Cooking in Guyana.....Boulanger Choka!

Since greens are relatively cheap in Guyana, I try to make my stipend stretch by cooking with them.  Guyana is lucky because there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables around.  Many people have fruit trees in their backyard and many people are into agriculture.  Also, produce is not really sold in stores, it is sold at big markets.  So, it is always pretty fresh.  Eggplant in Guyana is called Boulanger. 

 

You need:

1 boulanger
1 clove garlic
½ of a small onion
1 small or middle size tomato
1 or 2 pieces o’ shallot, just for a li’l sprinkle
Salt to taste [or none, some folks don’t like salt]
Pepper to taste.
One spoonful [or less] olive oil.

You need a open fire...a gas stove does do the work good.

Rinse the boulanger with cool tap water, wipe it dry. Take a knife and stab the boulanger all over [don’t overkill, just some stabs here and there, longways, that is, lengthwise].

Peel the one clove o’ garlic and slice it up. Put slices o’ garlic into the stabs you make all over the boulanger.

Roast boulanger on stove with fire half way up, not too high. Keep turning boulanger 'round so it ain’t burn.

Roast it ‘til the skin get dark and the boulanger cook inside.

Put the boulager in a plate or bowl and cut the boulanger open, one long cut like you doing surgery. Take a spoon and scoop out the boulanger insides with garlic...remember you roast it with garlic.

[You can throw away stalk and skin now].

Chop up you onion, tomato, shallot and pepper.

Heat olive oil in pan.

Stir fry onion, tomato, shallot and pepper for a few seconds.

Now, you can either add the boulanger to the fry up onion and so on, in the pan, and mix it up well, mash it up in the pan [turn down the fire to do this].

Or you can add the fry up onion and so on to the boulanger in the bowl, and mix up, mash up together well.

Add salt to taste.

Eat this with roti, pita bread, lavash bread or spread on toast.

Recipe Adapted from: http://sapodilla.blogspot.com/2005/11/roasted-eggplant.html