Peta Cooks Ackee and Saltfish

Ideas to Try

Safety
Before you start, think about how to use the different equipment safely. Will you need to wear safety gear? Check with your teacher if you are not sure.
Special safety rules for cooking
You must have an adult with you if you are cutting vegetables or using the cooker. Wash your hands and make sure things are kept clean. Germs in the kitchen can cause bad stomach upsets.

A. Make Roti
Here's a recipe for a Caribbean fried bread.

You will need:
Ingredients
1.5kg of plain flour
6 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
500g of butter or margarine
approximately half a litre of water
vegetable oil for frying

Equipment
Mixing bowl
sieve
wooden spoon
pastry board
rolling pin
spatula
measuring jug
teaspoon
frying pan
paper kitchen towels.

Method
1. Sieve the flour and mix it with the other dry ingredients.
2. Rub the butter or margarine into the flour using just your fingertips. Keep going until the mixture looks like fine golden breadcrumbs.
3. Add a little water and mix well. Keep doing this until the mixture makes a firm dough. Do not put in too much water – you don't want soggy dough.
4. Sprinkle a pastry board with flour. Turn out the dough onto the board and knead it with your knuckles.
5. Leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes, then knead it again.
6. Break the dough up into ten small pieces and roll it into little balls.
7. Flatten each ball with a rolling pin until you have a thin pancake.
8. Put a little oil in a frying pan. Stand the pan on the stove.
9. When the oil is hot, put in the first roti. Fry it for two minutes, then turn it over and fry the other side. Lift it out and put it to drain on a paper kitchen towel.
10. Cook the other roti in the same way.

B. Make Sweet Potato Pudding
Like a lot of Caribbean recipes, this favourite dish uses coconut.

You will need:
Ingredients
1kg of sweet potatoes
1 cooking apple
500ml tin of coconut milk
100g of raisins
100g of sugar
a little butter or margarine
vanilla essence
nutmeg

Equipment
Grater
bowl
teaspoon
mixing spoon
deep baking dish or tray

Steps
1. Peel and grate the sweet potatoes and the apple. Mix them with the raisins (keep back a handful of raisins for later).
2. Add three-quarters of the coconut milk and mix again.
3. Add three or four drops of vanilla essence, some grated nutmeg and a little sugar to taste.
4. Grease a baking dish with the butter or margarine.
5. Tip the sweet potato mixture into the dish and spread it evenly.
6. Bake the mixture in a moderate oven (180ºC or gas Mark 4) for about an hour.
7. Mix the sugar and the remaining coconut milk and raisins. Spread this topping over the sweet potato mixture and return it to the oven for another 20–30 minutes.

C. Make a One World Cookbook
Ackee and saltfish is the national dish of Jamaica. Collect recipes for traditional foods from other countries. You could look in newspapers and magazines for recipes, or follow the links from this site to find out more. Try asking friends and family for recipes they enjoy.

Make a scrapbook and copy in different recipes. Illustrate it with pictures from magazines or labels from food packages. You could add a contents page and an index. When you have done your research, you might want to share your recipes with other people. Follow the link to the World Cookbook Project to find out more.