Ah, food… It’s funny how unstable my relationship with food is. More on that later.

Food, food, glorious food. Or rather, dishes. I have 3 favourite dishes from Guadeloupe (my goodness, I DO love threes! Triple impact was my 2026 theme )

My top 2: Dombré (pronounced ” Don-Bray”) and Bokit (“Bow”-“kit”). Oh, I’d die for a dombré. They are basically dumplings. You usually have them in a red kidney beans sauce, with pig’s tail. My body seems not to be liking flour and pork much now but oh, how my palate still does. I’ve experimented with having chicken instead of pork. Seems like my body complained less.

Then there’s Bokit too. It’s a healthier burger; the buns are cooked while you wait; the filling is more … filling too. There are many different options. Ham and cheese is a favourite here. But my personal favourite has always been chicken. Actually, I haven’t been able to taste one good bokit since I’ve been back to Guadeloupe. My stomach is so fragile. It can’t handle spice anymore. But at some point, I hope I’m able to indulge a little. A bit like what’s portrayed above 😛

But there’s another dish I quite like, “diri é pwa rouj” (pronounced “Dee-Ree-Eh-Pwa-Rouge”). I think our Jamaican bredrin call it rice and peas. It’s rice and red kidney beans, mixed in one pot. I ate a lot of that in the UK during the last years I was there, craving home dishes. But there’s a version of that dish I prefer. It’s when the red kidney beans are cooked separately, making their own sauce. Ironically, that’s the one dish I haven’t yet eaten since I’ve been back. 

Now what was I on about at the outset? About an unstable relationship with food? Well, I was a very picky eater growing up. Then when I hit the teens, I became a human dustbin, pretty much. I would probably still be the same now, but many foods inflame me, so I am back to being a picky eater… but not by choice. Anyway. No need to get the violins out. I’m optimistic that things will get a bit better once I’ve done the inner work. I’m quite confident my issue is partly psychosomatic.

Agape.

R.

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P.P.S: Here’s an ode to Bokits with all the Caribbean flavour we could muster 😛

The essays tell you how I think, the stories tell you where my imagination takes me, but these tell you who I am