Seche a la Creole Haitienne

Okay, I’m too old to travel. Because I wanted to cook and post with reasonable pictures, I went out, taking the head of Jade’s tripod with me, and bought another thing that fits on the head of the tripod. I didn’t try it at the shop because I have a lot of confidence in the owner and if he told me it fit, I was good to go.

Unfortunately, when I got home the piece would not fit on the head. Worse, it was the same piece as I had on my camera originally! So now I had two. Roger, je te jure! Remember in my first lesson when I didn’t know how to fit the camera on the tripod? Repeat. After about 45 minutes, I discovered that I had to push a little lever that allows the piece to fit. Holy Mother of God! I need to live with my husband! He knows stuff like that. That’s why I married him :)

Anyway, I was thinking about lambi or conch that the Haitians make in a spicy Creole sauce. I knew that I wouldn’t find conch at the ‘monger’s but he did have some lovely seche or cuttlefish and I asked him about cooking time. His said 15 minutes. 15 minutes? With conch, you could go to the hairdresser, have a manicure and pedicure, chat with a friend over coffee and still be waiting for it to get tender!

I did take his advice and he was absolutely right. I didn’t have a Scotch bonnet which would have made this Creole sauce more authentic, but used instead a long, green chilli for babies, though I did leave the seeds in for a little heat. Cuttlefish doesn’t have the same taste as conch but it was a good and delicious way to cook it.

Haitian Creole Cuttlefish

2 lbs cuttlefish, cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces

Juice of 1/2 lime

2 tsp salt

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp oregano

2tsp thyme

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp tumeric

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 shallots, chopped

3-4 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 red bell pepper, vaguely chopped

1 chilli for babies(long, green, mild), vaguely chopped or 1 Scotch bonnet, seeds out, chopped

2 cups dice tomatoes

1 cup water

Mix the cuttlefish with the lime juice and refrigerate. Mix together the salt, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, pepper and tumeric, then set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the onion, shallots, garlic, bell pepper and chilli, then saute until the onion is just soft. Add the reserved spice mixture and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and water, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the cuttlefish from the refrigerator, drain, then add to the skillet and simmer with the sauce for another 15 minutes.

You can serve this with rice if you want.