Cynthia's cookbook

The Kariwak Style cookbook is out. It's got 56 recipes, covering the important food groups from soup to staples. Cynthia Hurd Clovis has put heart and soul, and over 30 years experimenting in the kitchen with what's typical and available in Tobago. She has a preference for fresh caught Tobago fish, and a rainbow of local vegetables.

The Luise Kimme lady who welcomes you to the Kariwak dining room
and also to the cookbook.

The book itself mirrors the Kariwak dining and ambience. Skene Howie's photographs of the food and gardens and people, and Jackie Hinkson's watercolour illustrations evoke the setting for Cynthia's gentle  introductions and simply stated recipes and tips. Don't be fooled, the ease and brevity of the writing belie years of "tweaking" and tasting; and make this book well worth the wait.

The book starts with soups. At Kariwak all soups are vegetarian, satisfyingly so! The salad section calls to mind the old riddle: Why did the tomato blush? Because he saw the salad dressing. Everyday vegetables - carrots, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, beetroot - come alive with Kariwak dressings. And not just in salads, Cynthia makes sure that vegetables are the stars of the buffet!

Fish is Cynthia's favourite, and her most favoured fish is mahi mahi - very lightly cooked in an amazing sauce and served on poi (chinese poo-ten choi) leaves. For breakfast, flying fish with a crisp crust is outstanding, as is the fresh fish buljol. Beef and chicken are also treated well; with long marinating and rich thickened sauces. Though she confesses her preference for fish over beef, the ginger curry beef is intensely warming. And yes, there are advantages to meals seasoned and prepared for 40 instead of four.

Many will refer often to the section that Cynthia calls the Kariwak staples. In truth, it might be possible to live on bread alone: if it's Kariwak wholewheat and roast bake. Add pepper sauce and an authentic and lively spice tea, and you're good to go.

Dine in one of these carat-roofed ajoupas!

Meditate in this ajoupa with polished wood floor.

Cynthia's cookbook has exactly the recipes to make life more bearable; and laid out to sit flat on the counter and to actually cook from, whether you're in Tobago or somewhere far from the island. Kariwak Style Cooking evokes the village style resort whose heart is fresh and wholesome food.

Our most recent dinner at Kariwak necessitated a walk through evening drizzle from a beachside apartment. On the way there, we "picked up" a friend from Trinidad who was in the process of deciding which street-side seller he would patronise: burger and chips; Chinese food; and which corner bar for a few beers. He allowed himself to be persuaded by the prospect of our company!

It's always amusing to be with someone enjoying a Kariwak dinner for the first time. Does he taste the coconut in the silky callaloo;  the basil vinaigrette under the salty goat cheese topping the cucumber salad. Main course that night was a well-marinated steak which - at medium - was tender and juicy. And dessert was a slice of marble cake slathered with chocolate sauce, with a scoop of coffee ice cream on the side. You won't find any of these in the cookbook: the best reason for returning again and again to the Kariwak dining room - for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Salad with goat cheese, cucumber and lettuce

Marinated steak, medium, with broccoli, shredded beets and rice

Marble cake with a scoop of coffee ice cream

Cooking Kariwak Style, Tastes of Tobago, by Cynthia Hurd Clovis: 9 inches by 6.5 inches; landscape format; 140 pages; full colour; indexed. Hard cover and soft cover available