A big thank you to my old colleague St. Kitts and Nevis’ own Anthony for introducing me to Alshika. Once again, Facebook and the fact I’ve been here far too long has paid off and I ended up with some great food and somebody who can introduce me to further Caribbean adventures. Big up both of you!
As a foreigner in Taiwan, you often get asked “What do you miss most about <insert country of birth here>. Inevitably, people will say food, sense of humour that kind of thing which is of course true. I don’t want to wear my political hat here, but what I miss is my country as it was all those years ago, not the creature it has become.
I’m sure inner city UK peeps will recognize this scene. A mother with her kid is dealing with some level of officialdom, like the post office or something. Mother is talking to official with a beautiful cut glass almost English rose type accent, with a slight Caribbean lilt. Her kid does something that gets on her nerves, and seconds later she transforms and cusses out the poor child with the roughest, most colourful back a yard slang that you can imagine. I genuinely miss that stuff. The imagery conjured up by patois is often hilarious. Obviously Caribbean culture has had a massive effect on the UK over the years (me included), and in the last 15 or so years, the food has become more mainstream and easily available in supermarkets.
Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to souse. You get it all over the Caribbean, and there as many different versions as there are islands. I would never say that what I just ate was, the only way to have it. Finding any West Indian food in Taiwan in itself is hard enough – but to get it so expertly done, manchild- another win on the slightly obscure food front. Amazing stuff, truly.
Shika very graciously prepared it for me in her secret bunker somewhere in Hsinchu area (her day job is a small catering and dessert business that I will share at the end), and had it sent to my corrugated iron lean-to shack in Xindian. It is served at room temperature, a mix of (in this case) pork bones, cucumber and red onions. There was a slight spice to it, but it was very refreshing. The photos you see here were taken by Shika herself and you can see it visually is also very appealing.
I really don’t know what else to add, it was comfort food, like your grandma might make- and just stunning. Luckily for me I ordered too much and I’ve got leftovers for the next week. Calling what I have leftovers, makes it sound like it will hang around like an embarrassment in the fridge. I assure you, given chance I’d have it for every meal. A shame it is going to run out.
As it was a special order, there is no set menu or pricing, but I’ve said to Shika she should do it more often and she is considering doing something once a month as well as her dessert business. If you get the chance, please, if you are adventurous, take her up on it. I doubt you will regret it.
Her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/shikastreats2016/
52 Cuisines? 