Photo by Noel
Some people refer to it as shark and bake, others say bake and shark, but a rose by any other name... Shark and bake is one of Trinidad's most popular cuisine. It consists of pieces of fried shark nestled between fried bread, which we refer to as bake here in Trinidad, but are also called Johnny cakes in some other parts of the caribbean.
Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Food fame called it one of his top ten favourite foods of all time, and I can assure you it's that great. You can see part of that video right here.
Recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
For Bake:
2 cups flour ( all purpose)
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 cups water
oil for frying
For Shark:
1 lb shark
3 tbsp ground chadon beni or cilantro
3 lemons (or 4 limes)
1 egg ( for egg wash )
flour ( to flour shark )
salt to taste
oil for frying
METHOD:
For Bake:
1. Mix the ingredients for the bake and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
2. Once the dough is rested Make balls about three inches in diameter. Then flatten out to about 1/4 of an inch thick. You can vary the size according to how large or small you want your fried bake.
3. Fry on both sides until golden brown and then drain on a paper towel.
For Shark:
1. Thoroughly clean and wash the shark.
2. Season the shark with chadon beni and salt.
3. Dip the seasoned shark in the egg wash.
4. Coat with some flour.
5. Deep fry the shark until golden brown and drain on paper.
When finished cut it open like you would a pita pocket, assemble like you would any sandwich, add your favourite condiments, and you're ready to eat.
Trinidadian golpher Stephen Ames enjoyed his first PGA Tour victory in July
2004 winning the Cialis Western Open among a field that included many of the best professionals in the world,
including Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III.