World Food Thursdays

Country No. 32: Suriname

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Supperclub, Haringey Ladder

Attendees: Ben, Ellen, Maor, Claire, Naomi, Calum, Eoghan, Kim, Lee, Poppy, Becky (venue chosen by Calum)

£30 a head

 

World Food Thursdays is now a well-oiled machine, an institution if you like, well into its fourth year and benefitting from 30+ venues of differing quality. If we weren’t all such a pleasant bunch it could be quite intimidating to be a noob under these circumstances. Well you know who wasn’t intimidated? Calum, that’s who. Dealt an impossible hand, the equivalent of a 2 and a 7 in Texas Hold’em Poker, he managed so well that, to continue the tortured poker analogy, he can only have rigged the deck so that the flop was a juicy 7,7,2 and he was sitting smug on a full house.

 

The random country generator TM is a cruel mistress, uncaring about standing or stature, so it was that Calum was proffered Tuvalu (the 2) or Suriname (the 7). The more experienced members of the group were quick to call a bum deal, demanding a re-draw on the basis that there was no way that either of these could be found (Zimbabwe was suggested as a back-up). Calum refused the re-draw and so it was to our great surprise when, not even 5 days later, a message popped up from Calum that demands so much respect I will re-post it verbatim.

 

“Guys, I have taken my first world food organisation seriously and have taken the selection of countries in order. In sum, I think I have found the only Surinamese restaurant in London (sunglasses smiley). There is a supper club option in Tottenham or we can do a special supper club in the lady’s house. What’s the group’s preference?”

 

A couple of weeks later we gathered outside Jessica’s apartment in North East London excited to be taking part in the inaugural World Food Supper Club. We were welcomed into Jessica’s place with warm smiles and any hesitation melted away as we took in the scene that lay before us. The air was thick with the smells of Surinamese food and Jessica was only too happy to relieve us of our beverages while we took our seats at the hastily assembled tables.

 

After a brief introduction from our gregarious host, the first course, Soto Ayam, was served. London was in the middle of a heat wave and as such you’d have thought that we may have turned our nose up at bowls of steaming hot chicken soup but as I briefly looked up from my bowl I could see that each and every gastronaught was steadfastly working their way through the delicious bowl of chicken broth. Studded with Asian spices and laden with chicken pieces and matchsticks of crispy potato the soup was absolutely delicious.

 

Once each and every morsel was drained from our bowls Jessica started to bring out the main courses. The centrepiece was an enormous platter of sweet and sticky chicken thighs, marinated in sweet soy sauce and slow cooked until they fell apart. Not content with providing one source of protein Jessica had also prepared bowl of Teloh, cassava served with spicy cod. Sides consisted of Nasi Goreng, string beans cooked with garlic, sticky plantain that was so popular it prompted visions of a flock of seagulls fighting over the last chip dropped by an American tourist in Newquay, homemade pickles and two different tomato based sauces.

 

Before we tucked in to the feast Jessica explained how to eat the contents of our plate, what foodstuffs go with that, and typically when these dishes are eaten in Suriname.

 

The food was delicious, even the smallest eaters seemed content to repeatedly return for just one more nibble of something or other. Requests were made for recipes, only to be met with curiosity – Jessica cooks from the soul, not with lists from a book.

 

Finally defeated we helped clear away the plates only to be informed that dessert, cassava cake, typically eaten on special occasions was not available due to the inability to purchase grated cassava root in London. Instead, drawing on the multi-cultural background of most Surinamese, we helped ourselves to a selection of Indian sweets and cakes.

 

The excitement levels during this veritable feast never dropped, the company was excellent, the setting perfect and the food an absolute treat. Next up is Albania and it has massive shoes to fill.

 

Surinamese Facts:

• There are 46 Surinamese people in London. They do not all hang out together.

• Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard gew up together, with their families living in the same flat in Holland.

• Tropical rainforests make up about 80% of Suriname´s total landscape.

• Suriname's largest ethnic group is Hindustani, which makes up around thirty-seven percent of the population, which was established following a large-scale immigration from Asia to this part of South America in the nineteenth century. The population of 490,000 people also has significant populations of Creole, Javanese, and Maroons.

• Suriname is the only non-European country to have Dutch as its national language.