Island Recipes: How To Make Curaçao's Favorite Foods

"TUTU"

1 pound Black eye peas
6 cups water
2 garlic cloves, chopped (or 1-teaspoon Garlic powder)
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup sugar
1 cup Coconut milk (sugarless)
1¾ cup Yellow corn meal
2 tablespoons butter

Wash peas and soak in water for 2-hours. Drain, add 6 cups fresh water, add chopped garlic, and bring to a slow boil over medium heat. If necessary, add more water, till bean are tender and soapy. Add salt, sugar and Coconut milk, cook for another 10 minutes. Add corn meal a little at a time, while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring, adding force, to fold the peas with the corn meal. The heat, cooks the corn-meal. So it takes about 20 minutes for the cornmeal to cook thoroughly. Add butter; finish stirring till butter incorporates well. Damp one flat-dish with water; transfer the "tutu" to the dish. Damp a second dish with water; cover the "tutu", press hard on the dish, till the "tutu" starts showing between the dishes. The "tutu" is ready to be enjoyed with cheese or cod fish.

BANANA STOBA (STEWED PLANTAINS)

1 pound salted meat
3 yellow plantains
½ pound sweet potatoes
½ pound pumpkin
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion
2 celery stalks, cut in 1-inch long pieces
4 cinnamon sticks
10 allspice, whole
10 cloves, whole (sugar, according to taste)

Cut meat into 2-inch cubes and soak overnight in refrigerator. Next morning, discard water. In large pot, put meat cubes, add water and cook over medium heat till meat is tender. Set aside. Peel plantain, and cut into 3-inch pieces. Skin sweet potato, and cut into 3-inch cubes. Remove hard skin, seeds, and stringy portion from pumpkin, and cut into 3-inch cubes. In a large pot, heat oil and butter, sauté the onion, add celery, cinnamon sticks, allspice and cloves. Add water, meat, and cook for 10-minutes, then add the plantain, sweet potato and pumpkin. Cook over medium heat, until vegetables are done. If too watery, scoop out vegetables and continue cooking to reduce liquid to a heavy sauce. Return vegetables to sauce, stir lightly. Add sugar according to taste.

REPA DI PAMPUNA (PUMPKIN PANCAKES)

4 cups mashed pumpkin
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ cup raisins

Cut pumpkin lengthwise in four. Remove hard skin, seeds and stringy portion. Cut portions in two. Do not remove hard skin. Boil in a large pot until tender. Let cool, now, remove skin, mash and set aside. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. In another bowl, beat eggs, add milk, vanilla and mashed pumpkin. Stir till batter gets creamy. Fold mixed dry ingredients gradually to the batter. Add raisins and finish stirring. On a hot, oiled griddle, drop about 3-spoonsfull of batter, cook till golden brown on both sides.

FUNCHI (POLENTA)

3 cups Yellow Corn Meal
5 cups water
1 tablespoon salt

In a heavy saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add salt. Gradually sprinkle in the cornmeal, while whisking rapidly and continuously' for 20 to 30 minutes. Switch from whisk to wooden spoon as cornmeal turns heavier. Keep spooning until the "funchi" is done and starts tearing away from sides of the pan. Transfer the "funchi" to one flat dish, damped with water. Cover with second damped dish, press hard on bottom of the dish, until the "funchi" starts showing between the dishes. The "funchi" is now ready to serve. Leftover "funchi", can be cut into 1/2½ inch thick slices, and fried in oil till crispy. Serve with grated cheese.

KARNI STOBA (STEWED BEEF)

2 pounds stewing beef
1 tablespoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons butter (Or margarine)
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoon Soy sauce

Cut beef in 2 inch cubes. Place in large bowl, season with salt, pepper, chopped garlic, ¼ cup water and marinate for 3-hours. In large pot, add sugar, allow becoming dark brown. Add oil and butter, let heat well till smoking hot. Drain beef from marinate and put into hot fat. Stir from time to time. Adding a little of the marinade, till all is used. Add cumin, Tomato paste, chopped onion, chopped green pepper and soy sauce. Stir and add enough water to cover beef. When water starts boiling, lower heat, cover pot, and simmer on low heat, till beef is tender. If necessary, add more water during cooking.

BONCHI KORA (RED KIDNEY BEANS)

1 pound Red kidney beans
1 pound pork tail
1 pound salted meat
1 large onion (whole)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 celery stalks, cut in two inch long pieces
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon butter

Cut pork tail in 2-inch size. Cut salted meat in 2-inch cubes. Soak together, overnight in refrigerator. Next morning, discard water. In large pot, put pork tail and salt meat, add fresh water and cook over medium heat, till pork tail is tender. Scoop out the pork tail, and leave the salt meat to finish cooking. Salt meat tends to take longer to get tender. Scoop out meat and set aside together with pork tail. Taste water for salt content. If too salty, replace 1-cup salt water, with 1-cup fresh water. Repeat, till satisfied with taste. Add beans, onion, garlic, celery, nutmeg, sugar, butter, and cook over medium heat, until bean is tender. Add pork tail and meat, cook further until soupy, not too watery and not too thick.

PAN SERA (HARD BREAD)

70 grams Yeast
7 ½ kilograms flour
140 grams sugar
125 grams salt
1250 grams shortening

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Add the shortening, mix with dry-ingredients, kneed for 20 minutes. Mix well, to form a firm dough. Cut a piece of dough, scale at 200-grams. Each bread, should weight the same. Form balls, put on flat baking sheet, cover with towel, let rise for 10 minutes. Flatten with hand, to form round, flat breads. Score the top with short diagonal cuts, or pinch diagonal with fork. Place on greased baking sheet, sprinkled with flour. Bake in warm oven at 250 F, till cooked. Test this by inserting toothpick. When it comes out clean, the bread is ready.

KESHI YENA (STUFFED CHEESE)

6 ounces Edam cheese, sliced
1 pound cooked chicken, shredded
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 cup Chicken bouillon,
1 tablespoon Tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce,
¼ cup chives, finely cut
½ cup celery finely chopped
¼ cup parsley finely chopped
½ cup pitted olives
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons Piccalilli
½ cup raisins
3 eggs

In large bowl, mix all ingredients with shredded chicken, except cheese. Beat eggs, until frothy; add to mixture. Align 6 small oven-proof bowls with cheese slices, over lapping from bottom up to edge of bowl. Fill with mixture, cover top with cheese slice. Use 6 slices of cheese per each bowl. Take overlapped cheese hanging from bowl, and cover neatly on top layer. Bake in oven, at 350 degrees F. for 30-minutes
To serve, place dish on top of bowl and carefully, turn upside down to release neatly formed "KESHI YENA". Garnish with shredded green lettuce.