The Kitchener

Yum... Chocolate chip cookies. Today I performed the manly task of baking cookies. They were pretty good actually. I can never get cookies to be perfect circles though. But I was happy enough that the house wasn't burnt to a crisp by the time I was finished (I was home alone). I think Mom might have been upset if that had happened.

Mainly the only thing I watch on television is Food Network - if I want to see anything else I just use Surfthechannel.com.

Cooking and baking just seem extremely fun to me. How macho, right? I think it's the chemistry involved - seeing all the little reactions and products. Like on Boxing Day, when we made a huge lunch, I offered to make the cheese sauce for the vegetables. It involved making a white sauce, which involved making a roux, something I'd seen done many times on television and was extremely eager to try at home. A roux is a thickening agent made of equal parts flour and butter. After cooking that for a bit, I added the milk. For the first couple of minutes, I was scared that I'd done something wrong, as I often do when I cook, because the milk remained the same consistency. Eventually though, it began to thicken up and when that happened, it happened fast! In no time, I was stirring a saucepan of extremely thick, creamy white sauce and frankly, I was ecstatic at having done it properly. Those are the small things that make time in the kitchen a joy.

But mainly the things I make are foreign dishes and I really want to get more into the local cuisine (Mom will teach me). You guys who aren't from Trinidad have to try:

-Curried Chana and Aloo(Chick Pea and Potato Curry)

-Doubles (Street food but so good - I could eat a million of these)

-Trinidadian Curried Chicken

-Callaloo

-Paratha Roti (which is a bit different to it's original Indian namesake) *with curried chicken

-Dhalpuri Roti *with curried chicken

-Stewed Chicken

I've mostly listed the Indian influenced dishes as that's what I'm exposed to being of Indian descent.

But the Indian and Creole culinary influences mix here, to produce a variety of interesting and absolutely delicious dishes. We can be a bit conceited at times though, always complaining how bland American and British cuisine is in comparison. But that's mainly the ignorant view of the less exposed - though our food really is THAT good =)