Bird feast!

Keisha Shakespeare-Blackmore, Staff Reporter

Chef Lancelot Harris is known around town for his culinary skills, especially when it comes to preparing bird meat.

Every bird season after each trek into the bush, the Drift Wood Gun Club bring back their rewards of the hunt for chef Harris to prepare a hefty feast. The feast takes place every Tuesday evening at Medusa, off Hope Road, for club members and their guests.

They can enjoy the birds in a variety of ways - escoveitched, honey garlic and deep fried.

Harris said he was introduced to bird meat some years ago at Medusa and he has come to enjoy preparing the rare delicacy. However, the chef has been doing his thing in the kitchen since he was 17 years old. He told Food that he learnt how to cook from his grandmother, Helen Cuthbert, and his uncle, Silvester Bourne, whom he called 'Dad'.

Love for cooking

"I grew to love cooking, so I decided to make it a profession," he told Food. "After I finished high school, I went to the College of Arts, Science and Technology (now University of Technology) and did institutional management catering."

For the 45-year-old chef, cooking is more than just a profession, it's his life and passion. "All my friends will tell you that I eat, walk, breathe cooking, that's how much I love it."

Honey garlic bird

Ingredients:

6 birds cut in halves

2 tsp Maggie All Purpose Seasoning

2 tsp chicken seasoning

1 tsp dried chilli pepper (or to taste)

1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning (or to taste)

Cheyenne pepper to taste

1 cup coconut oil or enough to deep-fry birds

Method

1. Remove feathers from bird.

2. Cut bird in halves and remove guts and other unwanted matter.

3. Add lime juice or vinegar to a pan of water and wash birds thoroughly then drain.

4. Season and leave overnight to marinate.

5. Heat oil then add birds and let fry until tender.

6. Add either escoveitch or honey garlic sauce to fried bird meat or enjoy deep-fried.

To make escoveitch sauce:

3 large onions (cut in rings)

3 Scotch bonnet pepper (or how much you can handle)

2 large carrots (cut in strips)

Vinegar to taste

Cut onions and Scotch bonnet in rings and carrots in strips. Then pour vinegar into a container with carrots, onions and Scotch bonnet and heat for about two minutes.

To Make honey garlic sauce:

1 cup of ketchup

Honey to taste

A head of garlic or to taste (blended)

Combine all ingredients and simmer over low flames until it's nice and thick.

Cabbage

Supplies this week are so good, the asking price in markets and supermarkets are as low as $20 per pound.

Most rural markets are asking $30 per pound as is Montego Bay's Charles Gordon Market.

In downtown Kingston prices will range from $30 to $40 for a pound of cabbage.

Oxtail

This is fairly easy to come by this week in supermarkets and meatshops across the island.

The asking price in most butcher shops in corporate and rural areas will be $280 for a pound of oxtail.

Some supermarkets will ask as much as $380 this week for a pound of oxtail.

Ackee

This is also on good offer this week. Markets in May Pen and Spanish Town will ask $50 this week for a dozen ackees, and so will most rural retail markets.

Montego Bay's Charles Gordon Market will quote prices ranging from $50 to $100 per dozen, so will downtown Kingston's less-expensive retail markets.

Dry coconut

In downtown Kingston the cost will vary from $50 to $80 for a dry coconut, as will most rural retail markets.

Negro yam

This is easy to come by in most markets across the island.

Montego Bay's Charles Gordon Market will ask $50 this week for a pound (454.55g) of Negro yam and the same price will hold good in most rural retail markets.

Downtown Kingston's less-expensive locations will ask $50 for a pound of Negro yam.

Ripe plantain

This is not hard to find in markets across the island. Most rural retail markets will ask prices ranging from $20 to $50 each, as will most rural retail outlets.

Montego Bay's Charles Gordon Market will quote prices ranging from $30 to $80 each for ripe plantain this week.

Breadfruit

Montego Bay's Charles Gordon Market will this week ask prices ranging from $50 to $100 each for a breadfruit, as will most rural retail markets.

Downtown Kingston's less-expensive locations will quote prices ranging from $40 to $100 for a single breadfruit at this time.

Seasoned bird meat.

AT TOP: Who would have known bird meat could taste so good? Try some of Chef Harris' escoveitch or honey garlic bird meat. Yummy!