Vanessa Bolosier
Food writer Vanessa Bolosier shares her sun-drenched recipes from the French Caribbean
Cookbook author Vanessa shares French Caribbean recipes from her homeland, including Creole pork ragoût (page 94).
Dressed crab (crabe farci)
This is an essential element in any assiette Créole (Creole platter).
SERVES 4 PREP 10 mins
COOK 20 mins EASY
3 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
70g day-old baguette (about
a quarter of a baguette)
3 garlic cloves
2 spring onions
1 onion
2 parsley sprigs
1 thyme sprig, leaves picked
½ red habanero or scotch bonnet
chilli, deseeded
4 tbsp butter
175g white crabmeat (or use a mix
of white and brown)
1 lime, juiced
3 tbsp fresh or dried breadcrumbs
1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Tip the milk into a shallow dish, add the baguette and leave to soak for 10 mins, turning so all the milk is absorbed.
2 Peel the garlic cloves and blitz in a food processor with the spring onions, onion, parsley, thyme and chilli until very finely chopped.
3 Melt half the butter in a frying pan and cook the garlic and onion mixture for 1 min. Add the crabmeat and lime juice, and cook for 2 mins more, then remove from the heat.
4 Squeeze the excess milk from the baguette, then tip the bread into the food processor and blitz to a purée. Combine with the crab mixture, then set the pan over a medium heat and cook for 3-4 mins, stirring often so it doesn’t catch. Season and remove from the heat.
5 Spoon the mixture into small ramekins (or cleaned crab shells, if you have them) and sprinkle over the breadcrumbs. Bake for 10 mins, then serve immediately.
PER SERVING 276 kcals • fat 15g • saturates 8g •
carbs 22g • sugars 4g • fibre 2g • protein 13g •
salt 0.9g Banana & rum fritters (beignets bananes)
Carnival always means sweet fritters. These treats are served every Sunday from January through to Ash Wednesday. You could also add some coconut, if you like (see tip).
MAKES 20-30 fritters PREP 15 mins COOK 20 mins EASY V
4 ripe bananas, peeled
60g golden granulated sugar 2 eggs
125g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways 1 lime, zested pinch of ground cinnamon pinch of nutmeg
1 tbsp white rum
1 litre sunflower oil
1 tbsp icing sugar 1 Mash the bananas in a bowl with a fork, then whisk in the sugar and eggs, followed by the flour and baking powder. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod using a small knife and add this to the mixture, then stir in the lime zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and rum.
2 Heat the oil in a deep pan over a medium heat to 180C, or until a cube of bread dropped in browns in 30-40 seconds. Make sure the oil doesn’t get too hot or start to smoke. Gently drop tablespoonfuls of the batter into the oil and cook for about 2 mins on each side, turning until dark golden all over.
3 Scoop the fritters out of the oil using a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Immediately dust with icing sugar and serve hot.
PER SERVING (30) 70 kcals • fat 3g • saturates 1g •
carbs 8g • sugars 5g • fibre 0.4g • protein 1g •
salt 0.1g
Creole pork ragoût (ragout de cochon)
This is the cornerstone of a Creole Christmas dinner. This is why the pig was fed every day through the year on breadfruit, bananas and guavas –so its meat would be juicy and flavoursome. I serve this with stewed pigeon peas and yams, but it’s great with rice, too.
SERVES 4 PREP 10 mins plus overnight marinating COOK 2 hrs 15 mins EASY
700g pork shoulder, cut into chunks 2 limes, juiced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
2 spring onions, chopped, plus
extra to serve
2 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 clove
1 scotch bonnet chilli chopped parsley, to
serve (optional) rice, to serve (optional)
1 Tip the pork into a large bowl with half the lime juice, half the garlic and half the allspice. Season. Stir to coat, then leave to marinate in the fridge overnight. 2 The next day, remove the pork from the marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over a medium-high heat and cook the pork until browned. Add the onions, spring onions, remaining allspice and some seasoning, and continue to cook, stirring until the onions have slightly browned.
3 Add the remaining lime juice and garlic, the thyme, bay, clove, chilli and 125ml water. Cover and cook over a low heat for 2 hrs until the meat is very tender. Scatter with extra spring onions and the parsley, if using. Serve with rice, if you like.
GOOD TO KNOW healthy • gluten free
PER SERVING 290 kcals • fat 13g • saturates 3g •
carbs 6g • sugars 4g • fibre 2g • protein 35g • salt 0.1g
In the Caribbean, a bavaroise has come to mean a milky (and often alcoholic) fruit drink – quite different from the creamy, fruity French dessert, bavarois, that’s set with gelatine. The most popular bavaroises are soursop, papaya and guava.
SERVES 4 PREP 10 mins NO COOK EASY
V
2 large ripe papayas, peeled, halved
and seeds scooped out 600ml coconut milk
400ml white rhum agricole (see tip) pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract ice cubes, to serve
1 Tip the papaya flesh into a blender and blitz with the coconut milk. Sieve into a large bowl. Add the rum, cinnamon and vanilla, and stir.
2 Transfer the mixture to a cocktail shaker and shake well, or pour into a large jug and whisk vigorously. Pour into glasses over ice cubes and drink immediately, before the papaya starts to separate from the coconut milk.
GOOD TO KNOW vegan • gluten free
PER SERVING 570 kcals • fat 26g • saturates 22g • carbs 21g • sugars 17g • fibre 4g • protein 3g • salt 0.04g