The spice necklace: My adventures in Caribbean cooking, eating, and island life

475 Pages·2010·3.04 MB·English

by  Ann Vanderhoof

V a n d e
r
n h
n o
A o
f
T
h e
S P I C E

N
e c k l a c e
G
M N
Y K I
A O
D O
VE C
NTURES IN CARI B B E A N
EATING, AND ISLA N D L I F E
houghton mifflin harcourt
• Boston • New York
2010

The Spice Necklace

First U.S. edition
Copyright © 2009Ann Vanderhoof
all rights reserved
For information about permission to reproduce
selections from this book, write to Permissions,
Houghton Mifflin Harcou rt Publishing Company,
215Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.
www.hmhbooks.com
First published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vanderhoof, Ann, date.
The spice necklace / Ann Vanderhoof.
p. cm.
isbn 978-0-618-68537-0
1. Cookery (Spices) 2. Cookery, Caribbean. I. Title.
tx819.a1v28 2010
641.3'383—dc22 2010007136
Designed by CS Richardson
Printed in the United States of America
doc 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Rita, who taught me the pleasure of cooking,

and Harold, who taught me the pleasure of eating
And for Steve, a second helping

. . . contents . . .
Preface
The Spell of the Spice Necklace 1
1 The Nutmeg Gatherers
Grenada 8
2 Self-Spicing Goats
The Dominican Republic 23

3 The Egg Ladies
The Dominican Republic & Haiti 52
4 The 151-Proof Spice
St. Martin & Saba 76
5 Bay in the Mountains, Crabs in the Pot
Dominica & St. Kitts 95
6 The Food Critics Visit the Easy-Bake Boat
Grenada 120
7 Rolling Rice and Drinking Jack Iron Rum
Carriacou & Petite Martinique 149
8 Curry Tabanca
Trinidad 179
9 Feelin’ Hot, Hot, Hot
Trinidad 207
10 Cramming for a Chocolate-Tasting Test
Trinidad, Tobago & Grenada 236
11 Snow on the Mountains, Christmas on the Way
Grenada, Trinidad, Carriacou & The Grenadines 264
12 All Ah We Is One
Trinidad 291

13 In Search of Passion
Grenada & St. Lucia 320
14 Barks That Bite
St. Lucia & Trinidad 341
15 Dog Sauce and Rhum
St. Martin, Martinique & Marie-Galante 362
16 The Torments of Love
Guadeloupe & The Islands of the Saints 382
17 Lunch with Moses
Grenada & Dominica 407
18 Back to the Isle of Spice
Grenada 431
Afterword 453
Acknowledgments 457