Day 149! Saint Kitts and Nevis - Curried Goat and Blackberry Jam Cake - Up Next, Saint Lucia

Our new kitten, Finn - not too sure about the ginger!

There are three things that must be known about tonight's meal representing Saint Kitts and Nevis: 1) I never, ever  pass up an opportunity to make curried goat, even if I've made it before, because it ranks among my top 10 favorite dishes. I simply can't help myself. 2) I made a teeny, little mistake while making the Jam Cake...I neglected to add the jam into the batter, thinking instead that it was meant to be icing between the two cake layers. But by the time I'd realized my error, the cake was already in the oven. However...sometimes mistakes lead to great things, and despite this little glitch, jam between two layers of spicy, dense cake can't be a bad thing - and it wasn't. I'll just have to make it again. 3) If you choose to make the curried goat, buy more than the recipe calls for, as once you've trimmed the fat/gristle and bone from the meat, you have far less that you thought you had, which you'll want to avoid because seconds are a no brainer.

Located in the Leeward Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis is a federal two island nation in the West Indies.There are twodistinct islands in this Federation, namely St Kitts and Nevis. The smallest sovereign state in the Americas in area and population, the country was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 when the island was populated by the Kalinago Indians. Due to the island's strategic location in the sugar trade, it was colonized by the Europeans in l 1623. Editorial comment from which I usually refrain: aside from "discovering", CC was an evil dude who mostly did way more harm than good to the land and people he exploited for his own gain.

Many of Saint Kitts and Nevis' culinary traditions have their roots in West African cooking as a result of the slave trade population brought in during the Colonial era. The country's rich soil supports a wide range of fresh produce and agriculture, as well as plentiful seafood from the Caribbean and Atlantic Oceans. Goat and poultry are staples and are prepared using typical West Indian spices such a curry, chutney, ginger and garlic. Some of the more popular dishes are Goat Water Stew, which uses bread fruit, pawpaw and droppers (dumplings) - which I would have made, but I couldn't get bread fruit today; Pelau, Conkies (like tamales but with a sweet potato filling, wrapped in banana leaves), rum and tropical fruit.

 Curried Goat - Buy more than the recipe calls for - curry, onions, ginger and chutney flavor the gravy

Jam Cake

Curried Goat (Adapted from Caribbean Choice)

2 lbs. goat, trimmed and cut into cubes
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp. turmeric
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
2 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 tsp. cooking oil
1/4 cup tomato paste or ketchupt
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vinegar
3 Tbsp. chutney

Season the meat with garlic, salt, vinegar and hot pepper. Refrigerate and allow to marinate for at least one hour or overnight.
In a large heavy dutch oven, heat oil, add curry powder, then meat and brown.
Add remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer over a low flame until meat is tender - about 1-1/2 hour. Adjust seasoning and serve on a bed of rice.

Saint Kitts and Nevis Style Black Berry Jam Cake (Adapted from Caribbean Choice)

1-3/4 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup seedless blackberry jam
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs

Mix all ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle (or by hand with a wooden spoon).
Pour into greased and floured 9-inch cake pans and bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes

Caramel Icing (optional)

1 stick sweet, unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup cream
1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Combine the first 3 ingredients ans bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Sift the confectioner's sugar and beat into the mixture.

Final Assessment: How do I love thee, West Indian cuisine? I wish we had left over curry goat, because I'd have it for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. The cake - except for the jam confusion, it's a wonderful spice cake, of which there's only one piece left after a hoard of hungry teenagers stormed though the house an hour ago.


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