Green Seasoning
Abuja, Nigeria ·
Aperçu
Green seasoning is a blended paste of fresh herbs, aromatics and chilli, used across the Caribbean as an all-purpose marinade and flavour base. Trinidad and Tobago is where it is most identified, and Guyana, Jamaica and the wider region all have versions. The source describes it as known to the Caribbean and some parts of Africa, which is a fair way of putting it. Its home is the Caribbean. What it resembles in Africa is a family of green pastes that do similar work: Senegalese nokoss, Moroccan chermoula, and the blended pepper bases used across West Africa. Those are related in function rather than in origin, and green seasoning as it is made here is Caribbean. It goes on everything: meat, seafood, grains, stews. Composition varies enormously by household and island, and the version here is a modest one built on parsley, coriander, celery, onion, garlic, scotch bonnet and thyme. Bigger versions include chive, culantro, pimento peppers and ginger. It keeps about a week refrigerated, and freezing it in ice cube trays is the standard way to hold a large batch, which is how most Caribbean kitchens handle it.
Ingrédients
Préparation
- 1
Add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender.
- 2
Blend until a smooth, uniform paste forms.
- 3
Add a tablespoon of water at a time if needed to help it blend.
- 4
Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Notes de l’Africook
Notes personnelles de Deborah Olayiwola- Add water sparingly. A tablespoon at a time is enough to get the blades moving, and too much gives a thin sauce rather than a paste.
- Freeze it in ice cube trays. Each cube is roughly one portion and it keeps for months, which is how most Caribbean kitchens store a large batch.
- Seed the scotch bonnet unless you want it genuinely fierce. The flavour is in the flesh and most of the heat is in the seeds and membrane.
- The olive oil is optional and helps it keep. A film of oil on the surface in the jar slows oxidation and stops the green browning.
- Fresh thyme in place of dried is better if you have it, using about three times the quantity.
- It is a marinade and a base rather than a finished sauce. Rub it into meat or fish hours ahead, or start a stew with it.
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