My grandmother with the knowledge passed down to her from her mother and after her many decades of experience, cooking for 5 children and then 10 grandchildren, was the typical great matriarch Jamaican cook of our family. It also, did not hurt that she loved cooking and food. As a grandmother she would remember what you loved to eat and prepare that for you when you visited. It did not matter if you came once a week or 3 times for the year if you lived abroad or just down the road; your favorite dish would be there waiting for you. She was famous for having fruits soaking in wine for a year in preparation for when she would cook Easter Buns for the entire family. She was of course the great authority on how to prepare all the great traditional Jamaican foods. Her food has of course become the measuring stick for any other Jamaican cook.
So now that you have a bit of a background, I can get back to the famous Stews Peas. This dish is prepared with either salted beef or pigs tails, yes pigs tail. Each person has their own preference I prefer beef I think that's the Latina in me. The peas are red kidney beans cooked in coconut milk with seasoning such as pimento seeds, onions and scotch bonnet peppers and more. This was my sisters favorite dish so my grandmother always had it ready for her on her annual visits.
Sadly my grandmother died 2 years ago, quite suddenly. Before and after her death, I have eaten Stew Peas and Rice, but it was never her Stew Peas and Rice. About a year after her death my mother started a new job. Her workplace had a Chef, she would often come home boasting about how he was a genius in the kitchen and loved his food. She insisted that I had to try his food, especially his Stew Peas and Rice as it was "to die for", she would often get a second lunch on those days, and eat it during the weekend. I told her, I probably could not eat it as the traditional dish has very thin dumplings (spinners), she said she would speak to the Chef.
So the following week came, she spoke with the Chef, who was very accommodating. That evening ,when I came home from work she said that she had my lunch for tomorrow. I knew it was the so-called famous "Stew Peas and Rice". I was not hungry but I decided to try it, right then and there at lukewarm temperature, might I add, since my mother kept raving about this Chef. After the first bite I knew this was golden, I had to have more. By the third bite I began to shed a few tears, my mother asked me what was wrong? I quickly told her "Its Grandma`s Stew Peas and Rice" it was the same exact flavor as though she had cooked it, in her kitchen. With that plate of food I was taken back, I was hugging my grandmother and eating her food at her dinning table, while she said "You need to eat more there is plenty for everyone".
My mother gave me a hug and quickly said "Don,t cry over stew peas, you will ruin the flavor", at this statement I burst out laughing. I knew my grandmother would be saying the same thing if she saw me. Food is one of the best memory triggers for me and I think most foodies would agree that this was best portrayed in the Pixar film "Ratatouille" where the evil food critic is brought back to his childhood by a simple rustic provincial dish (which are the best if you ask me). I really wish that this Chef had his own restaurant, that way I could eat this dish, whenever I missed my grandmother. But unfortunately he does not. He does hold a special place, for giving me that wonderful moment in time. With each passing year, I may miss my grandmother less, but I will always miss her good food, her table and hearing the old family stories. So if you still have your loving grandmother around call her and tell her you love her.
Thank you Grandma for giving me so many wonderful Jamaican Culinary experiences, and sharing my love of food.