Ecclesiastics 3:1
‘To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven’
I love food, I get emotional about food. I’ve passed on this love to Josh, he will literally cry for food. I often joke if you don’t like good food and eating you can’t be my friend (I’m deadly seriously, I can’t tolerate this one mouthful I’m done business).
Caribbean people take their food very seriously. I was with a couple of girlfriends yesterday and the conversations turned to menu options for wedding breakfasts. Some protested that they didn’t want rice and peas and curry goat at their wedding. I gave them the stern warning, that they will be making some enemies with the in-laws and guests, that is, if they ended up marrying a Jamaican or somebody of Caribbean decent.
A celebration is not a celebration in Caribbean culture without curry goat. It’s like having a birthday party with no birthday cake. It really is that deep, especially to the older generation.
Caribbean cooking requires marinating sometimes for hours, sometimes days! Every Caribbean home has a seasoning cupboard. Now I will talk about Jamaican cooking as that is what I know best, plus I don’t want the rest of the Caribbean community against me for disrespecting their macaroni cheese or roti. The most frequent seasonings that are used in Jamaican cuisine are, scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, garlic, onions/scallion, ginger and all-purpose seasoning. That about makes up the base for mostly all Jamaican dishes. Now a well-seasoned dish will bring flavour down to the bone.
Now my question to you is are you seasoned?
You can tell the hand of a seasoned individual. There is a tender and experienced touch, a richness, a flavour. You can be seasoned in every single area of your life. You can tell a seasoned doctor, mother, hairdresser you name it!
Now with seasoning, it’s all about balance. You don’t want to be too salty, too bland or too garlicky.
Now where do you get the seasoning from?
- Your upbringing (That’s your base)
- Your church (That’s your flavour)
- Your friends ( Shows you how intense your flavour actually is)
- Your revelation of God (That’s your depth)
- Your experiences, good and bad (Learning from your experiences brings the balance).
I believe God wants us to be seasoned individuals, because with God there is a cooking process, with cooking comes an aroma, an aroma that stems from good seasoning.
Stay tuned for part 2.
Blessings, Maz x
lightinsightbymj 