Malabar spinach (Basella alba) grows really well in Belize especially in wet places. Our patch is growing prolifically:
Malabar Spinach.
It is eaten as a leafy green; can be eaten uncooked in a salad or cooked lightly. This is a mucilaginous type of green which should not be over-cooked. When cooked with care (ie. very short cooking times of about 1 to 2 minutes) it adds taste, freshness and a soft crunch to a dish.
Anyone for Pumpkin Bhaji? Whilst living in Scotland, I used to really enjoy Indian food especially the onion bhaji. Since we are still having a marathon run of pumpkins, I decided to make these Indian-style fritters. Check out my recipe for Pumpkin Bhaji in Belize Wild Recipes.
Pumpkin Bhaji.Pumpkins From the Farm.
In this recipe, I used pumpkin, onions and red jalapeños.
Chopped Vegetables.
The batter is made with rice flour so it is completely gluten-free. And of course, the most important flavouring is turmeric (yellow ginger, as they call it here in Belize).
Gone are the days of that little key thing that you use to open up a rectangular tin of flayed meat. Dak has come into the 21st Century with a new-look, convenient ring-pull! How do you eat your Dak??
New Look Dak.
We eat Dak. In fact Chinese people eat this type of preserved food…just check out Asian cuisine Blogs…there are usually quite a few recipes devoted to this ingredient.
As a quick meal, I like to steam the Dak on a bed of white rice:
Steaming Dak on Rice.
We eat this with a large side of steamed green vegetables; right now it is pumpkin!
I still think that this is better for you than buying junk food.
Hello Everyone!! All of a sudden, it is very, very wet. The air feels really damp and muggy. Still no need to complain; we are getting bountiful water to wash clothes to my heart’s content and I can have plentiful hot showers through-out the day!
The farm continues to give generously and there is always stuff to harvest everyday. The carambola (or starfruit) are bearing; I have to pick them partially green before the birds and the bees get to them.
StarFruit.
These are the rogue pumpkins that were missed in “The Hidden Pumpkin Technique” which I described a few weeks ago. The pumpkin patch is still going strong and with these new rains, we are getting a second round of flowering.
Rogue Mature Pumpkins.
In this technique, the pumpkins grow and sink into the tall grass; whilst hidden from the hungry eyes of critters and bugs, they can be left to grow flawlessly without a single burrowed hole or bite-mark.
Pumpkin Patch.
Oh, and last but not least…banana flowers…
Banana Flowers.
This morning, Gnome cut these down and instructed me to give them to the guinea pigs. I gave him a funny look and said,
“I heard that humans can eat them too!”
Gnome said that he had heard about people eating them in India but he wasn’t convinced about the potential tastiness of the banana flower.
Not Convinced!
Well, I looked at them and convinced myself that they looked a bit like artichokes and therefore there could be some potential for yumminess. Well, let’s see…tomorrow, I am going to try cooking them. Watch this space for the results!!
Wow!! It was unbelievably hot today with a temperature of 32oC (90oF) and a realfeel of 47oC (117oF). How can one get any farm work done??
Anyway, I would like to introduce you to a new fruit in season which goes by a few names including Eggfruit and Canistel (Pouteria campechiana).
Ripe Eggfruit.
This fruit is indigenous to Central America but despite this, it is not found readily in the backyards or jungles of Belize. Many people, including locals, have never seen or heard of it and the few people who actually have this tree actively made efforts to procure this particular fruit tree.
It is one of those fruits of Tropics which can never be viably exported because once it is harvested, it needs to be eaten immediately, probably within 48 hours before it starts fermenting. This fruit comes in different shapes and sizes; some are long and pointed like the picture above and some are more ovoid in shape. They can be eaten out of hand and in common literature it is described as having the texture of boiled egg yolk (hence the name). I think it tastes like cooked (mashed) sweet potato and to my palate, because of this carbohydrate taste and texture, it fits more appropriately into savoury dishes. But that’s just me!! I read that other people make ice cream and milk shakes out of this fruit.
We always look forward to canistel season which usually falls into September and October. We have four baring trees and they can be very generous hence the reason why we are eating eggfruit everyday. This of course, calls for a lot of imagination because if you eat them the same way everyday, you will naturally get bored of them. So here are a few pictures of my canistel creations. By the way, some pictures include pumpkin…
Lots of Pumpkin!
…so, to be more accurate, we are eating eggfruit and pumpkin everyday!!
Mashed Canistel (like mashed potato):
Mashed Canistel.
Canistel seared on a skillet:
Canistel in Skillet.
Avocado stuffed with young pumpkin and canistel.
Stuffed Avocado.
Seared Canistel with Pumpkin and Spicy Sausage with Steamed Callaloo.
Canistel Pumpkin Dish.
There are more pictures which I will post them as recipes over the next week or so.
Go forth and find some Eggfruit to eat…they are yummy!!
We have found a great way of growing pumpkins without the headache of caterpillars boring holes into them and all manner of insects laying their eggs in the growing fruit. Previously, we grew our pumpkins “high and dry” on beds so that we would be able to spot them for harvest. Unfortunately, this also meant that that all the other critters could see them too and we had all sorts of problems with infestations.
Rather fortuitously, a pumpkin patch grew out of a voluntary plant on the ground and it has grown into a monster.
Pumpkin Patch.
The surrounding perennial peanut and grass render the vegetables virtually undetectable to all. This is why we have called it the Hidden Pumpkin Technique. The pumpkins are deeply embedded in the grass and when picked, they are beautiful and pristine with no signs of insect damage.
All you need to do is to find a Munchkin to walk through the patch every day to try to spot any harvestable pumpkin. It can be a lot of fun because they are actually very hard to find and requires the keen eye of a forager.
We have been picking young pumpkins…at this stage, they taste just like courgettes (or zucchini).
Fresh Young Pumpkin.
I rarely allow the pumpkins to fully mature because I distinctly dislike hacking into the tough shell…it is so much work! They are so much sweeter when they are green and can be steamed like a vegetable.
Steamed Pumpkin with Miso Pasta.
We have been mostly eating pumpkin!!
Remember…you can still vote for your Favourite Candidate for the Mayoral Election 2015 for Paradise Piggies!!
It has been two months since we made our Good Friday Shiro Miso; so, I reckoned it was time to try it out!
Shiro Miso.
Shiro miso contains a higher white rice to bean ratio, therefore it can ferment faster and be ready to eat in 2 months. Compare this to hatcho miso which is only made of fermented beans which takes at least 12 months to mature.
I also had a huge pumpkin (14lbs/7kg) in weight, just waiting to be eaten:
After eating this, we both agreed that the miso was ready to eat…it gave a unique umami savoury taste to the dish. What a treat and the miso and pumpkin are fresh from our farm!
We often get used to our surroundings so that we do not even consider that normal, everyday things can be viewed as a unique experience or an opportunity for creativity. I often talk about my Wednesdays in Punta Gorda but I have not realised until now that it is a perfect opportunity to show you our world of Toledo, Belize.
The town market is busiest on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The market stalls are located all the way down Front Street. Most stalls contain the usual stuff like onions, carrots, sweet peppers, cilantro and tomatoes. The usual fruits are papayas, pineapples, limes and whatever is in season. Mamey sapote are in season right now; these two specimens have not ripened yet but I will be sure to post a tasting once they are ready to eat.
Mamey Sapote.
There is actually not a whole lot of variety from stall to stall but if you take some time to look, there are some interesting things.
Market Stall.
If you care to walk all the way to the end of the stalls, which is about 100 yards, you will come across the smaller vendors. These are usually Mayans from far away villages who bring a couple of pig tail buckets to sell of anything that they can find in their backyard, forest or village. This is where you find more unusual foods.
Here, I found a lady selling young pumpkins. These can be cooked and eaten like zucchini (or courgettes, if you are European).
Young Pumpkin.
I also found a jar of ground, toasted pumpkin seeds:
Ground Toasted Pumpkin Seed.
And, this is what we had for lunch. Steamed young pumpkin seasoned with the pumpkin seed condiment. This is an example for taking some very simple ingredients to make something delicious and fresh.
Steamed Pumpkin with Pumpkin Seed Condiment.
Oh, last but not least. A visit to the ubiquitous Chinese store affords some opportunity for giggles if you take the time to peruse over flayed meat. This is what I found next to the Dak…looking for a Bra?!!!
Bra Luncheon Meat.
Bra’s Luncheon Meat comes in Chicken and Pork flavours from Brazil, of course. Check out the serving suggestions…don’t they make you salivate with anticipation?
Our friends, Erin and Jim came to visit our farm today and did an impromptu maize beer tasting. It is interesting to see other people’s perspectives and they thought that it was a pleasant tasting sour beer, much akin to “Lambic” with the taste of fermented apples. We were very pleased to hear that it was compared to a well-known traditional beer! We now wish that we didn’t gave away so many bottles of the beer earlier on when we thought that it was a failure. We live and learn…we will hoard every single drop next time…that is the Scottish coming out in me!
Pumpkins Galore!
On another note, we are harvesting pumpkins so, we will mostly be eating pumpkins. Aaaahhhh, what a gloriously uncomplicated life we live!
