The students from St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean are here in Lampeter on a three year undergraduate scholarship. There are thirty seven students who are undertaking degree courses ranging from International Development, Early Years Education, Health and Nutrition to Civil Engineering and Quantity Surveying.
The university in Lampeter has a link to the island of St. Vincent through one of its benefactors, Thomas Phillips, who had a plantation there called Camden Park. Many of the ancestors of the students here today would have been slaves on Phillips’ estate.
While they are here in Wales the students are eager to learn about Lampeter’s Welsh culture and heritage whilst also sharing their own culture and heritage with us. With this in mind they would like to invite you to celebrate their Independence Day on 27 October at a formal dinner in the Lloyd Thomas dining room. It is hoped that the link between Lampeter and St Vincent will continue even after the scholarships have ended. For more information or to book a place at the dinner please email: h.slack@uwtsd.ac.uk
This is the recipe that Shyann and Divya cooked at the Lampeter Food Festival on Saturday July 23rd 2022
The Dough:
In a large bowl combine 2 pounds of flour, one and a half tablespoons of instant yeast, five tablespoons of sugar, a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt with warm water until a soft dough forms. The dough should not be sticky. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes.
Frying the Bakes:
Generously cover the bottom of a large frying pan with oil on medium heat. When the oil is hot, separate a piece of the dough to form a bake. Roll the dough in a circular motion in the palm of your hands until a small ball is formed. Press the ball of dough down in the middle to flatten a bit, then place in the hot oil to fry. When the bottom half of the dough looks golden brown in colour, flip it and let the other half fry as well. When a golden brown colour is achieved on both sides, remove from the pan. Leave the bakes to sit for a few minutes to cool, then serve.
Saltfish
– 1 kg salt fish / cod (more if larger quantity is desired)
– 2 Bell peppers (mix colours for vibrant dish)
– 1 large Onion (2 if small)
– 1 Cucumber
– 2 tomatoes
– Cooking oil (vegetable if possible)
– Ketchup
Method
– Boil cod for 10 mins. After 10 mins of boiling pour off water then add fresh water and back to boiling for another 10 mins.
– While cod is put to boil, begin to prepare vegetables. Dice the Bell peppers, tomatoes and onion(s). Slice the cucumber (not too thin, not too big) then cut slices in halves.
– After second boiling, drain water and use fork to shred cod into tiny bits, make sure to pick out and discard any bones.
Now that your fish is boiled , shredded, and deboned, it’s time to cook.
– Place a medium sized pot on the stove to heat up on low heat. Follow up by adding in about 1/4 cup of your oil, when oil is hot, proceed to add your onions and bell peppers allowing to sit in oil and cook to a brown colour while stirring occasionally.
– Once onions and peppers have been cooked down for 3mins, add your cod, tomatoes, and cucumbers to the pot. Stir everything up.
– Add a 1/4 cup of water and squeeze in 1 ounce of ketchup, then stir.
– Leave mixture to simmer down. Take pot off when everything looks well combined and cooked down and the sauce looks thicker.
– Serve up besides your bakes and enjoy your Vincentian (Caribbean) Bakes and Saltfish.