Oil Down (Oil down)
Overview
Oil down is the national dish of Grenada, a one-pot dish of breadfruit, salted meat and vegetables cooked in coconut milk. Salted pigtail, salt beef or salt fish, sometimes with chicken, is soaked and layered in a large pot with onions, garlic, chives, thyme, hot peppers and turmeric, then pieces of breadfruit, dasheen, green bananas, carrots and callaloo leaves. Flour dumplings go on top, and coconut milk is poured over. The pot is covered and cooked until the coconut milk has been absorbed and only the coconut oil is left at the bottom, which gives the dish its name.
History
Oil down is thought to have grown out of the cooking of enslaved Africans and their descendants on Grenada, who combined breadfruit, which was brought to the Caribbean in the late eighteenth century, with salted meat and local roots. It is still cooked in large pots outdoors for family gatherings, beach days and community events, and it is also popular in local restaurants.
Main ingredients
Breadfruit, salted meat, callaloo leaves, flour dumplings, coconut milk, turmeric. The soup is built on coconut milk and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Coconut soups
Recipe
Method
- 120 min
Boil the salted meat for 20 minutes and drain.
- 2
Layer the meat, onion, garlic, herbs, turmeric and pepper in a large pot, then the breadfruit, carrots and bananas.
- 3
Put the callaloo on top, then the dumplings.
- 445 min
Pour over the coconut milk, cover and cook for 45 minutes, until almost all the liquid is absorbed.
- 5
Serve hot from the pot.
- ✓
Serve. About 1h 30m from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
