Cutter

Ingredients

Salt bread

• 500 gstrong white flour
• 7 gdried yeast
• 1 tbspsugar
• 2 tspsalt
• 50 gbutter or shortening
• about 300 ml warm water

Fillings

• fried flying fish fillets
• or ham and cheese
• or Bajan fish cakes
• or fried egg

To dress

• Bajan pepper sauce
• mustard
• butter
• sliced cucumber and tomato
• lettuce

To serve

• wrapped in paper, from a rum shop or a snackette

Directions

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, rub in the fat, and add warm water. Knead for eight to ten minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should be soft rather than stiff, which gives the tender crumb a cutter needs.
2. Let it rise, covered, until doubled, which takes about an hour and a half. Divide the dough and roll each piece into a flat oval. Press the seam gently to seal it.
3. Let them prove until visibly puffy, about forty minutes. Now baking them in a hot oven. Bake at 200°C for fifteen to eighteen minutes until pale golden. Keep them pale rather than deep brown, since salt bread should have a thin soft crust.
4. Brush them with a little butter as they come out, which softens the crust further. It is not easily available elsewhere, and any small firm white fish makes a perfectly good cutter.
5. Season the fillets, dust them in seasoned flour, and shallow fry them until golden.
6. Fry them briefly, since flying fish fillets are thin and overcook in moments. Bajan fish cakes are made from salt cod, flour and Bajan seasoning, dropped in spoonfuls into hot oil.
7. Butter it, add the filling, and dress it. Use it according to your nerve, since it is genuinely hot. Wrap it in paper and eat it immediately, in the hand. It is bought at a rum shop with a cold beer or a mauby.

Technique

• Salt bread is folded over on itself, which gives its shape and a line to cut along.
• Flying fish stocks have declined and any firm white fish works.
• Bajan pepper sauce on the cutter is effectively standard.

Substitutions

• Any small firm white fish in place of flying fish.
• Shop-bought soft white rolls, though salt bread is better.

Variations

• Made with Bajan fish cakes.
• Made with ham and cheese.
• With a fried egg, as a breakfast cutter.

History

A salt bread roll filled with fish cakes, ham or fried fish, the standard Barbadian street lunch.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cutter?

Cutter is a street food from Barbados: salt-bread sandwich with ham, fish, or fishcakes. A salt bread roll filled with fish cakes, ham or fried fish, the standard Barbadian street lunch.

How long does Cutter take to make?

Cutter takes 30 min plus 2 hr rising of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 cutters. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Cutter?

Yes, within limits. Any small firm white fish in place of flying fish. Shop-bought soft white rolls, though salt bread is better.

What is the most important thing to get right in Cutter?

Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, rub in the fat, and add warm water. Knead for eight to ten minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should be soft rather than stiff, which gives the tender crumb a cutter needs.