This one might be slightly different from our regular posts, Why? Cooking one minute. Capturing content next minute. Talking with friends. Taking some drinks (definitely not mauby). All while watching a real boss production team execute a real boss production with a real boss.
As you might know by now, Anthony Bourdain came to T&T to shoot an episode of his show. One segment was set up as a river lime, so the homie Keshav of LAZAbeam, the dude responsible for making it happen, invited us to be a part of the river lime atmosphere. He requested a pelau (I wonder if that had anything to do with #pelauwars2015? hmmm!) , so we thought well GRATE!! (Get it? Grate… Pelau… Cocon… ok I’ll leave it alone).
When we got to the spot, we set up our stuff and started prep. But most distracting was that team of A/V professionals in the background, preparing for the arrival of their star host. Efficient is an understatement. Real talk, it was a learning experience.
Not unlike the learning experiences that taught us how to fashion a pelau and flip it in a number of different ways. This day, we went for a classic finish with (and thank you Keshav for the most appropriate description) a distinguished flavor.
The highlights: Real coconut milk. Roucou.
Fresh veggies and herbs including the big blade shadon beni from the garden. And Baidawi’s special blend of EAF stew spice.
Just to insert a responsible touch of hipster here, we rolled with our Better Life cleaner to keep the clean up all natural. As is river and outdoors and things such as these. Because environment.
Coconut oil. Takes a little longer to brown the sugar, but you get a nice flavor in there. In any case, we’re in a lime by a river on a Monday. Ain’t nobody rushing to go anywhere.
Using brown sugar to brown the ingredients is one of the things that make the Trinbagonian method unique to us.
It’s a timing more than anything else. Need it right at the point where the sugar just starts to burn. That point not shown as it’s not possible to hold a camera while opening and emptying a bag of seasoned chicken into a pot.
While the pot was bubbling low and slow, we had time to take in more vibes. Friends around…
More food and music. (please note the slick wardrobe change by Tillah Willah.)
Extempo to Calypso to Parang. This man was running chunes.
So then he came. Anthony Bourdain. Probably the most efficient thing I’ve seen in a while is how he walked onto a ready set. Like plug and play. Down to the sound man had already captured audio of the river water rushing and leaves rustling for ambiance, and was ready to mic up the interview shot. In relation to what was to be achieved, everything happened very quickly. Did a real lively interview with Keshav and his family about their cultural experience, into some food prepared by a close friend of the family with some awesome curry skills. It was a sight to behold. He sat around afterwards for a few minutes talking to random people and taking pics. Could only imagine how exhausting that must be.
The lau turned out real nice. The highlight was being captured making a pelau by the river by a camera man on that level. No promises that it would be on the show, but the footage exists.
All in all, a nice day. Probably the closest thing to vacation in a while. We hope Anthony and his crew get the content they need to put together a fantastic show and thanks to Keshav for inviting us to see some of it happen. It was a much needed time out as much as it was a learning experience.
