Review: ‘Food is Family’ Cookbook

[Written by Dale Butler]

As a ‘72 graduate of the academic 6th form [forerunner of the Bermuda College] and now an Honorary Fellow of the Bermuda College Company of Fellows [2012], I was thrilled to see the publication of Food is Family on the 50th anniversary of excellence of the institution. The book has an excellent thread running through it highlighting “family, heart, and soul.” While this narrative journey began a few years ago, its release is timed perfectly as a legacy gift. The rich heritage of the College is connected in a way that the public can truly hold, feel, and treasure for generations to come.

This concept sprouted in 2017 when Ms Kennita Perry “led a group of young ladies to empower them to be creative.” The organization is named W.O.M.Y.N. [Well-educated Open-minded Modern Young and Noble] and was dedicated to Kennita’s mother, Ms Jane Anita Thompson for “the unwavering passion she had for her work at the College.”

Stamped with an anniversary award on the mouthwatering winning cover – a photo of codfish and potatoes – this hardback hit the spot. Its release was timely for me as a former restaurant director and now doing reviews of the hospitality industry. In an age of instant answers, I didn’t expect a book – but I’m glad it arrived. As the writer and narrative architect, Cha’Von Clarke-Joell took the list of names and recipes given to her and intentionally built the storytelling framework from scratch. This enabled her to capture the deeper stories. As a result, she transformed the records into a professional and warm narrative that reflects the true ‘bond’ of our community. The timing of its launch, at Christmas, was correct and reassuring. I commend her, artsmithsbda, and W.O.M.Y.N.

Bermuda’s food traditions shine at Christmas:

• the growing of cassava/farine and preparation for the pie
• frying it Christmas morning in butter with an egg
• the soaking of the mixed fruit [disappearing] for the fruit cake
• the preparation of the plain cake [children apparently rarely do any of these things with mom or granny because they are using their phone or the cake is bought, which means they don’t get to lick the bowl, a highlight when I was a child]
• the setting of the table in grand style is disappearing
• there is no excitement about having mineral/soda because we have it all year round

I doubt if more than five people island-wide boiled the Christmas pudding outside for eight hours. Easy to boil it inside, in a pot, or buy – which can add up to a loss of hands-on tasting from experts like mom and granny. Such changes, and others, led to my comments for the past two years that it is hard to find the following Bermuda dishes made at a non-compromising high level:

• potato salad
• peas and rice
• corned beef cakes
• stuffin’ for the Bermuda lobster
• beef and chicken pie quality is in serious decline
• good mac and cheese hard to find
• the traditional fishcake without curry and much, much more we have almost seen disappear.

All is not lost – but it takes effort to preserve these dishes. We are fortunate to still have on our bookshelves the answers, published by garden and community clubs in the past and a number of homemakers and professional chefs who have published cookbooks like:

• The Bermuda Cook Book – Cecille Snaith-Simmons
• Bermuda Traditions: Fred Ming [and a YouTube video]
• Traditional Cookery in Bermuda
• Cooking Bermuda
• Bermuda’s Bounty: A History of Bermudian Cookery from 1609 to the Present
• Bermuda’s Best Recipes
• Outerbridge’s Original Cookbook
• What’s Cooking in Bermuda
• 125th anniversary: Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, to name just a few

Note many of the books above have inspiring stories on YouTube and also captured by The Bermudian Magazine. So there are no excuses for what we are now being served at the table. International dishes are taking precedence, while the heritage of cooking local dishes has gone out with the tide

To get on top of this issue, I strongly feel, as an educator and food critic, that the Bermuda College itself should establish a Chair for the Culinary Arts – I’m in the kitchen cabinet on this one – to preserve culinary traditions with Neil Hanson-Smith, Herbie Bascombe, Fred Ming, Chair, or implement a Culinary Conservator that would:

• highlight their biographies and other Bermudian chefs and historic restaurants
• collect every Bermuda cook book and recipe ever published
• hold an annual dinner that serves dishes from the books, in order to preserve our culinary traditions with elementary, high school, Bermuda College culinary students, and grandmas, etc
• a competition based on a published traditional recipes could also be held. Let’s see if the President will respond and make it happen.

I salute all of the cookbook publishers for attempting to ensure the taste of our food would not change too much. But unfortunately it has, because we suffer silently. In the past, you could go to Green Lantern, Puffy’s, Blue Jay, The Fish Hut, Lorraine’s, Rancho Grande, Reid’s, Dennis’ Hideaway, Blackhorse Tavern, Loyalty Inn and Village Inn, to name just a few. Ouch; with their demise, out the door went our food! The dishes I mentioned above would all taste the same with hints of slight changes, as compared to now, when we are eating package pastry on our pies and we are lost with the making of split pea soup, apple pie, custard on ginger bread, and shark hash.

With high hopes, I purchased a copy of the book because the Bermuda College does have Dr. Teneika Eve, Senior Culinary Lecturer, who had/has her own TV cooking show, and hands on at her take-out restaurant. Unfortunately, we have a host of other local teachers who could, as instructors, ensure that students know that “food can define a culture and establish a bond that will connect experiences and memories while uplifting the community.”

The beautiful layout of the book is very professional, with an emphasis appropriately on:

• the history of the Bermuda College [an easy read] with a timeline
• a small selection of lecturers [a second edition should add the photos of culinary luminaries like Neil Hansford-Smith and Fred Ming - Bermuda Traditions, Bermuda Favourites - and Herbie Bascombe, Fred “Turkey” Barnes, Lorraine, Puffy, and a few others, who were giants in the history of the culinary arts at the college and Bermuda]
• a few seniors from the Seniors’ Learning Centre were added
• the Cookbook Committee Members: Renee Faulcon, Earl Richardson, Kennita Perry, and Chef Lisa Ming. I join in commending and thanking them and the list, from the Library Staff to the Counseling and Career Centre;
• all photos are bright and colourful
• adverts from the industry are a great sign of support; commendable

The book blends traditional and modern recipes – from codfish breakfast to vegan twists – reflectively capturing our changing culture.

Traditional:

• Bermuda codfish and potato breakfast: Chef Lisa Ming
• Shelley’s Cassava pie: Shelley Riley
• Christmas Pudding: Grace McCallan
• Ming’s Shark Hash: Robert Masters
• Mom’s Macaroni & Cheese: Kennita Perry
• Robbie’s Tasty Conch Stew: Robin Mello-Cann
• Aunt Jo’s Potato Salad; Rita Keene; Mama G’s Potato Salad
• Johnny Bread: Carleen Place
• Hot Cross Buns: Kenita Perry

New to the Bermuda palate [or just mine]:

• Chip Beef Ball: Rita Talley Keene
• East India Cheese Spread
• ‘Eltrym’ Corn Bread and Eltrym Chicken Divan: Maureen Edness
• Vegan Codfish Breakfast [creative/interesting; no codfish, but chickpeas added to all of the other ingredients]
• Chicken nuggets: Wendy Eve [Really? Okay. Looks scrumptious and are now part of our vocabulary, which adds to our food history]
• Celery and Mint Stew: Dr. Ali Arouzi
• Karen’s Nut Balls: Jacqueline Wade

A few I hope to make myself that caught my eye are:

• Scalloped Cabbage: Tanya Durham
• Sweet Potato Souffle: Tanya Dyer
• 6-minute Chocolate Cake: Amy Harvey
• A few submissions from aunties: Lemon Meringue Pie, Mabel’s Date Bars, Loma’s Gingerbread
• Better Than Sex Dessert: Sher-kaila Outerbridge
• Feel Good Apple Pie: Kennita Perry
• Pineapple Carrot Cake: Necheeka and Jennifer Trott

No doubt the book will impress the American Culinary Federation and the New England Commission of Higher Education, who accredited the College. Who knows, the lecturers might do a series of dishes from the book for their student chef lunches prepared for the public.

Food is Family should be a gift restaurateurs add to their library and encourage chefs to explore and add to the menu. At 74 pages, it is an easy read and ideal for ensuring that the next generation of potato peelers and bowl lickers get instruction at home or “Taste of Bermuda” will only consist of Dark and Stormies and little to nothing Bermudian to compliment the food expectations of the public.

The index is helpful: starters, main dish, side dish, etc. This hardback book costs $25 and is available at the Bermuda College bookstore and bookstores around Bermuda. The concept of the book came from:

• W.O.M.Y.N.
• Edited by Cha’ Von Clarke
• Design: artsmithsbda
• Printers: Signature Book Printing

I strongly recommend purchasing a copy and using it regularly.

- Dale Butler is the Professor of Bermuda Music. His most recent reviews were:Joy to the World and the movie Why do we Sing: The Chorale Dynamics. His current research projects are Band Leader Ernie Leader and Bermuda Calypso Queen Celeste Robinson. He feels that if the Bermuda College does establish a chair or Culinary Conservator, he recommends the first book to be included is Bermuda’s Bounty: A History of Bermudian Cookery from 1609 to the Present [undated].

#BermudaBooks #BermudaCollege #Cuisine #DaleButler #DaleButlerColumns #Education

Category: All, Entertainment