Barbara Bretton: Wish You Were Here

What's Cooking?

The Food Goddess is in the Kitchen! I am delighted beyond words to present my friend, my pal, Kali Amanda Browne (daughter of the beauteous and talented Marie) aka The Food Goddess. Enjoy!

Creole Red Snapper and Fried Green Plantains: Puerto Rican Fish and Chips

The truest beauty about traveling is that it puts you in the right state of mind to open up for new experiences. Most of us travel and take a "when in Rome" approach to our days. It's in the nature of the thing: new places, new people, new foods . . .

Of course, nowadays the numbers of us that can afford to travel has dwindled. Instead of actually going places, I have brought places to us in a variety of ways. Technology has been immeasurably helpful is allowing us to visit places that network television ignore even in newscasts. But our kitchen is the best place to create the illusion of travel as meals lend themselves to cultural themes depending on ingredients at hand or whatever my whim is that weekend. It's almost like having a hazy memory, or a watching a dreamscape through gauze – but the palate isn't as fuzzy as the brain and can easily create its own reality.

For Columbus Day, to end the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, I made a Caribbean classic. I wanted to transport us to a specific memory: standing over a fisherman at the beach, right outside a small tavern, with his cast iron skillet and a makeshift fire from a beat up drum and beach debris (palm tree bark), frying up the catch of the day. Our feet naked on the sand, the beat of trumpets and drums blaring from an old jukebox at the bar and accentuated by men laughing, arguing about politics and béisbol, the occasional billiard hitting another; and in the background, the lulling swoosh of breaking surf and children frolicking in the deep blue sea.

Our appetizer a shot of rum to shock the system! And from the small kitchen at the bar, a young woman emerging with a platter of fried plantain's, covered in a hot garlic sauce and ice cold beers and tiny bowls of salad – lettuce, tomato, red onion -- with a ripe slice of avocado all in a tart vinaigrette whose aroma clears your sinuses . . .

Finally, seating at a wooden bench, feasting on the goods of the land and the sea and watching the sun retire for the evening and create a spectacular light show. All that savor, sensations, sights, smells, and sounds serving to create a natural intoxication that resembles falling in love but without all the complications.

. . . I seasoned flour and dredged four fillets of red snapper, and browned in pan for some 7 minutes. In the pan, after the fish was removed, I quickly sautéed diced yellow and orange sweet peppers and purple baby heirloom tomatoes with a tablespoon of capers to top the fish. The side dish to this centerpiece was a twice-fried green plantain topped with garlic sauce. It took me longer and I put a lot more effort into it than the original, but recreating a memory requires some creativity to make up for the missing elements.

It's a simple pleasure, a comfort food to remind us our ancestral home and memories of a perfect moment. I'm not going to show you how to do it, I just wanted to illustrate why I do it. And hope you join me on this side of my fantasy.

You can email me at kali.templeofdoom@gmail.com.