Local Christmas fruits

Paulette Chesney

Although it is not December yet, we have to think ahead of time if certain foods are going to be ready for the Christmas season. Following are recipes using our local fruits for one of our most popular drinks, cakes and a chutney which makes a delicious accompaniment to turkey or ham.

Sorrel, the Christmas fruit

The countries of the Caribbean have a particularly specific and rich cuisine associated with the Christmas season. This generally consists of foods, including baked items, home-made drinks and wines. Some common ingredients are locally grown fruits and vegetables. A fruit which is consumed throughout these countries and the Latin countries with a Caribbean influence is sorrel, used in various forms. In Latin countries it is called Flores de Jamaica.

Sorrel is most commonly used to make a drink, popular for its specific taste and its pretty colour. Here are a few ideas to spice up your Christmas kitchen this season:

Sorrel Liqueur

This is a very sweet alcoholic beverage which can be enjoyed in many ways; served as a regular liqueur, or over ice, poured over ice cream or other desserts, or as an ingredient for the creation of exotic cocktails.

Ingredients:

-1 lb sorrel (2 ½ lbs, seeds removed, should give 1 lb)

-8 cups of water

-4 cups white sugar (of course brown sugar can be used, but the white sugar keeps it pretty)

-1 teaspoon bitters

-1 750 ml bottle of white rum

Method:

Rinse the sorrel well. Place in a pot with the water and cook until the petals are softened, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine strainer. Do not discard the petals.

Put the liquid back in the pot and add sugar. Over medium heat stir to dissolve the sugar, and bring to a boil and cook until the liquid becomes a thin syrup. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

Mix together the sorrel, rum and bitters, stirring well. Put into sterilised bottles, cover tightly and store in a dark place for 21 days. Enjoy as you wish.

Sorrel Chutney

Ingredients:

-1 lb boiled sorrel petals (Use the sorrel petals which you have saved from making the sorrel liqueur)

-½ cup orange juice

-½ cup sugar

-1 teaspoon amchar masala

-Pinch of ground clove

-¾ teaspoon fine table salt

-Minced hot pepper to taste

Method:

Cook all the ingredients over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 20-25 minutes.

Remove from the heat and cool completely.

Transfer to a food processor or blender and purée.

Allow to cool completely. Fill sterilised jars with the chutney and cover tightly.

Keep outside the refrigerator for two days to allow the flavours to meld, and then refrigerate.

How about a truly local fruit cake? The Caribbean fruit cake, or black cake, has traditionally been made using imported fruit – prunes, raisins, currants. How about trying a truly local fruit cake? Utilising fruit grown in the Caribbean I guarantee the result will be equally delicious or even more delicious.

For this process two fruits readily lend themselves to this process. One is the carambola, or five-finger, and the other is the bilimbi or sourie, or conduccio or “one finger”, probably not so common but is available in TT.

Local Fruit Cake

Five pounds of fruit, washed and cut into pieces, not too thin. Drain well and place in a clean large bowl.

Pour one pound of sugar over the fruit, cover and soak for three days. At the end of this time, pour off liquid into a container. To this liquid add some spice, eg, mace and cinnamon, water and sugar to taste. This will produce a delicious drink.

Weigh fruit again. It would have reduced in weight, probably to about three pounds. Place fruit into a sturdy pot, adding one pound of sugar to every pound of fruit. Add a stick or two of cinnamon, or half a teaspoon clove. Place on a slow fire and cook until the fruit comes to a sticky mixture.

Remove from the stove and cool completely. At this stage the fruit can be further dried by placing on a flat pan and placed in the oven on a warm setting, or dried in the sun, or by using a solar heater. It should be dried until the fruit can be handled individually. The dried fruit can then be ground or puréed, and placed in a jar to soak with rum, in preparation for the baking of the cake.

The drying stage can be omitted. In this case, the fruit, after it is removed from the pot, can be placed into a food processor or blender and puréed. Place fruit into a jar and add rum to soak.

Bake your fruit cake as per your recipe, and enjoy.

For further information contact the Eastern Horticultural Club at 357-5033, 764-9125 or 720-2698 or easternhorticulturalclub@hotmail.com. The club meets on the first Saturday of every month (except public holidays) at Moreton Hall, Aramalaya Presbyterian Church, Cochrane Street, Tunapuna.