Tag Archives: Recado

Eating Out in Belize.

Together.EatingIf you read our posts regularly, you may have noticed that we don’t tend to eat out.  This is mostly because we eat the best food at home and we have our own fresh vegetables, hand-picked on the same day.  On rare occasions, we will eat out in order to “do something different.”

The other day, we visited Coleman’s Cafe  in Big Falls to have lunch.  The usual Belizean food fare includes rice and beans, plain rice with stewed beans, chicken/pork/beef stewed in local spices and herbs.  The usual side of “vegetables” is coleslaw; in this particular food place, you can sometimes get callaloo which is a local green leafy vegetable.

This time, we were fortunate enough to have stewed gibnut on the menu.  Gibnut is paca, a ground-dwelling hebivorous large rodent which can usually weigh up to about 20lbs (10kg) ; they taste like suckling pig.  Their meat is prized in this country fetching a high price at about $8 per pound (compare this to local beef at $4 per pound).  Of course, we love it; in fact, I would say that it is actually my favourite meat.

Stewed Gibnut.
Stewed Gibnut.

The herbs and spices used in these stews usually include yellow ginger (tumeric), dried powdered chilli, cilantro or culantro and recado.

Tumeric and Chilli Powder.
Tumeric and Chilli Powder.

Recado is available in powdered form or in blocks and contain the following spices: annatto, local oregano, cumin, clove, cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, garlic, and salt.  The annato gives it the red colour.

Recado Powder.
Recado Powder.

At the cafe, they also had cohune cabbage, which is heart of palm (cohune palm) cooked in yellow ginger (tumeric).  This is considered celebration food as is usually served at parties and weddings.

Cohune Cabbage.
Cohune Cabbage.

For us, it is nice to eat out now and then.  In Belize, there is certainly a “eating out” culture in which the locals eat out for lunch every day.  This is why all Government offices close at noon, on the dot, so that all the workers can eat out en masse!  Salaried workers also buy their dinner as a “take out.”  The usual stuff is rice, beans and some meat and there is very little deviation from this.  Despite the lack of choice, everybody seems to be quite content with this food.  There are of course, Chinese restaurants in Punta Gorda which compete with this local food.  A popular choice among the locals is chow mein (if they are splurging out or trying to impress  a girlfriend) or fried chicken , which has gained the reputation, in Belize, of being “Chiney Food.”

Ok, guys have a cool Saturday night and if you are eating out for dinner tonight, have a good one!!

Cantonese BBQ Venison (Like Char Sui).

Together.EatingA few days ago, I sequestered myself in the kitchen for the whole day (I know…I do that a lot).  This is my usual “go-to” response when I can’t face the ongoing pressures of maintaining the farm and I just want “time-out.”  I had bought about 50lbs of venison and I set about trying to process about 20lbs of it.

So, the first thing I made was Cantonese BBQ Venison which is really Char Sui made from venison rather than the typical pork.  I am not sure what to call it since I do not know the word for venison in Chinese!  So, if there are any Real Chinese people out there…how do you say BBQ Venison?

12lbs of the venison turned into this:

Cantonese BBQ Venison.
Cantonese BBQ Venison.

I coloured it with a Central American spice called Recado since I did not have any Chinese food colouring:

Recado Powder.
Recado Powder.
Sliced.
Sliced.

Yummy…it turned out really well!! You would have thought you were in a Chinese restaurant in Singapore or Hong Kong!

The other 8lbs of venison became a slow-cook curry with lots of spices (cumin, mustard seeds, tumeric, chilli and lots more):

Venison Cooking In Curry.
Venison Ready To Cook in Curry.

You will get the Venison Curry Recipe tomorrow.  That was delicious too!!