Natasha Were
natasha.were@cfp.ky

Cayman’s cooks will be going head to head in a Fish Tea Cook Off, at the same time that daredevil jet skiers battle for supremacy on the ocean waves at the East End Surf Challenge on 23 January, National Heroes Day.

“Particularly in East End, we were a seafaring people and fish was what we survived on,” says Shane Edwards, organiser of the East End Surf Challenge. “The district of East End has always been known for it’s good food, so I thought it would be great to have a competition where members of the community could prepare their best fish tea recipes.”

Traditionally, fish tea is made in large batches so tends to be consumed at social gatherings, parties and celebrations, more than as an everyday meal, so the National Heroes Day event is an ideal occasion for fish tea.

The generations-old Caribbean dish, as with so many traditional dishes, made use of those ingredients that were most readily available: in this case, fish and ground provisions.

For those not familiar with fish tea, the name can be misleading. It is actually far closer to a chunky soup than a cup of tea.

Georgina Rankine, winner of last year’s cook off shared her recipe. “I put cassava, pumpkin, potato, onions, seasoning peppers and a little of coconut milk in a pot. Then I add the fish and cook it all until its soft. That’s it - nothing else. I have no secret ingredients or methods. I try to use grouper, as it gives it the best flavour, but you could use any fish really,” she says.

Traditionally, Edwards explains, the fish would be gutted, and then added to the mix whole - head, spine and all. “It utilised the whole fish and was served like that. The bones, that part you would have to sort out yourself when you ate it,” he says.

For those who are not always comfortable with such a level of authenticity, there are alternatives.

Chefs love to play around with ingredients and recipes, and those at the Brasserie are no exception. The culinary experts at the George Town restaurant, who take pride in using local ingredients to create a contemporary Caribbean menu, were shown the traditional method of making fish tea by two East End cooks, and then experimented with and refined the dish to elevate it to a level that would appeal to their patrons.

“The problem with this local dish for our customers was the amount of fish bones in the traditional way of eating. I thought it was interesting since you might get a fish eye in a random bite - but most people might not like that! There might also be huge chunks of cassava that you could pick up with your fingers,” explains the Brasserie’s Consulting Chef Dean Max.

In order to make it more appealing to the restaurant’s clientele, they refined the recipe, but kept the essential flavours the same.

“We made a great stock with the flavours of the peppers, garlic, thyme and snapper bones and heads, then cooked it until it all the ingredients melded together. Then we strained this stock and cut all the other vegetables into nice bite size pieces.

“We then added in the stock, coconut milk, butter, cream and vegetables and simmered it until it all came together again. We added the snapper meat and fresh conch towards the end to cook them and develop the flavour of the stew, but this allows us to control the doneness of the fish and conch and not over cook them. We season more with scotch bonnet if it needs some more heat. The traditional fish tea is fairly spicy, so we like to heat it up a bit. Then we serve it with some chopped callaloo right at the end which you may or may not find in the traditional version.”

“We just took a tradition and cleaned it up so the modern folks of today would enjoy it...but I can’t claim any genius on inventing it,” says Chef Dean.

Whether you go for the rough and ready traditional version or the more polished contemporary style, fish tea brings you all the great flavours of Cayman in one cup or bowl.