Jamaican Oxtails

Oxtails were once considered poor people food, but certainly that has not been the case in more modern times. "Generally," an oxtail is cut into about 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces (that is, segments) by the butcher, and the pieces include the bone. Naturally some segments are larger in diameter than others, as the oxtails taper from the larger part where it connects to the animal, to thinner pieces near the end of the tail. You may well see oxtails packaged and sold in boxes, or perhaps packaged in plastic bags, which is how I tend to buy them. Oxtails are commonly prepared in Jamaica, where there are numerous individual and family recipes. Oxtails are best when cooked slowly; so, that makes a slow cooker a great choice, or just cook them for a few hours over low heat on the stove top in a heavy-bottom pan/pot.   

 

 

Ingredients (4 servings):

 

3 1/2 to 4 pounds oxtail pieces (that's like 1 medium to large oxtail; soaked in vinegar and water, see instructions below)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2/3 cup chopped onion

5 green onions (scallions), chopped (including green)

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 cups sliced or chopped carrots

1 scotch bonnet or habanero chili, seeded and finely chopped (heat lovers: use 2 or 3 scotch bonnets)

1 1/2 cups beef stock

1 teaspoon Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme (crushed in the palm of your hand)

2 tablespoons tomato ketchup

2 teaspoons seasoned salt

3 tablespoons water mixed into 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

 

In a non-reactive pan or bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and enough water to cover the oxtails. Let soak 5 to 7 minutes, then pour off the water and rinse the oxtails in cool water and pat them dry with some paper towels. Add the oil to a skillet over medium heat; brown both sides of the larger oxtail pieces (I don't brown the small end pieces). Put all of the ingredients, except the cornstarch and water, into a slow cooker (or pan, if cooking on the stove top). I have an older slow cooker, so I set it at "high" for 75 minutes, then turn it to "low" for the duration until the oxtails are very tender (generally about 4 to 6 hours); for stove top, you can do similarly by setting the heat on "high" for about 30 minutes, then turn the heat to "low" for the duration (about 3 to 4 hours). Oxtails have a fair amount of fat, so you may choose to skim off some of the fat. Remove the oxtails carefully to a plate from the pan/cooker. I empty the cooking liquid from the slow cooker into a sauce pan and heat it and add the cornstarch/water mix to thicken it (of course, if you cook the oxtails on the stove top, you can just thicken the cooking liquid in that pan). Add the oxtail pieces back into the thickened gravy before serving. I'm a mashed potatoes kind of guy, especially with the rich gravy of the oxtails, but rice is another great choice.

 

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Detail-This word is related to "tailor," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French; more specifically, from the French spoken by descendants of the Normans in England. "Detail" is a prefixed word with the "de" from Latin "dis," in this case acting as an intensifier and meaning, "completely, totally." The main part of the word is of unknown origin, but Latin had the noun "talea," meaning "a narrow or slender piece of wood;" thus, "a stick, a twig, a rod." This gave Latin the verb "taliare" meaning "to cut," and this passed into Latin-based Old French as "taillier," meaning "to cut into pieces," and this then gave French the noun "detaillier," meaning "something or an item cut into pieces," which then became "detail" meaning "(the act of) cutting into pieces;" thus also, "a small piece (of something)," and this then became "détail," meaning "small parts of something, the particulars of something." English borrowed the word around 1600 as "detail," and the verb either came from the same French source or simply developed from the borrowed noun in the mid 1600s, or perhaps more likely something of both. The verb means "to tell something with many or all specifics;" thus also later, "to do work with attention to the smallest particulars."   

Jamaican Sweet Potato Wedges & Sauces

Sweet potato fries or wedges are wonderful and they are well known in Jamaica, where they are often baked, not fried. Good fresh red or orange sweet potatoes are commonly used, and jerk seasoning, a Jamaican specialty, is a good way to add flavor to these crispy outside, soft and creamy inside sweet potato pieces.   

Ingredients (3 to 4 servings):

 

1 pound sweet potatoes (red or orange flesh), peeled

2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, canola oil or sunflower oil

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 or 4 tablespoons jerk seasoning, store bought or homemade*

 

Cut the peeled sweet potatoes into wedges or narrower fries, if you prefer, and put them into a bowl, add vegetable oil and toss to coat the sweet potatoes. Stir together the jerk seasoning and cornstarch in a cup or small bowl, then sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potatoes and toss the wedges again to be sure all of the wedges get some of the spices. Let the wedges sit while you prepare to bake them. Begin to heat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with foil and lay the sweet potato wedges out on the baking sheet. When the oven is hot, place the tray in the oven and bake the wedges for about 30 to 40 minutes, turning the wedges once at the 18 minute mark (you may have to adjust the time according to how thick you cut the sweet potato wedges/fries). Check to be sure the sweet potatoes are done with a fork or a knife. They should be fairly crispy. Serve with curry aioli** or perhaps some sweet and spicy mango sauce: remove the flesh of one not quite ripe mango (slightly larger than a baseball in size) and add it to a blender or food processor. Remove the stem and seeds from one scotch bonnet chili pepper (or habanero chili) and add it to the blender/processor. Add 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, 1 quarter inch sliced round of onion (that is, the whole slice and all its rings), 1 large clove of garlic, 1 teaspoon white vinegar and 3 teaspoons honey. Blend/process until smooth. 

 

* To make your own dry jerk seasoning mix, here is the link:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2021/12/jamaican-jerk-seasoning-dry.html

 

** For curry aioli, here is the link:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2022/01/curry-aioli.html

 

 Some sweet potato wedges with mango sauce and curry aioli ...

 

WORD HISTORY:

Isolate (isolated)-This word is related to "isle," a word borrowed by English from French, which had it from Latin, but the ultimate origin of which is unknown. Neither "isolate" nor "isle" is related to "island," a word from the Germanic roots of English, which began to have the 's' inserted in its spelling in the 1500s in imitation of "isle." "Isolate" goes back to the Latin noun "insula," which meant "island," but as noted, where this comes from is unknown, although a form such as "in salo," meaning "in salt water;" that is, "in the sea," has been proposed. From "insula" came the Latin adjective "insulatus," meaning "make into or like an island, island-like," and this gave Italian "isolato," meaning "lonely, cut off from (thus, 'isolated')," and this was borrowed by French as "isole," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word and rendered it as "isolated" in the mid 1700s. English dropped the ending to form the verb "isolate" in the 1780s/1790s, but kept the adjectival form "isolated" as the participle form of the verb. The further meaning of "to quarantine" for the verb, "quarantined" for the adjective, and "(a) quarantine" in the noun form "isolation," seem to date from the late 1800s. The noun form "isolation"  seems to have been borrowed from French around 1800, where it had developed just a few years before from "isole," although there is a case to be made that it simply developed as such in English, but with the French inspired ending, itself from -tion, cion, which were derived from Latin "(t)io."    

Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (Dry)

Jamaica is located some 90 miles or so south of Cuba in the Caribbean Sea. Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain in the early 1960s, although Queen Elizabeth II is the queen of this island nation, and she is represented there by her appointed governor-general, but Jamaica has its own governing system and prime minister. It is tough to think of Jamaica without thinking of reggae music, musician Bob Marley and Olympic runner Usain Bolt.  

 

Jamaica is famous for "jerk" cooking; that is, foods, usually meat, especially chicken, that is marinated with a spice rub and/or liquid marinade, and then grilled or roasted. Foods prepared this way in Jamaica are spicy hot, as they contain hot chili peppers, including the famous "scotch bonnets," named after their shape, but which might make you flip your bonnet from the intense heat they can produce. I've given my version of the dry spice/herb rub here, and I may soon do a version of the liquid marinade, which uses scotch bonnet chilies. Of course, you can adjust the heat level up or down to your own preference with these types of spice mixtures. 

 

Ingredients:

 

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons dried thyme 

2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 1/2 teaspoons sweet smoked Spanish paprika

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground red chili pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

 

Add the ingredients to the container you will use for the seasoning, put the lid on and shake the container until everything is well mixed together. Shake the container again before each usage of the seasoning. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Felt-This is the noun for the type of fabric, as in "felt-tip or felt-tipped pen." It is related to "filter," a word borrowed by English from Latin (with French influence and reinforcement), with Latin having borrowed the base of the word from Germanic, and it is related to "pelt," the verb form meaning "to hit or beat," plus, "to hit with objects thrown, launched or fired in some way," a word from Latin long ago, going back to Old English, and it is related to the second part of "anvil," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Felt" goes back to one of the Indo European roots, "pel" (there are several with varied meanings), with the idea of "beat, hit, beat down;" thus also, "compress." This gave Old Germanic "felt(az)," with the same meanings, and this gave the West Germanic branch of Germanic "feltaz/filtiz," meaning "wool or wool combined with other fur beaten until compressed into a fabric." This gave Old English "felt," where it has remained ever since. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "Filz," Low German has "Filt," West Frisian "filt," Dutch "vilt," Danish "filt" (from Low German), Swedish "filt" (also borrowed from Low German, seemingly with the initial meaning of  "felt," but with the wool fabric meaning coming to mean "blanket," although that meaning seems to have also been in Low German).   

Jamaican Curry Shrimp

Spain controlled Jamaica, which they called "Santiago," from the time of Columbus until the island was invaded and conquered by the English in the late 1600s. The island remained an English/British colony until the early 1960s, although Queen Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of Jamaica to this day.

South Asian Indian cuisine has had an influence on Jamaican cooking going back into the 1800s, as Indians began to arrive as indentured servants. Goat curry has become a part of Jamaican life, although other curries, such as shrimp curry, are not uncommon. "Scotch bonnet" chili peppers are closely associated with Jamaica. These peppers tend toward being VERY hot, but I haven't seen them in supermarkets or produce markets here in Cleveland for quite some time, as habanero peppers have taken over that part of the super hot chili pepper market. "Authentic" Jamaican food would have Scotch bonnet peppers, but you can use habanero pepper. Chili peppers can vary tremendously in heat, so it's best to "sample" a chili, before you use it in a recipe. I've had chilies of various types be far hotter than than their reputation, but I've also had "hot" chilies that were so mild, as to barely register on the heat meter, and that includes habaneros. So saying "use 1 serrano," or "1/2 of a habanero" can be deceiving. When trying a chili pepper, if you take a small (I mean, head of a pin size) piece from up near to where the pepper connected to the plant stem, you'll get a better representation as to how hot the pepper is. For this recipe, I used 1/2 of a habanero pepper and it provided quite a kick, but it didn't overwhelm the dish. If you don't like heat, substitute just a pinch of ground cayenne pepper. If you like crazy heat, use a whole habanero, but remember what I wrote above, about how chilies can vary in heat.

Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons curry powder)
1 cup chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon thick ketchup
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup vegetable broth
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2  scotch bonnet (or habanero chili pepper), finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 3 tablespoons water

In a skillet or a sauce pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, the garlic, the red bell pepper and the chili pepper. Saute until vegetables soften, stirring often to prevent any burning. Add the thyme, the ketchup and the curry powder. Stir well and cook for about two minutes. Add the broth and stir well. Bring the mixture to a simmer and then stir in the coconut milk, reduce heat to low. Add the seasoned shrimp and cook until tender. Stir in the salt. As the mixture bubbles lightly, gradually stir in the corn starch and water mixture and cook until the liquid thickens up. Serve with rice, some Bob Marley music and a video of Usain Bolt running a race.   

Served with white rice...

WORD HISTORY: 

God-The ultimate Indo European origin of this word for a deity has been seen by some as uncertain, but it seems likely to go back to Indo European "gheweh," which had the idea of, "to call, to call upon." This gave Old Germanic "gutha," meaning, "one called upon;" that is, "a divine entity, a deity." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "god," meaning, "deity," then, with the acceptance of Christianity in England, the transfer of the meaning to the Christian notion of "the Supreme Being;" thus, "God," with a capital "g" to elevate the word and show reverence, but also used with a small "g" for non Christian deities, a practice used by some other Germanic languages. The other Germanic languages have: German "Gott," Low German Saxon "Gott,"^ West Frisian "God/god," Dutch "god," Danish "Gud/gud," Icelandic "Goð/goð" (ð=th), Norwegian and Swedish "Gud/gud."  

^ German and Low German capitalize all nouns; thus the capital "G."