Green fig and saltfish

Ingredients

Green figs

• 10green bananas (about 1.2 kg), the harder and greener the better
• 1 tbspcoconut or vegetable oil, for the water
• 1 tspsalt

Saltfish

• 400 gsalted cod
• 3 tbspcoconut oil
• 2onions (300 g), sliced into half moons
• 1red and 1 green sweet pepper, sliced
• 4garlic cloves, sliced
• 3tomatoes (300 g), chopped
• 1 tbspfresh thyme leaves
• 3spring onions, chopped
• ½Scotch bonnet, deseeded and minced
• 1 tspblack pepper
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbspchopped parsley

To serve

• 1avocado, sliced
• 1cucumber, sliced thin and salted

Directions

1. Soak the salt cod in cold water for 12 hours with three changes of water. Boil it 12–15 minutes, drain, cool, and flake it into large pieces, pulling out skin and bones.
2. Score the green bananas lengthwise through the skin only, three cuts each, and drop them unpeeled into a big pot of water with the salt and the oil.
3. Boil hard for 20–25 minutes until a knife goes into the flesh with slight resistance. The oil keeps the skins from staining the pot and your hands black.
4. Drain, and peel while very hot, using a fork and a cloth; the skins slip off in sheets. Cut each fig into three on the diagonal and keep warm and covered. Cold figs turn rubbery.
5. Heat the coconut oil in a wide pan over medium heat and fry the onion, both sweet peppers and the garlic for 8–10 minutes until soft and just beginning to gild.
6. Add the tomato, thyme, spring onion, Scotch bonnet and black pepper and cook 8 minutes until the tomato has collapsed and the pan looks glossy rather than watery.
7. Fold in the flaked saltfish and toss gently 4–5 minutes just to heat through and coat. Taste before salting; it almost never needs any.
8. Finish off the heat with the lime juice and parsley, then fold the hot green figs through the pan so they take on colour from the sauce, or pile them alongside. Serve immediately with avocado and cucumber slices.

Technique

• Fig in Saint Lucia means green banana, not the fruit. It must be picked and cooked hard and starchy; a banana with any yellow will go sweet and slimy in the pot.
• This is the national dish and it is deliberately restrained: onion, pepper, tomato, thyme, saltfish. Curry powder, ketchup or heavy chilli are modern additions that muddy it.
• Peel the figs hot. Once they cool the skin welds to the flesh and you lose half the banana getting it off.
• The starch stains: rub your hands with oil or lime before peeling, or wear gloves.

Substitutions

• Salted pollock, ling or hake are all used interchangeably in the islands; adjust the soak downward for thinner cuts.
• No green banana at all? Very green plantain boiled the same way is the accepted stand-in, though the texture is coarser.

Variations

• A version fried up together in one pan, so the figs pick up crisp edges in the coconut oil.
• Cooks in Dennery and the fishing villages sometimes use smoked or fresh mackerel in place of cod.
• A breakfast plate that adds boiled dasheen and a fried bakes on the side.

History

The national dish of green banana and salt cod; bananas dominated the export economy while salt fish came from the North Atlantic trade.

Frequently asked questions

What is Green fig and saltfish?

Green fig and saltfish is a main from Saint Lucia: national dish of green bananas with sautéed salt cod. The national dish of green banana and salt cod; bananas dominated the export economy while salt fish came from the North Atlantic trade.

How long does Green fig and saltfish take to make?

Green fig and saltfish takes 25 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Green fig and saltfish?

Yes, within limits. Salted pollock, ling or hake are all used interchangeably in the islands; adjust the soak downward for thinner cuts. No green banana at all? Very green plantain boiled the same way is the accepted stand-in, though the texture is coarser.

What is the most important thing to get right in Green fig and saltfish?

Add the tomato, thyme, spring onion, Scotch bonnet and black pepper and cook 8 minutes until the tomato has collapsed and the pan looks glossy rather than watery.