Christmas in Barbados
Christmas
in Barbados is something we all look forward to each
year…
many visitors usually left the cold of North America and Europe to
spend the holiday season in this island paradise.
A Barbados Christmas is a really fun and exciting time of the year… with festivities and special treats on everyone’s menu.
It is easy to get into the Christmas spirit here on the island with all the traditions we follow leading up to the big day…
These include redecorating the house… changing the curtains, adding a new coat of paint, new furniture and hanging lights around the house or even Bridgetown.
And of course going to church for midnight mass and Christmas morning service… but the tradition that has captured the imagination of both locals and visitors is Christmas in Queens Park.
Christmas in the park is a fashion lime… where men, women and children dressed in their finest gather in the park to take photos and listen to the Royal Barbados Police Bank.
Visitors to the park also get to see the traditional folk characters like the stilt walkers, the nut sellers and the mauby woman selling home made drinks like sorrel, ginger beer and other delicacies.
After the festivities in the Queens Park its time for lunch… you’ll definitely enjoy it. The Barbados Christmas menu is filled with a variety of tasty treats…
Among these treats you’ll find green peas and rice, baked chicken, turkey, baked pork, roast beef, lamb, jug jug, great cake and sorrel drink.
Here is a look at some of the delightful recipes that make Christmas in Barbados so special…
Green Peas and Rice
Ingredients:
2 cups rice
1 pint of green pigeon peas
4 ozs of salt meat (optional)
5 cups water
1 medium onion
2 teaspoon salt
1 tblsp. Margarine
A bunch of fresh herbs
Method:
Boil peas with salt meat for 25 minutes. Then sprinkle in rice, add herbs, chopped onions and tablespoon of margarine. Add salt to taste.
Cover saucepan and boil over a moderate heat for 20 minutes. Then reduce heat and allow rice to steam over low heat for 30 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is soft and fluffy.
Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes cook
4 pineapple rings
½ cup syrup from pineapple
¼ lb of cherries
1 tbsp margarine
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
Peel the sweet potatoes and boil them in lightly salted water until soft. Mash cook sweet potatoes with margarine until smooth. Mix the mash potato with syrup from pineapple. Place mixture in a greased pie dish, smooth the top and place pineapple slices on it.
For decoration place a cherry in the center in the center of each of the pineapple slices. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes until light brown. Serve at room temperature.
Jug Jug
Ingredients:
8 pints of pigeon peas
2 lbs of corned pork
2 lbs of boneless salt beef
2 tbsp of margarine
2 medium onions, chopped
½ lb of green seasoning
1 cup of Guinea corn flour
A bunch of thyme parsley and pepper.
Soak salt beef overnight. Then throw off water. Cook beef and pork together until tender remove from saucepan retaining the stock. Cook together corn, peas, onions, seasoning and thyme using approximately half the stock from beef and pork.
Cut both the cook beef and pork into small pieces once peas, seasoning, corn etc are cook combined with meat and mince. Once mixture form mixer is smooth return to saucepan and cook on medium heat. Add guinea corn flour and some of the remaining stock water while stirring constantly. Add rest of stock if needed to get a good consistency allows to cook for half an hour until corn flour is cook. Finally stir-in 2 tbsp of margarine.
Black Cake
Ingredients:
1 lb raisins
1 lb currants
!/2 lb cherries (glaze)
½ lb mixed peel
1 cup rum
½ cup Portwine
¾ cup margarine
1 Cup brown sugar
6 eggs
2 tsp nutmeg
A dash of essence
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon of salt
Grind fruit put in glass jar and let soak in rum mixture for a minimum
of 2 to three weeks. When ready to bake cream margarine and sugar until
smooth, beat eggs and add to cream margarine and sugar.
In the mean time empty fruit mixture from glass jar into a saucepan and
cook over a low heat. Allow to cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly
once this preliminary cooking is finish add mixture to margarine and
sugar mixture.
Now sieve flour and baking powder and add to the butter and fruit
mixture, mix together thoroughly. Pour mixture into greased baking pans
and bake in a oven at 275 degrees for 2 and a half to 3 hours.
Test with skewer to ensure cake is cook before removing from the oven.
As soon as cakes are removed fro the oven, soak with a mixture of rum
and wine. Leave in pan to absorb the rum and wine mixture for 2 to 3
days.
So whether you spend your Christmas in Barbados relaxing on the beautiful beaches... or caught up in our festivities and traditions youl'll really enjoy Christmas in Barbados.
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