Good Food

Cooking with Virginia Burke, Author of Eat Caribbean

Virginia Bourke
Virginia Burke

This past Saturday, Bookland on Knutsford Boulevard hosted a cooking demonstration and book signing with Virginia Burke, author of two Jamaican cookbooks, Eat Caribbean and Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen. The event was well attended by foodies, bloggers and cooking enthusiasts who watched and listened attentively as Virginia ably demonstrated how to cook escoveitched chicken (yes, chicken not fish) and pumpkin cornmeal fritters with apple love sauce.

Virginia made it look so easy that even I, who is hardly a chef, was tempted to try the recipes, all of which are found in her two cookbooks. Both books contain many fabulous recipes, both traditional and modern, using flavours and foods from the Caribbean. Both books are also beautifully illustrated and so just nice to thumb through and you can get them locally at Bookland and other leading bookstores, as well as online in the rest of the world.

After the cooking demonstration, the audience was invited to sample the delicious and relatively healthy dishes. I also learned two things I didn’t know, firstly that white pepper was simply finely ground black pepper, and secondly that coconut oil is actually delicious with certain dishes and not as bad for you as we’ve been led to believe.

I bought the Eat Caribbean book and today I’m trying to make the black bean dip! Looking forward to the next “cooking demonstration”!

Escoveitched fish salad
Escoveitched fish salad
Pumpkin Fritters
Pumpkin fritters
The Chef's table
The Chef's table
Peppers
Seasonings
Virginia Bourke
Virginia Bourke

Book Signing

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6 Comments

  1. January 4, 2014 at 2:57 pm — Reply

    Unquestionably imagine that that you said. Your favourite reason seemed to be on the web the easiest factor to have in mind
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    consider concerns that they plainly don’t understand about.

    You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the whole thing with no need side-effects , other folks can
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    Thanks

  2. November 4, 2011 at 2:10 pm — Reply

    we need more posts on such topics to inform the masses.

  3. Colette Garrick
    September 7, 2010 at 11:59 am — Reply

    Great article Karin.I’m lucky to have tasted Virgina’s food both at her home and when she has catered so I feel qualified to agree that she is a top notch chef. I’m also the proud owner of 3 of her books.
    Congrats Virgina you remain a true professional.

  4. August 23, 2010 at 9:40 am — Reply

    Thanks for the clarification Virginia!

  5. virginia Burke
    August 23, 2010 at 9:29 am — Reply

    Thanks for the big up!
    I thoroughly enjoyed the event as it was a delightful space to work in ( naturally a kitchen would have helped) and the audience was lively. Thanks to you all for coming.

    I just want to clarify though …… as I was partly wrong on the white pepper issue…. white peppercorns are the same as black, but the skin has been removed before grinding. Green peppercorns are the unripe berries.

    What is a different plant family – is the pink peppercorn.

    White pepper is mainly used in mashed potatoes and white sauces. I find the flavour different, and there is a lot of controversy about the use of both.

  6. August 22, 2010 at 10:39 pm — Reply

    Enjoyed this blog and Virginia’s cooking demonstration. EAT CARIBBEAN is a must have!

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