HAAS

Thankfully there are still small fishing communities in Jamaica. Not every beach has been turned into a resort. Port Maria, the capital town of the parish of Saint Mary, has a beach with dozens of fishing boats. On the wall of the fishing community the word ‘Gaza’ was painted, I assume because of the harsh conditions of living. The day I arrived in Port Maria there was too much wind for the small boats to venture out into the ocean.

Heart of the Congos is one of the more interesting reggae albums and was produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1977. Notable is the falsetto voice of Cedric Myton on the song Fisherman.

Steamed parrotfish

I thought it would be fitting to order a fish for late breakfast. The bar/restaurant was empty with the exception of the cleaning lady. November is low season and I was the only customer.

While waiting for the chef, he was summoned by telephone and had to take a taxi, the cleaning lady showed me the catch I could choose from. The price was determined by weight. 2.700 dollars per pound. Almost 16 euro, which seamed expensive, but I had no reference so I agreed.

I ordered steamed fish, picked a parrotfish, and asked the chef if I could watch him in the kitchen. The first step is frying finely sliced: Irish potatoes, bell pepper, hot pepper, onion and pumpkin. He used butter, which surprised me. I would have expected coconut oil.

From here on I have to criticise the chef. He used no less than four different powdered seasonings.

More seasoning. This time a whole package of instant noodle soup, the noodles were sieved out. I asked the chef where he learned to cook. He said his mother taught him.

Fresh thyme and pimento berries. Nothing wrong with this.

This was the next disappointment. Instead of fresh, creamy, coconut milk he used powdered coconut mixed with water. Maybe because I was the only customer he didn’t have fresh coconut milk.

In Jamaica they call this proces ‘steamed fish’, but the fish is not steamed. It is simmered.

The fish was served with crackers, this is usual in Jamaica, but the result was a little too salty because of all the unnecessary seasoning powders. This dish could have been perfect without seasoning, certainly no noodle soup base, salt would have been enough, and made with freshly made coconut milk, which should be easy to obtain in a country with so many coconut trees.

Next post: Ackee breakfast