Dominica - home cooking

The first issue I had here was searching for cuisine from Dominica. Search for "Dominican restaurants" or "Dominican cuisine" and the vast majority of results come back relating to the Dominican Republic - an entirely different country.

Unsurprisingly, there are no restaurants in London which serve the food of Dominica. Weeding out relevant recipes to choose from for home cooking was tricky due to the point raised above. I found myself with a very short shortlist in the end. Including mountain chicken. Which I considered, until I realised it was bits of frog. Other recipes I came across were mostly regional, Caribbean-wide meals. But one of these popped up from a few different sources, with what seemed like a unique Dominica twist. So I set off on cooking tuna bakes.

And almost instantly regretted it. Once again, I was going against my self-imposed rule of never cooking anything which involved flour, eggs, or any eventual mandatory ideal consistency. And here I was embarking on a mission to fry balls of flour in hot oil.

Preparation was in two stages. Prep for the scone-like bakes and prep for the filling. I started with the latter, and it was incredibly simple. In a large bowl I mixed 3 tins of tuna in brine (drained), 1 chopped onion, 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1 tin of sweetcorn (drained), the juice of one small lime and some salt. Once well mixed, this went into the fridge.

Next, in another large bowl, I mixed 600 grams of self raising flour with 5 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt. I was supposed to add 1 tablespoon of soft dark brown sugar at this point, but the sugar I had seemed really moist and I was concerned it was just going to create difficult clumps of floury sugar. So I decided to dissolve the sugar in the water that I would ultimately add to the mix. This water was added gradually until I ended up with a soft dough. Too soft. I was at this point somehow supposed to roll the dough into balls which I would then fry.

I ended up with a bowl of loose, sticky gloop. I tried to take it into my hands, but it just stuck to my fingers. There was no rolling into balls here.

My first thought was just to bin it, go to the shop, buy some potatoes and use the tuna filling in baked potatoes. But in desperation, I decided to heat the oil in a pan anyway and somehow just try and spoon the mixture into the pan. Within seconds of doing this, I realised this was going to work! As soon as the mixture hit the heat, it stayed together really nicely, and turning each bake several times to brown on both sides wasn't a problem at all. Before I knew it, I was frying four at a time!

I was a little concerned that the inside of each bake was still too soft, so each load I removed from the pan then went into the oven for 5 minutes or so, just to ensure the bakes had fully set. I think this was a really good idea, and didn't impair the bakes at all. In fact, I think it may even have helped accentuate the crisp of the outside of the bakes.

I ended up cooking 12 decent sized bakes, with a little mixture left over. I ended up serving three per plate, sliced in half and filled with the tuna mixture.

The verdict. First of all, I was ecstatic that I was able to pull this off at all. I had the lid off the bin at one point, about to dump it all. As for the eating, it was actually really very good. The bakes were a little greasy, but they *had* been fried and had taken in a good bit of oil. (Drying off with a kitchen towel before serving is a must). This did add to the flavour and the texture. They were nice and soft, with a crispy outside, maybe just a little bitter to the taste. There was no real impact from the sugar, but I expected the sugared water helped as a binding agent. The filling was no real surprise, as the ingredients were pretty simple and obvious. The bakes were good to eat with the hands, but again kitchen towel was at the ready! It all went really nicely together.

There was enough left over for a substantial lunch the next day. Elle and I both agreed that the bakes were even *better* the next day! Yes, a little less crispy, but much more set and firm. I thought, as the bakes were quite greasy, that it would be a good idea to warm them in the microwave before filling with the tuna mixture, and I stand by that idea.

Essentially we had what would be considered street food as a main dinner and a lunch on consecutive days. Very tasty, actually quite simple, and - for me - a bit of a personal triumph!