metagee, Dry food -same as before without being boiled in coconut “milk”, Cook- up rice,
Soups -beans and peas, crab and callaloo, macaroni and Vermicelli (“vamazelli” ), Fried fish -the popular banga mary, red snapper, Different curries and stews, Salt fish cakes, Shrimp cakes, Swank (limeade), Pine drink, Ginger beer and Sorrel drink..
It must be clearly stated that the meals for any day depended on the finances available. Really joyous times could be few and far apart during the course of weeks and months. On occasion, thankfully few in number, “tea” could be plain bread or biscuits and “brekfuss” a plate of plain rice with a pat of cooking butter. Having recognised the signs, did not complain and hoped, prayed for better moments.