Today I was on tour with my little tour company, Taste Belize Tours, on an adventure to do some Kriol fire hearth cooking. In Belize we know one fact to be true. Food cooked over a wood or coconut husk fueled fire hearth always tastes better than the same meal heated on a gas range. Ask anyone. Consensus has already been established. The Belizean Kriol style fire hearth is built like a table, a wooden box filled with sand or clay, standing at waist height for easy cooking.
We had the great fortune to spend the morning stirring up some home style food with artist and cook Jill Burgess, and Emmeth Young, Kriol drum master and renowned musician. The menu included a lavender hued root vegetable that we call yampi, also known in some parts of south east Asia as "purple taro", leaf wrapped snook fish steaks, rice seasoned with locally grown tumeric, (called yellow ginger in Belize), and some freshly brewed lemon grass tea to keep us cozy on this rainy day.
Our plates, needless to say, were beautiful.
A little drum lesson while our food was bubbling away, and a visit to Ixcacao Chocolate for dessert afterwards made the day perfect.
Labels: Belize Stories, Belizean Recipes
