When you have six months to kill waiting for hurricane season to end, you begin to get creative with how you spend your time. Working on the boat, watching the America's Cup at Clarks Court Marina, Trivia Night at Prickly Bay, drinks at De Big Fish, noodeling around the boat; it can be tough spending time in Paradise.
Each morning on VHF Channel 66 the Grenada Cruisers Net opens with any safety issues (stolen dinghies), reports the weather, asks if anyone has any parts or services they need, sells things on Treasures of the Bilge, announces shopping buses into town, and finally, allows the local shops to promote their specials.
One announcement that intrigued us was cooking lessons at True Blue Bay Resort. Since it was only a short walk down the peninsula from where we anchored at Prickly Bay, we decided to give it a go. The resort, located on (where else) True Blue Bay, is a funky but high quality resort with a very well regarded restaurant. Since it's close to St. Georges University, lots of med school students show up for the resort's famous Mexican night on Fridays and the Sunday BBQ.
On Thursdays at 3:00 pm the resort offers the best deal on the island, cooking lessons (and you get to eat what you make) for US $4.40. You sit out on the large veranda with hopefully a cooling breeze blowing through and watch as the kitchen staff begins to bring out the gas cooker, plates, utensils, and a finally lots of little bowls with the ingredients for the day's dish. The trick is they don't ever announce what they are going to cook ahead of time. Sometimes I think they don't even know.
Next a rather ample Grenadian woman named Omega makes her way to the cooking table and begins a little small talk with a table of cruisers who are regulars at this event. She then may begin to set the stage for some dispute or misunderstanding between her and the other chef, Esther.
Hearing this, Esther emerges from the kitchen and like Abbott and Costello, off they go. Today Omega commented that Esther hadn't been able to get all the ingredients for their planned dish, fish lasagna. Omega says "Well, if it were my responsibility I would have gotten up early this morning and gone to the shops myself to get the ingredients . . ." which triggers Ester to chime in with all the reasons she couldn't get up early and on and on. While it looks acrimonious, they are the best of friends and their continual shtick while cooking is part of what people come to see.
Omega announces that Ester's back up dish is stew fish in gravy. Normally I would have left at that point because I'm not a big fan of most fish dishes, but just listening to the repartee of the two women is such a trip it's worth the time.
It's time to cook and Ester takes over and adds oil to a large cast iron frying pan on the grill. She mentions that all the recipes are passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, and everyone has some variation to even the most basic dishes.
With the oil now hot, Ester adds onions and lets them caramelize, the smell of which tantalizes everyone in the audience. Next she adds the garlic, chive and thyme, curry powder, peppers, carrots, Christophe (a local vegetable), some ketchup, and finally, boiling hot water. All this slowly bubbles in the pan as she takes a spoon and puts a very small amount of the broth in the palm of her hand and sips it, judging the spices too weak. In goes a little more salt and some Goya Adobo, a wonderful local spice mix. She lets this boil down to what they call a roux, a flour-thickened rich vegetable/spice mix to which a variety of other foods can be added.
For this dish they added flour pan-fried chunks of freshly caught Mahi-Mahi. I am now salivating as the rich smell of the dish wafts out over the crowd. A helper brings out a large flat of mashed potatoes, which sets Omega off on a rant about the time they had a huge crowd for cooking lessons and Ester walked out of the kitchen carrying a large flat of the mashed potatoes and managed to spill them all over the floor. The banter about this goes on and on an I'm whispering under my breath "Just stop talking and serve the food."
Finally we all gather around as Omega, one at a time, slowly dishes up the stew fish in gravy, making us wait until all twenty plates are served before we can dig in. Again, I would not normally order something like this is a restaurant but it was like a little piece of heaven as all the spices and flavors competed for attention in my mouth. I even went back for seconds, having to walk a little quicker as another cruiser got the same idea and made his way to the skillet.
The walk back to our boat in the 90-degree heat was worth it as we marveled about everything Grenada has to offer, if you just stay long enough and are willing to explore a little.
Stew Fish in Gravy (Grenadian Style)
8 servings- coated with flour
4 cloves Garlic
1 large onion
2 strands chive and thyme
1 tablespoon curry powder or turmeric
4 seasoning peppers
2 large carrots
1 large Christophe
4 cups water
Salt, pepper and tomatoes
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Fish Preparation:
Remove scales and clean fish. Cut your fish into slices about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Use a sharp knife to cut several slits in each piece of fish.
Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp seasoned salt. Mix to spread seasoning evenly. Add a half of chopped pepper (optional). Let stand for 30 minutes to allow seasonings to penetrate.
Coat fish on both sides with flour.
Add one cup of cooking oil to a large skillet. Heat the oil on medium high. When oil is hot, fry fish until both sides are brown. Reduce heat if your fish is cooking too fast.
Gravy Preparation:
In a large sauce pan. Add all seasoning (chopped and sauté. Heat oil on low heat. Sprinkle curry powder or turmeric.
Add tomato paste or ketchup, continue sautéing, sprinkle flower into pot, until it turn a golden brown, or red color appears, add water and bring to boil,add vegetables (carrots and Christophe) until cook.
Add fry fish to gravy, salt and pepper to your liking.
Each morning on VHF Channel 66 the Grenada Cruisers Net opens with any safety issues (stolen dinghies), reports the weather, asks if anyone has any parts or services they need, sells things on Treasures of the Bilge, announces shopping buses into town, and finally, allows the local shops to promote their specials.
One announcement that intrigued us was cooking lessons at True Blue Bay Resort. Since it was only a short walk down the peninsula from where we anchored at Prickly Bay, we decided to give it a go. The resort, located on (where else) True Blue Bay, is a funky but high quality resort with a very well regarded restaurant. Since it's close to St. Georges University, lots of med school students show up for the resort's famous Mexican night on Fridays and the Sunday BBQ.
On Thursdays at 3:00 pm the resort offers the best deal on the island, cooking lessons (and you get to eat what you make) for US $4.40. You sit out on the large veranda with hopefully a cooling breeze blowing through and watch as the kitchen staff begins to bring out the gas cooker, plates, utensils, and a finally lots of little bowls with the ingredients for the day's dish. The trick is they don't ever announce what they are going to cook ahead of time. Sometimes I think they don't even know.
Next a rather ample Grenadian woman named Omega makes her way to the cooking table and begins a little small talk with a table of cruisers who are regulars at this event. She then may begin to set the stage for some dispute or misunderstanding between her and the other chef, Esther.
 |
| Omega on right announced that Esther is "unhappy." |
Hearing this, Esther emerges from the kitchen and like Abbott and Costello, off they go. Today Omega commented that Esther hadn't been able to get all the ingredients for their planned dish, fish lasagna. Omega says "Well, if it were my responsibility I would have gotten up early this morning and gone to the shops myself to get the ingredients . . ." which triggers Ester to chime in with all the reasons she couldn't get up early and on and on. While it looks acrimonious, they are the best of friends and their continual shtick while cooking is part of what people come to see.
It's time to cook and Ester takes over and adds oil to a large cast iron frying pan on the grill. She mentions that all the recipes are passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, and everyone has some variation to even the most basic dishes.
 |
| An eclectic group of cruisers gathers each Thursday for cooking lessons. |
With the oil now hot, Ester adds onions and lets them caramelize, the smell of which tantalizes everyone in the audience. Next she adds the garlic, chive and thyme, curry powder, peppers, carrots, Christophe (a local vegetable), some ketchup, and finally, boiling hot water. All this slowly bubbles in the pan as she takes a spoon and puts a very small amount of the broth in the palm of her hand and sips it, judging the spices too weak. In goes a little more salt and some Goya Adobo, a wonderful local spice mix. She lets this boil down to what they call a roux, a flour-thickened rich vegetable/spice mix to which a variety of other foods can be added.
 |
| A little boiling water helps reduce the solution down while not slowing the cooking time. |
For this dish they added flour pan-fried chunks of freshly caught Mahi-Mahi. I am now salivating as the rich smell of the dish wafts out over the crowd. A helper brings out a large flat of mashed potatoes, which sets Omega off on a rant about the time they had a huge crowd for cooking lessons and Ester walked out of the kitchen carrying a large flat of the mashed potatoes and managed to spill them all over the floor. The banter about this goes on and on an I'm whispering under my breath "Just stop talking and serve the food."
Finally we all gather around as Omega, one at a time, slowly dishes up the stew fish in gravy, making us wait until all twenty plates are served before we can dig in. Again, I would not normally order something like this is a restaurant but it was like a little piece of heaven as all the spices and flavors competed for attention in my mouth. I even went back for seconds, having to walk a little quicker as another cruiser got the same idea and made his way to the skillet.
The walk back to our boat in the 90-degree heat was worth it as we marveled about everything Grenada has to offer, if you just stay long enough and are willing to explore a little.
 |
| Stew Fish in Gravy, Grenadian Style |
Stew Fish in Gravy (Grenadian Style)
8 servings- coated with flour
4 cloves Garlic
1 large onion
2 strands chive and thyme
1 tablespoon curry powder or turmeric
4 seasoning peppers
2 large carrots
1 large Christophe
4 cups water
Salt, pepper and tomatoes
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
Fish Preparation:
Remove scales and clean fish. Cut your fish into slices about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Use a sharp knife to cut several slits in each piece of fish.
Add 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp seasoned salt. Mix to spread seasoning evenly. Add a half of chopped pepper (optional). Let stand for 30 minutes to allow seasonings to penetrate.
Coat fish on both sides with flour.
Add one cup of cooking oil to a large skillet. Heat the oil on medium high. When oil is hot, fry fish until both sides are brown. Reduce heat if your fish is cooking too fast.
Gravy Preparation:
In a large sauce pan. Add all seasoning (chopped and sauté. Heat oil on low heat. Sprinkle curry powder or turmeric.
Add tomato paste or ketchup, continue sautéing, sprinkle flower into pot, until it turn a golden brown, or red color appears, add water and bring to boil,add vegetables (carrots and Christophe) until cook.
Add fry fish to gravy, salt and pepper to your liking.
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