Getting oiled down

The non-stop rain conspired against the Pizza Night which was planned at Roger’s Beach Bar yesterday but we’re told he will be making up for it by serving Oil Down on Sunday. What is Oil Down? The national dish of Grenada, Oil Down, is described on the Grenadian government site as follows:

“a hearty one-pot meal of salted meat, chicken, dumplings, breadfruit, callaloo – made from young dasheen leaves and other vegetables. The whole thing is stewed in coconut milk, herbs and spices to add even more flavour.”

Our initial experience with Oil Down took place at the first Hash Run that we did but given the variety of ways it can be prepared, we’re looking forward to Sunday’s so that we can compare.

Here is one recipe that I found online. There are many others if you do a quick web search.

RECIPE

Ingredients

• 8-10 young dasheen
• 1 sprig celery, chive and thyme
• 2 medium carrots chopped
• 2 green peppers chopped
• 1 lb dumplings
• 2 tps turmeric (saffron)
• 1/2 lb Salt meat (pre-soaked overnight)***
• 1 large Breadfruit peeled
• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 medium onion chopped

Method

1. Wash and peel breadfruit. Cut into 8 sections. Remove center lengthwise of each section and cut into half crosswise.
2. Wash and scrape meat, cut into pieces and rinse in lime juice and water.
3. Remove skins of onions, rinse and cut into small pieces. Remove seeds of chili peppers and cut into wedges. Chop chives into small pieces.
4. Put salted meat into cold water, bring to the boil and drain. Repeat 3 times to remove preserving salt. Put to cook until just tender and drain.
5. Saute onions and garlic in hot oil until onions are pale yellow.
6. Add chive, thyme, flavouring pepper, salted meat and salt to taste. Pour over 2 cups of coconut milk.
7. Add wedges of breadfruit, sugar, green hot pepper and cook until breadfruit absorbs liquid.
8. Add remaining coconut milk. Remove hot pepper. Stir to blend well and cook at a reduced heat. There should be no remaining liquid.
9. Serve hot.

By the way, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been in Grenada for an entire month now!

***Note: Salted meat may include both Pig Snout and Pig Tail. Mmmmmm!