The Review - FOOD & DRINK- Cooking with CLARE Published: 28 February 2008
Nando at his tree house restaurant – the ‘best place to eat’ in Bequia
Sugar and spice and a flavour of paradise
Clare Latimer shares some local dishes from her favourite holiday island
BEQUIA is a little island jewel located one hour’s flight west of Barbados. It’s a perfect “rescue remedy” in the winter – and at £35 per night I am not complaining.
Curtis the taxi man greets the tiny plane and after a drive through the village of Paget’s Farm, over the hill and across the island I reach my destination, the Frangipani.
After a welcoming hug from Lou, my suitcase is taken to my room while Garfield the barman pours my first rum punch. Then I paddle at the water’s edge with drink in hand chatting to Ashley or Fitzy, the water taxi boys who transport me to and from the stunning beaches.
All this is a far cry from winter in Camden. (If you Google Frangipani, Bequia you will see what I am talking about.) To cap it all, a girl called Jo came up and said she reads this page!
Roasted chicken with a papaya glaze
Caroline Kennedy, my friend who co-owns The Pink House cooked me this local dish.
The fried plantain is always a treat and one of my real favourites.
The papaya and plantain even grow in her garden. Ingredients
Serves 4
4 free-range chicken pieces
Salt
5 fl oz orange juice
1 tbsp olive oil
25g light brown sugar, packed
2 shallots, halved
Juice of 1 lime
1 bay leaf
1 desp Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 small ripe papaya, halved, peeled and seeded,
1 half thinly sliced and reserved for garnish
1 teasp finely chopped fresh thyme, or dried
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ripe plantain
Little olive oil
Small knob butter.
Method
Rub the chicken pieces with the salt and place them in a baking dish. In a blender, whiz the orange juice, olive oil, brown sugar, shallots and lime juice until smooth. Pour the orange juice mixture over the chicken, and cover. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight, spooning the marinade over the chicken occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 4. Drain off the marinade from the chicken and then roast uncovered for 20 minutes, adding a little water.
To prepare the papaya glaze: Put the orange juice marinade back into the blender and add the mustard, garlic, one half of the papaya, thyme, salt, and pepper. Whiz until smooth. Put the glaze over the chicken after it has cooked for 20 minutes and continue to cook for 10 minutes or until the flesh is cooked well.
To cook the plantain, heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan, peel and slice the plantain and then fry for 2 minutes on each side. Garnish the dish with the plantain and the remaining half papaya, cut into long strips.
Nando’s coconut tart
Nando has, to my mind, the best place to eat. It is a bit like a tree house and is a gem. He fishes by day and cooks his catch by night. We all chose this off the small menu and all made the same gasp of delight when we tasted this real treat. If you like custard and coconut then your dream has come true. Serve the tart warm with a spicy ice cream for perfection. Ingredients
Serves 6 (…if you are lucky!)
125g butter
200g caster sugar
20 fl oz milk
2 teasp vanilla essence or rum
4 eggs
140g self raising flour ¼ teasp salt
2 desp dessicated coconut.
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
Butter a 20cm quiche dish. Cream the butter and sugar together and add the milk. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blend well. Pour into the greased dish and bake oven until golden brown on top, which will be about 1 hour, but check before this time.
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