Itchy Feet: Bake as a noun not a verb

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Bake as a noun not a verb

From time to time I will deviate from the world of travel to the world of food. This time to some sites that provide an authentic taste of Caribbean food and some specific food items. This time, we'll talk about bake. To someone that's not Trinidadian, the word "bake" is not a noun, it's a verb. However to a Trinidadian, a bake is a homemade bread item. There are two types of bake -- fried and roasted. Fried bake is perfect with the non-politically correct fried shark (of Maracas Beach fame), brule jol (codfish with onions and tomatoes and other good secret stuff) and pink salmon salad (my personal fave). Roast bake is perfect with grated cheese sprinkled in the middle right out of the oven, fried sprats or melts, or sardines if you're partial to them.

Fried bake - Trust me when I say for years I tried to recall the recipe my mom used for fried bakes. Until I happened upon this one (that uses pizza dough!), until I found this recipe, each of my prior attempts were disappointments. In the area where we live I've found that Trader Joe's white pizza dough is perfect for bakes. They rise into soft, pillowy floating goodness. The dough you use must have a good bit of yeast or baking powder in them so you get that characteristic domed shape once they hit the oil.

Rustic Fried Bake Recipe courtesy Caribbean Pot

Roast Bake - The secret to this recipe is the cold water (and to me, cold butter). Using both you get wonderful, flaky bake. Make sure to get quality grated coconut that tastes fresh and not rancid. Most grocery stores in my area have frozen grated coconut in the ethnic food freezer. Goya is my favorite. I have never used Sarina's recipe and have it come out any way but flaky and perfect. In my electric oven it takes a while for the top to get brown but the inside is cooked and I don't like dried out bake, so I can live with a pale top and soft insides. You might get browning taking place easier in a gas oven.