Lesson 34 of 48 · St. Elizabeth
Consolidate di kitchen verb chain dem — an master di mek-causative: mek i bwile, mek i cool dung, mek i cris.
Time fi cook fi real. Patois instructions are bare-verb imperatives, chained just like Lesson 29 taught you — no 'then you should', just verb after verb. Softeners when asking: Beg yuh pass di vinega deh (please pass the vinegar); ...noh? at the end invites help. RECIPE ONE — escovitch fish, the pride of every south-coast kitchen: Scale di fish an wash i wid lime (scale the fish and wash it with lime). Season i wid salt an black peppa (season it with salt and black pepper). Put di frying pan pon di fire mek di ile get hot (put the pan on the fire so the oil gets hot). Fry di fish mek i cris (fry the fish till it's crisp). Now slice up onion, carrot an country peppa (now slice onion, carrot and hot pepper). Bwile dem likkle inna di vinega wid pimento (simmer them briefly in the vinegar with allspice berries). Dash i pon di fish an lef i mek i soak (pour it over the fish and leave it to soak). RECIPE TWO — rundung (food cooked down in coconut milk): Put di coconut milk pon di fire mek i bwile dung (put the coconut milk on the fire and let it boil down) till i start tun oily. Dash een yuh mackerel or saltfish (add your pickled mackerel or saltfish) — soak out di salt fus! Add onion, tomato, thyme an one scotch bonnet — whole, no bus i! (whole, don't burst it). Mek i simmer dung low (let it simmer on low). Serve i wid bammy or bwile banana (serve with cassava flatbread or boiled green banana). Common learner errors to recast: 'put it in' — recast dash i een; 'let it boil' — mek i bwile; over-polite 'please could you' — beg yuh...deh or add noh?; and naming dishes in English — it is escovitch, rundung, bammy, always.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| escovitch | eskovich | fried fish in spicy vinegar pickle |
| rundung | rondong | food cooked down in coconut milk |
| saltfish | saalfish | salted cod |
| bammy | bami | cassava flatbread |
| skellion | skelyan | scallion |
| country peppa | konchri pepa | scotch bonnet pepper |
| pimento | pimento | allspice |
| vinega | vinega | vinegar |
| dutchy | dochi | round-bottomed cooking pot |
| bwile | bwail | boil |
| bwile dung | bwail dong | boil down, reduce |
| dash een | dash iin | add in, throw in |
| fry | frai | fry |
| cris | kris | crisp |
Chained bare-verb instructions of exactly this shape are his showcase for the connective-free verb series; the dish names and cooking vocabulary are outside the chapter.
The description of the grammar is checked against the published work above. The lesson, the examples and the wording are mine.
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