Mannish water

Ingredients

Meat

• 1goat head, split by the butcher
• 500 ggoat tripe
• 500 ggoat feet
• juice of 3 limes
• 2 tbspcoarse salt

Pot

• 4 litreswater
• 1onion
• 6spring onions
• 6 sprigsthyme
• 6 clovesgarlic
• 1 tbspallspice berries, pimento
• 2bay leaves
• 1whole scotch bonnet pepper

Vegetables

• 500 gyellow yam, diced
• 2green bananas
• 2chocho, chayote
• 2carrots
• 2cho-cho or 300 g pumpkin

Spinners, small dumplings

• 200 gplain flour
• ½ tspsalt
• water

To finish

• 150 mlwhite overproof rum
• black pepper
• salt

Directions

1. Cover everything with cold water, bring it to the boil, and boil hard for 10 minutes. Discarding the first boil takes away the scum and the strongest smell, and skipping it is the commonest mistake.
2. Return the meat to the clean pot with 4 litres of fresh water and bring it back to a simmer. Add the onion, spring onions, thyme, garlic, allspice berries and bay. Simmer gently, covered, for 2 hours, skimming the surface whenever foam gathers.
3. Skim it patiently through the whole cook, because this is a clear-broth soup rather than a thick one. Add the whole scotch bonnet, unbroken, and let it float in the pot. Keep it whole and take it out before it splits, so the soup takes its perfume without the full heat.
4. Add the yam, green bananas, chocho, carrots and pumpkin and cook 30 minutes more. Make the spinners: mix the flour and salt with enough water for a stiff dough, then roll small pieces between your palms into thin tapered rolls.
5. Roll them thin and long rather than round, which is what makes a spinner a spinner rather than a dumpling.
6. Drop the spinners into the simmering soup for the last 15 minutes. Taste and season hard with salt and black pepper, remembering there is a great deal of liquid to season.
7. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the white rum. Serve very hot in bowls, with the meat and the vegetables shared out and the broth ladled over.

Technique

• The goat head is the whole point; a soup made from other cuts is a goat soup, not mannish water.
• It is traditionally the first thing served while the curry goat is still cooking.
• It keeps two days in the fridge and thickens as it stands.

Substitutions

• Goat neck and shin if a head is unavailable, which changes the dish but keeps the flavour.
• Any hot chilli in place of scotch bonnet, though the fruity note is lost.

Variations

• Made without rum, which many households do.
• With more yam and dumplings, as a heavier soup.
• With the tripe left out.

History

Goat head, tripe and offal soup spiked with rum and pepper, served at weddings and gatherings and believed to boost virility.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mannish water?

Mannish water is a soup & stew from Jamaica: goat head-and-foot soup, festive tonic. Goat head, tripe and offal soup spiked with rum and pepper, served at weddings and gatherings and believed to boost virility.

How long does Mannish water take to make?

Mannish water takes 1 hr of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Mannish water?

Yes, within limits. Goat neck and shin if a head is unavailable, which changes the dish but keeps the flavour. Any hot chilli in place of scotch bonnet, though the fruity note is lost.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mannish water?

Skim it patiently through the whole cook, because this is a clear-broth soup rather than a thick one. Add the whole scotch bonnet, unbroken, and let it float in the pot. Keep it whole and take it out before it splits, so the soup takes its perfume without the full heat.