MOTHER (telephone call): “Annette! I cook callaloo and rice today, are you coming to get some?”
Barbados Defence Force (via email): “Morning ma’am, I saw and read your article on callaloo and I thought I would share this greenhouse with you. Here in the BDF we have incorporated the plant in our dishes.”
Ms Rice (general worker, Christ Church Foundation school): “Maynard-Watson, here is a callaloo plant and another one is over there, and a big one is behind the school hall. A lady told me that she cooks the callaloo with salt fish and you can serve it with rice and eat it in salt bread.”
These are some of the responses which I received from Barbadians about last week’s article titled Callaloo Soup Healthy, Tasty. Indeed, I was extremely overjoyed when I received the email from the Barbados Defence Force personnel. They have the most beautiful callalou plant I have ever seen. I remain touched by their passion to encourage healthy living among the soldiers. We all need to take a page from the BDF’s book and commence planting callaloo and other silent doctors in our kitchen gardens.
Callaloo, as I said in previous articles, is a beloved CARICOM dish and herbal plant. It originated in Africa and can treat over 50 health challenges, including high blood pressure and diabetes. Some islands use dasheen leaves, some use spinach and we in Barbados who mastered the cooking of callaloo use amaranth.
BAJAN CALLALOO SOUP
1 tbsp olive oil
1 chopped onion and garlic
1 cup chopped pumpkin
1 small peeled diced sweet potato
5 fresh sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1 ½ cups coconut milk
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 lb chopped amaranth
1 cup vegetable broth
Bajan dumplings (optional)
1. Sauté the chopped onion and garlic for three minutes.
2. Add the chopped amaranth, okra, sweet potato and pumpkin. Continue to sauté and add the vegetable broth. Leave to boil for 20 minutes.
3. Add the bay leaf; scotch bonnet pepper, thyme and coconut milk.
4. Simmer for 15 more minutes. Season to taste. Take out the scotch bonnet pepper and serve the soup in soup bowl sprinkled with chopped parsley. Bajan dumplings are optional.
Finally, I am very glad that our Government soldiers are at ease with sharing information about the callaloo plant. Otherwise, those people who are sceptical about this medicinal plant must move from that negative energy and step into a more conscious realisation. Read 1 Peter 5:4: “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade.”
• Annette Maynard-Watson, a teacher and herbal educator, may be contacted via [email protected] or by telephone 250-6450.
DISCLAIMER: It is not our intention to prescribe or make specific claims for any products. Any attempts to diagnose or treat real illness should come under the direccton of your health care provider.
