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Date: 27 Mar 2012 18:48:00
Title: Tradition Antiguan Cooking Lessons
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As I mentioned in my last blog, John and I are taking part in the First Annual Coal Pot Regatta.  This starts whenever you want in Antigua, and the only rule is that you must arrive in Maine, USA by the 3rd July for a big party on Independence Day on 04 July - sounds good to me!  The one thing you need to take with you is a traditional Antiguan Coal Pot.  These are made on the island, and have been made by three generations of the same family.  Unfortunately, this is another dying art, the lady who makes then is now in her 60's and there is no-one to follow her to keep the tradition going.  When you check in on 03 July, they provide you with charcoal, so that when you turn up at the Regatta party the following day, you need to take your coal pot and a dish that you have prepared in it.  As there is a definite art to cooking on a coal pot, Chanteze, who works for Antigua Rigging, decided some lessons might be in order, and sent me off to visit her Great Aunty Isa for some tips.   

So this is what a coal pot looks like:

 The coals go in the top and the pan sits on them.  The ash drops through the holes and out of the bottom.

The idea is that you fill the base with coals, add some special wood chips, and a bit of kerosene, and away you go.  I have been given a family recipe for an Antigua fruit pudding, similar to a Christmas pudding, which I need to boil for a couple of hours in a pan on my coal pot - Isa makes all the pudding for her family and friends every year for Christmas and needs to use a huge bucket to make the amount of batter!  Hopefully this will be different to what everyone else is doing, without Isa's help I would have been stuck doing a chilli or something similar.  The first thing I need to do is get my fruit and start soaking it in the rum and the special cake mix wine you can get here.  I did smell some that Isa had prepared and it was certainly strong - it did a great job of clearing my nose!  Fortunately, Isa has offered to make us a small pudding so we can see what it supposed to taste like before I try and make it!!

  This is a pudding mould which I have to buy, probably in the UK in which I will attempt Isa's famous recipe!!
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