Jamaica GLEANER; Cush-Cush (1833); Trinidad, Tobago Cuisine (1993)

Tue Sep 2 05:57:33 UTC 2003

OT:  CARIBBEAN TRIPS

   I haven't done the Caribbean because the cruises are usually for older 
couples.  Also, there are plenty of Caribbean restaurants here in New York. I'm 
reading Norman Van Aken's NEW WORLD KITCHEN: LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN 
CUISINE (2003), with a preface by Anthony Bourdain.  The cuisine is fast becoming 
"American food."
   I'll be in Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname for ten days in November 
(the total is 90 countries now), and I'm looking for the Dominican Republic for 
Christmas/New Year's.
   Now, to research the cuisine...

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JAMAICA GLEANER

   Here is the press release I previously wrote about:

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/news/display_news.aspx?ContentID=54
News:   
3/11/2003 12:00:00 AM   
NewspaperArchive.com to Put Entire History of the Jamaica Gleaner Online    
NewspaperArchive.com, the world’s first, largest and busiest website of 
fully-searchable historic newspapers, is proud to announce its latest contract with 
the Jamaica Gleaner.

The Gleaner, which boasts a Sunday circulation of 100,000, is the paper of 
record for the entire Caribbean region. Established in 1834, it has maintained a 
standard of journalistic excellence and in-depth reporting that set it among 
the flagship papers of the world. The Jamaica Gleaner is published seven days 
a week. Its headquarters are in Kingston, Jamaica with offices in London and 
Toronto.

   I'm counting on the GLEANER for Caribbean cuisine (Cuba, Puerto Rico) as 
well as Jamaican.     I'll give it some time before checking it.  Here's what's 
available so far:

1902, 1938, 1944, 1951, 1961, 1971, 1980, 1990, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000

   Only two years from 1834-1943...If anyone has a query, send it to me.

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CUSH-CUSH

DOMESTIC MANNERS AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE WHITE, COLOURED, AND NEGRO 
POPULATION OF THE WEST INDIES
by Mrs. Carmichael
in two volumes
London: Whittaker, Treacher, and Co.
1833
New York: Negro Universities Press
1969

   OED has only one citation from this book ("tum-tum").  This book antedates 
"cush-cush," which OED has from 1871.  Volume One, Chapter VII, pp. 161+ 
discusses "Negro food."
   There's a nice mention of "tomata soup" that was missed by Andrew F. 
Smith's SOUPER TOMATOES (2000).

VOLUME ONE
Pg. 163:  The cush-cush yam is the smallest and most delicate.  They are a 
very farinaceous vegetable.  The tania is a root something of the size of a 
potatoe,...

Pg. 166:  The tomata comes to great perfection, (Pg. 164--ed.) and the 
negroes use a great deal of it in soup--they are worth about 2_d_. sterling per 
dozen.

Pg. 167:  The pigeon pea is an uncommonly nice vegetable; its cultivation is 
easy, and every estate is full of pigeon-pea bushes.

Pg. 167:  Calialou may be called the spinage of the West Indies; and is a 
favourite vegetable with white, coloured, and black.  From 1_d_. to 2_d_. will 
buy as much of it as is necessary for soup for four or five persons.  
Christophine is more properly a fruit, as it grows upon a vine; it is planted about 
November, by means of burying the bean, which is found inside the fruit.

Pg. 170:  The negroes are very found of the alligator pear, and generally cal
l it the zabaca pear.

Pg. 171:  There are several sorts of plum trees--the Jamaica, the hog plum, 
and varieties of the Java plum.

Pg. 179:  These streams abound in mullet, cary fish--resembling a small 
lobster, eels and mud fish.

Pg. 181:  The mess consists of green plantains, eddoes or yam, made into 
soup, with an abundance of creole peas or beans, or the eddoe leaf, the calialou, 
or perhaps a plant which grows indigenous, and particularly among the canes; 
it is known by the name weedy-weedy; I never could learn that there was any 
other appellation for it; it also nearly resembles spinach.

Pg. 182:  I never met with an European who did not relish all the different 
creole soups, or, as they are often called, "negro pot."

Pg. 183:  ...they often have tum-tum...

Pg. 184:  The dish is well known in the West Indies by the name of souse, and 
is a favourite with all.

Pg. 192:  At Christmas, Irish mess, beef, flour, or rice, sugar and rum are 
served out.

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TRINIDAD, TOBAGO CUISINE

CALLALOO, CALYPSO & CARNIVAL:
THE CUISINES OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
by Dave DeWitt and Mary Jane Wilan
Freedom, Ca: The Crossing Press
1993

Pg. 31:  Shadow Bennie Sauce
Pg. 37:  Mango Kucheela
Pg. 53:  Cowheel Soup
Pg. 70:  Shark-and-Bake
   This specialty, as served from roadside stands at Maracas Bay, is a kind 
of T&T version of fish-and-chips.
Pg. 73:  Buljol
   The name of this salad of shredded salted fish comes from the French 
_brule_, meaning burnt, and _geule_, slang for mouth.  Since the dish is served at 
room temperature, the burning is obviously the result of the Congo pepper.
Pg. 73:  Fried Flying Fish
   This dish is a specialty of Tobago, where it is commonly served at 
restaurants and at the hotels along the Courland Bay.
Pg. 76:  Aeeras
   These fritters, of West African origin, are popular throughout the West 
Indies and are called stamp-and-go in Jamaica.  In Africa they were usually made 
with black-eyed pea flour, but these days wheat flour is used.
Pg. 82:  Buss-Up-Shut and Roti Bread
   When any of the griddle breads are ripped apart for dipping into curries, 
they are called buss-up-shut, vernacular for "burst-up-shirt," because they 
resemble torn cloth.  When left whole, the breads are stuffed with curried meat, 
seafood, or vegetables and rolled up in the manner of a burrito.
Pg. 86:  Sahina
Pg. 92:  Toolum
Pg. 95:  Sewain

Pg. 104  GLOSSARY
Accra
Agouti
Allspice
Aloo
Amchar
Anchaar
Bacalao
Bake.  Native bread that is either fried or baked.
Balangen
Beigun
Bellyfull.  Any filling food.  Also, a type of dessert.
Black pudding
Bodi
Boucanee
Breadfruit
Buljol
Bun-bun.  Burned layer on bottom of _pelau_ pan.
Bush.  Anything green and leafy.
Bush meat
Buss-up-shut
Callaloo
Cascadura
Cassareep
Cassava
Chadon bene.  See Shadow Bennie.
Channa.  Chick-peas or garbanzo beans.
Chip-chip
Christophene
Chutney
Congo
Coo-coo.  Okra and cornmeal "bread."
Cush-cush.  Yam.
Dasheen
Dhal
Doubles.  Curried _channa_ served between two pieces of fried bread.
Figs.  Small bananas.
Floats.  Fried yeast bread.
Funity.  Bundle of soup ingredients, such as turnips, carrots, celery, and 
thyme.
Ground provisions
Hops bread.  Baked yeast bread.
Jeera
Jelly nut
Jumbie.  Zombie.
Pg. 105:
Kurma
Lambie.  COnch.
Lappe.  Rabbit.
Makaforshet.  Leftovers.
Manicou.  Opossum.
Masala
Mauby
Melongene.  Eggplant.
Ochro.  Okra.
Oil-down.
Pachro.  Sea urchin.
Pan.  Steel drum.
Passion fruit
Pawpaw.  Papaya.
Pelau
Phulouri.  Fried split-pea appetizer.
Pigeon pea
Piri piri.  Hot and spicy Portuguese pepper oil.
Plantain
Poncha crema.  Trinidadian eggnog.
Pumpkin
Quenk.  WIld pig; peccary.
Roocoo.  Achiote; annatto seeds.
Roti
Saheena.  Fritter made with ground _channa_ and _dasheen_ leaves.  Also 
spelled _sahina_.
Salt cod
Sancoche.  A filling T&T stew.
Sea moss
Sewain.  Vermicelli dessert popular at Muslim festivals.  Also spelled 
_sawine_.
Shaddock
Shadow Bennie.  Nickname for _chadon bene_, an aromatic her (_Eryngium 
foetidum_) used in sauces and stews.  The Spanish name is _culantro_; the Hindi name 
is _bandhania_.
Sorrel
Souse.  Popular Sunday breakfast dish made from pickled pork.
Talkaree.  Vegetables cooked down as an accompaniment to rice or roti.  Also 
spelled _talkari_.
Tamarind
Tannia
Taro
Tatoo.  Armadillo.
Tawa.  Large, flat griddle for cooking _roti_ breads.
Taza sale.  Salted kingfish.
Toolum.  Sticky candy made from molasses and grated coconut.  Also spelled 
_tulum_.
Tum-tum.  Mashed green plantain.
Yam