Krissy

I've decided that every office needs a "hi" girl (or guy). Basically the person who cheerily greets everyone as they drag themselves in. It makes a huge difference... and I'm not gonna be that person because I'm old and jaded. I already miss my Kriss in the morning *sobbing emoji.* Krissy identifies as White/Canadian/European descent + Afro-Caribbean. I met her when she walked into work as the new intern, all cool n intimidating n shit in her leather jacket and curly ponytail. I remember sitting down for lunch and trying to be nice, making conversation with the new girl, which is definitely not something you'll find me doing on the regular. I guess I just knew this one would be a keeper.

Having zero knowledge about Bajan food, I could only rely on Google... and a few of Krissy's stories. She has many a memory from visits to Barbados that I'm just manufacturing in my mind for this bun. Particularly relatable for me is that they used to freeze flying fish, wrap it in newspaper, and smuggle it back to Canada in between clothing in their suitcases. For me, every trip back from China involved packing as much preserved meats as possible and hoping for the best at customs. So the filling of course had to include fish, as flying fish (and cou cou) is also apparently Barbados's National Dish, which makes even more sense when you know Barbados is known for their fish fries. Flying fish is not exactly easy to source so I went with basically any white fish I could find - swai fish - and minced it and mixed it with garlic, egg, cornstarch, and Bajan seasoning, which I didn't have so I looked it up and approximated my own from the ingredients list sans marjoram and mace.

Bajan food is a mix of African, Indian, Irish, Portuguese, Creole, and British influences. Which makes it hard for me to grasp what it is and how it's distinct from other Caribbean island foods. The only answer here is to force persuade Krissy to eventually take me. But in the meantime, I listened to podcasts. Chef Ramin makes the comparison of Caribbean food to American food - how it's kind of this undefined mashup of cultures as a result of colonization and slavery and eventually immigration. The Dutch brought African slaves over to grow sugarcane, and they brought with them peanuts and caramelized sugar to cook meat and African legumes including black eyed peas etc. Then when slavery was abolished, to replace the recently freed slaves, the British imported indentured Indian labor, who brought with them their spices and breads etc to the islands. I know it's easy to overlook British culture, but apparently patties are based on British pasties... except like... with spices. So a lot of ingredients and dishes can be traced back to some migration pattern.

Plantains along with cassava, sweet potato, breadfruit, taro, etc are collectively called provisions - the group of starchy and dense foods that are often the base or accompaniment to Caribbean meals. Slaves were given plots of land to grow their own sustenance, so naturally these root vegetables became essential to the diet. Anyways, so I took inspiration from this plantain gnocchi recipe to make a plantain bun* that I accidentally overproofed. And then I pretended like this slightly alcoholic dough was totally intentional because whether you're freezing in Canada or relaxing on a beach in Barbados, you're probably in need of a drink. 

Finally, as a quick nod to her Canadianness, I garnished each bun with a glistening sweet and crispy piece of roasted Canadian bacon glazed with maple syrup.

Things I would've done differently: not forget the chilies, not overproof the dough, not forget a cross section shot in my haste.

Krissy's complete list: 

maple syrup, ofc

maple syrup combined with ginger and salmon or back bacon

back bacon (that's been rolled in cornmeal and seared) on dinner roll

gma's corn and peas on toast (lazy bechamel base with savory seasonings + cheese + frozen corn and peas + canned tuna on toast)

mom's home canned applesauce and strawberry jam

fish cakes from Barbados

jerk chicken

fried plantains

fried flying fish

uncle kerry's mac n cheese (with mustard and ketchup... which is also backed by Rihanna)

*

plantain buns

2c flour

1T cornstarch

1/8t salt

1/8t baking soda

1t yeast

1 plantain boiled and mashed + 1T oil