Gorgeous gourds

I took the kids to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs today, $31 for 3-D tickets; movie ticket prices are out of control. The kids loved the movie, I was unimpressed. There were some good underlying messages - there's nothing wrong with being intelligent and pursuing your dreams...I wondered about the possible food message - is it about overconsumption/obesity; the environmental impacts of overproduction of food; processed food; or GMOs? These are all things to consider as we manipulate the food system. Woe to the sorcerer who loses control of his magic.  The earth's biogeochemical processes have been interrupted, largely due to food production; the results have been soil erosion and aquifer depletion manifesting as windstorms, desertification/climate change, and land subsidence.  As we manipulate plants to be resistant to fungi and insects while dependent on inorganic fertilizers, what is the impact on our bodies?

After the movies I stopped at the West Indian market (owned by Asians) to pick up my bacalao and pumpkin. This is actually the first time I've purchased "pumpkin"; I usually substitute some other gourd, such as butternut or acorn squash. I used to make salt fish and pumpkin in 2005 and my family loved it. I was introduced to this by my other Trinidadian friend - my two friends have slightly different cultural backgrounds which I attribute to the reported ethnocentrism on the island (I'll refer to this one as the RN and the other as the teacher).

We were invited over for a light dinner, she served sauteed spinach (it was my first time having it), curried shrimp, salt fish and pumpkin, rice, and lemonade - this had to be in spring 2005. I went home and duplicated the salt fish recipe and made it quite frequently that summer because my CSA was loaded with various gourds. I haven't made it since.

Tonight I realized I'm somewhat of a hybrid "chef", combining culinary techniques and ingredients from a variety of cultures - I did this with the oxtails and again with the salt fish - using tricks I picked up from Eritrean and Indian cuisine - greatly enhancing the flavor of the food.

The pumpkin was a little too soft but the kids loved it; they had seconds and thirds...allegedly, they do not like squash but pumpkin is a totally different story.