Bajan Black Bean Soup

* Exported from MasterCook *

BAJAN BLACK BEAN SOUP

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Soups

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 1/2 c Dried black beans, soaked
-overnight
1 lg Or 2 small ham hocks
3 To 3.5 quarts water
3 tb Olive oil
2 To 3 large onions
4 Cloves garlic
3 sm Fresh green peppers
-(jalapeanos if preferred)
8 Berries allspice coarsely
-crushed
2 ts Brown sugar (or 1 t of
-molasses)
3 tb Tomato paste
3/4 c Creme fraiche or sour cream

Salt Grated rind and juice from one lemon

Put the drained beans and hock in a very large pan,
cover with the cold water and bring gradually to a
boil. Leave to simmer while you prepare the other
ingredients.

In a frying pan heat the olive oil, then gently fry
the onion, garlic and chili with the allspice and
lemon rind, stirring occasionally, until the onions
are translucent. Add this mixture to the beans and go
on simmering for 2 hours, by which time the beans
should be tender. At this point add the sugar, lemon
juice, and tomato puree. Cook for another 30 minutes.
Add salt if necessary.

Remove the hock, and pick off any meat. If you would
like a smooth soup, as mine (the author) was, process
the mixture in batches and return with the meat to the
pan. Otherwise, for a rougher texture crush with a
potato masher. If the mixture seems too thick at this
stage, add more water and bring back to the boil for a
minute or two.

Ladle the soup into bowls, with a spoonful or two of
cream stirred in, and serve with a crusty bread.

If you are feeling lavish, a couple of spoons of dark
rum added towards the end give a Bajan fillip.

INFO TEXT: Arriving stiff and crumpled inside and out
after an eleven hour flight, this was my first taste
of Bajan Cooking, and I ate it late at night trying to
imagine the sea beyond a dark frieze of langourous
palms. Dense but smooth, with a snap of chili, the
soup was both homely and exotic, and very restoring.

Barbados produces splendid ham and bacon, and a ham
stock is what makes this different from other
Carribean variants. Or, as here, use a hock, soaked
first to remove some salt.

From a book called FOOD MAGIC by Jocasta Innes.

Posted by Troy Wade. Courtesy of Fred Peters.



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