RICE & PEAS
UH BELLY FULL! ISLAND CUISINE
A BAJAN’ S
Favourite Food
RICE & PEAS
T o say that rice & peas is a staple of every Barbadian household would be a gross understatement. Rice & peas is easily to the island what French fries are to the USA … Yes! It’ s that popular. We would not be exaggerating to say that Bajans can eat rice several times a week, often time for both lunch and dinner. It can be found at any( and every) Bajan celebration, and it can literally be found on almost every lunch menu around the island.
Any peas will do the most popular are pigeon or field peas followed by lentils and split. Add a little stew on the top and it is ready to eat! We hope you enjoy it as well.
Ingredients
8oz dried pigeon peas 1 cup rice dried Bay leaves Water 1 small onion peeled 2 celery stalks Fresh herbs such as thyme, marjoram, chives, parsley and basil whole peppercorns * Optional ¼-½ lb. salt meat( alternately, use vegetable broth for meatless rice)
Method
1. Wash and pick through peas, to eliminate any unsuitable peas or foreign objects.
2. Cover peas with cold water and place in refrigerator to soak overnight Or boil until peas begin to soften.
3. * Wash salt meat and place in pot with enough water to cover, add the onion, bay leaf, celery and fresh herbs. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.
4. Remove peas from refrigerator, pour off water and add fresh water, enough to cover the peas, and bring to boil along with two bay leaves.
20 minutes later, the peas should be soft enough to squeeze between your fingers but not fully cooked.
5. Add the rice, and meat, along with water from other pot. But not too much water, add as needed.( If you are using large pieces of meat, leave them in their pot to cook fully. Instead, only add the meat broth to the rice and peas.)
6. Stir rice and peas to evenly distribute only once. Cover pot tightly and cook over a low heat. After 15 minutes check to see if more water is needed. 20-25 minutes later the liquid should be gone or almost.
7. Rice and peas should be soft and cooked. If not, add a ½ cup of liquid and cover pot tightly. Continue cooking for 5 more minutes, then turn off heat.
40 | GO BARBADOS