We all love authentic Jamaican food. You know, the type of Jamaican food that is cooked by a mother painstakingly over the stove for hours on end. The type of food that you play some good reggae music to while you get ready for it and then dance around as it is served. This is the type of food we are talking about. On this occasion, we decided to make Jamaican Drops as a dessert snack, which is essentially caramelized coconut. In terms of snacks, this is one of the most popular in Jamaica. It is a simple dish with only a couple of ingredients you need to have on hand.
It is also quite cheap, making it the go-to for many people in the countryside. The other good thing is that you can let your imagination run wild with it. There are many variations that will completely transform how it looks and tastes. For example, some people will make it by shredding the coconut instead of cutting it into cubes. Some people will make this recipe as a filling for another sweet pastry. That gives it a more zingy taste. Some people even add food coloring to give it an extra touch.
A Day for Coconut Drops
Now on this day, Craig sat at home tired and hungry from dragging bamboo all day from the hills to make lobster traps his dad used. Sometimes, manual labor is a big part of life in rural Jamaica. Many people in this area are farmers or fishermen. They typically set traps to catch crayfish, which are the soft-shelled versions of lobsters you see around today. However, Jamaica was taken over by the hard-shelled crayfish that are so common in Louisiana and other places.
That meant a degradation of the quality of these crayfish being caught in rural Jamaican rivers. So the procedure for drops was easy, but only Craig could turn it into a hard thing. In his love of science, one thing he loved was fire, and anyone who has played around with banana trees and fire knows that when the branch from a banana tree is dry, and gets lit on fire. It really burns quickly. It can turn into an uncontrollable mess if you aren’t careful.
The ingredients for drops are simple, being just sugar, coconut, and ginger. Being this simple meant that anyone who could put a pot on the fire could make drops. The only thing you need to worry about when making these Coconut drops is to get it right when it comes to the cooking process for the coconut. The sugar needs to turn into what is essentially caramel, which is what makes this dish so delicious. If you can get the caramel right, the rest is simply cooking the coconut to the right consistency and adding the flavors you want to give it a delicious taste. Craig decided to do it outside on a wooden fire as this would cook the Coconut Drops faster and also would not waste any electricity.
For any person who doesn’t know how to make drops, here is a quick recipe that is not the best but is very simple. This recipe is so basic because this dish is as simple as cutting up the coconut and putting it into a pot. You then boil the coconut to get it to soften. Cooking the coconut is the time to add the spices you want to give your dish a unique touch. While you are doing that, you add the sugar to get the caramel consistency. You then end up with a hot and soupy thing made up of coconut and caramel.
Simple Coconut Drops Recipe
You need
1. A dry coconut diced into pieces square pieces, preferably
2. Sugar(it is something you just know)
3. Ginger
Simply put the coconut in with the sugar and ginger, which has been blended. Let the sugar melt onto the drops and stir regularly until it becomes a thick liquid paste, which you then simply take out and put to dry, where it will cool and harden together. Not the best tutorial, but it’s a simple recipe. It is a simple snack you don’t need a lot of money to be able to eat, which is why rural Jamaicans love it so much.
