“Ruffest, yuh want ham for Christmas?” a woman in the meat shop asks her male companion. With a big grin on his face he answers: “Of course, girl; you know every Christmas I want my pork!”
Hyacinth Guerrero-Huggins is in the same meat shop. A member of the popular Guerrero family business, Cafe Mariposa in Lopinot, Guerrero-Huggins smiles widely. She is on a mission to purchase for the Cafe’s annual Pork event and takes the opportunity to invite the couple to the event as they all talk about their love for Christmas pork.
I am in the meat shop as well, in line to pay for my pigtail. I can’t help engaging Guerrero-Huggins. “So a Christmas without pork is no Christmas at all?” I ask the Spanish looking woman with the straw hat. My statement becomes the prelude for passionate talk on pork, cocoa, Lopinot and parang!
“I am a part of the Guerrero family from Lopinot. We all work in our family business- Cafe Mariposa, a restaurant and agro-tourism site/guest house. Every year we celebrate the super food of pork for Christmas. Our signature recipes evolve around cocoa which we pick from our cocoa estate. So our specialty pork has hints of T&T’s rich cocoa in it,” she informs. You eat pork?” she then asks me. I tell her that I like it but opt for pigtail mostly. She laughs heartily... “You only like pigtail chile! You ever heard about “Pork and More Pork”? Well come and sample them!”
The pork line is long and other patrons in the line are enjoying our chat as they peruse more than pork. Somehow our chat reaches treasured memories of old time Christmas in Lopinot.
“Girl I have so many fond memories of Christmas in Lopinot! I remember being awoken at 3 a.m. to the sounds of parang. Mum would be rushing about putting out the drinks and snack trays. The smell of coffee brewing... Not instant coffee eh but the one that had to be boiled and strained through a cloth bag. No percolators in those days; but really good coffee grown and roasted by grandpa. The incessant chop, chop, chopping of the ingredients for the pastelle... We had no meat grinders back then we had sharp knives or ‘chinese choppers’ as they were called,” the Lopinot resident reminisces.
Amidst the chopping sound of the meat cutting and making a million orders behind the counter all I can dream about is pastelle and crispy skin pork.
“As children our jobs were to find chadon beni. We all knew where the best areas were for reaping. Everyone had a part to play. We started to cook before we were ten years old. Kneading flour and making bake was the intro. Granny and Mum were really great cooks. We learned innovation from them. Grinding chataigne and kneading it into flour to make bake,” Guerrero-Huggins continues.
“You used to go to the meat shop for your pork back then?” I ask, to which she responds: “Pigs were reared for the year to be slaughtered for Christmas. We made black pudding. We smoked meat over the fireside. Most was used in pastelle making. Pork, was used because it stayed moist even after long hours of cooking. It’s a very sweet meat and as it was used fresh the flavour was amazing. We just love pork”.
Last year Cafe Mariposa and the Guerrero family were invited to partake in the Montserrat Farmers Cocoa Festival. They did their signature cocoa pork to the delight of attendees.
“We had a barbeque pit and did an entire pig and a half. We made breadfruit salad using ripe breadfruit and cooked mixed rice. We also offered sandwiches with our pot-roasted mini bakes. Needless to say most of the breadfruit and rice had to be thrown away. No one wanted sides. We want pork...just pork; no sides. And they were lining up waiting just for that. One man said he’s on a Keto diet and could only eat the meat.Hahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Due to the great reviews they received the Guerreros decided to do a full pork event for 2020 and call it Pork and More Pork. No sides.
“And so the event was created. This is the third time we are having the event but the first year with the all-pork theme. Don’t expect any sides. Just pork by the portion,” the mother of two advises.
At this moment the people in the pork shop are all hungry and excited. “Gimme ah good pork recipe nah,” a short man with grey beard demands while three women ask for directions to Lopinot.
“Everyone is invited; of course Covid 19 regulations will be in full effect with curbside pick-up and orders before hand. Beautiful recipes speaking of which have you ever tried Double Dog (whiskey) pork cooked on a chulha?” her final question to me is enough for me to forget pigtail and dream about gourmet pork like Ruffest!
The Link LonkDecember 06, 2020 at 08:07AM
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Pork delights in Lopinot - Trinidad & Tobago Express Newspapers
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Pork
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