An Ode to Green Seasoning: The Caribbean’s Best Kept Secret
Bubblin’ a pot of pelau or preparing to make a pot of stew chicken for your family’s Sunday lunch, every Trinidadian household always pulls out this special ingredient, bringing their dishes to life. Green seasoning: what is this delicious household staple used in all Caribbean savoury dishes? Green seasoning is a blend of herbs commonly found in the Caribbean, which include but are not limited to chives, chadon beni, thyme, garlic, parsley and peppers of your choosing. This sauce contains bold flavours, which stem primarily from the chadon beni, thyme and peppers. This sauce packs a punch with your food and also contains tonnes of healthy nutrients from the herbs. Without this sauce, many Caribbean folks feel as though their cooked dishes are incomplete.
Green seasoning is mainly used to marinate meats such as chicken, beef, pork, wild meat as well as all types of seafood. During your dish preparation, after cleaning and washing the meat, a full pot-spoon of green seasoning is incorporated with the meat and left to marinate for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight. Moreso, green seasoning is definitely utilized in vegetarian dishes like chokas, talkaris, soups and curries.
In recent years, green seasoning has become easily available commercially in any of your local groceries in Trinidad and Tobago. Yet, the vast majority of the Trinbagonian population still enjoy this long-held tradition and make their own green seasoning at home. Back in the day, local garden herbs were gathered and ground freshly per dish using a ‘lorha’, a round stone used to grind the herbs into a paste. Later on, the mill was introduced where the seasonings were placed into a wide funnel with a metal handle on the side. Turning the handle would blend the seasoning into a lovely chunky green seasoning. Nowadays, green seasoning is made by our convenient blenders or food processors. However you make your own with whatever ingredients you choose to use in your own blend, this is definitely a staple ingredient for anyone who loves to cook their own homemade Caribbean cuisine.
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