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Have you ever made and eaten Corned Beef Spread? I hadn’t, until a few days ago.
Corned beef and biscuits are an age-old combination in Barbados, made popular by the rum shops that dot the island. It’s one of the cutters that shop owners serve up to their customers. Salty, meaty, and tasty, the can of corned beef is opened and plumped onto a plate with crisp Eclipse biscuits on the side to dip into the corned beef. Over time, some shop owners would mix the corned beef with hot pepper sauce, while others would also include finely chopped onions. It’s not fancy food but it’s darn delicious and it is really there to help absorb the alcohol (lol).
The stocking and availability of canned food is a necessity, not a luxury, in places where weather systems such as hurricanes are an annual seasonal phenomenon that stretches for months. Each year we replenish our stocks in preparation for hurricane season. The Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1 and ends on November 30. Outside of the season, the use of canned foods is very much a part of everyday eating whether for lunch, breakfast, dinner or snacking.
I’ve been accustomed to having corned beef one way – fried (sauteed) on its own with lots of onions, or with potatoes. I made corned beef rolls for the first time a little over 8 years ago, drawing inspiration from a blogger friend of mine from Asia. To date, it is one of my favourite things to make and have with afternoon tea. Closer to home, I have a male colleague who boasts of his sandwich-making skills, particularly his corned beef sandwiches. I was curious, especially when he said that there is no cooking involved.
If you have been reading me for some time, you would know that I love finding different ways of cooking and using familiar ingredients. This fits that bill. I learnt that there was no specific recipe, the spread is made based on the taste and preference of the person making it (which is true for many things, right?). The main ingredients are canned corned beef (obviously) and mayonnaise – which makes the corned beef spreadable. Anything else added to the mix is up to you.
I made the corned beef spread last weekend. As I ate it with some multigrain biscuits, and on another day with wholewheat bread rolls, I shook my head wondering why it took me so long to make this spread. I heard about it months ago! Let me tell you, make this corned beef spread. You will see how convenient it is for packing lunches, whether for your or your children. Want a savoury snack? This would be it. Having people over and want to offer them something to munch on? Serve this with biscuits/crackers. Make the offering fancy by serving it with flavoured crackers and various types. I served mine with garlic crackers that WIBISCO brought out last year.
Corned beef spread is simple and easy to make. No cooking is involved and it lasts for over a week in the fridge as long as you access it with a clean utensil. Of course you can also put it in individual serving containers. That’s what I did and would do. It makes easy packing for lunch bags.
When you make this corned beef spread, I am sure that it will quickly become one of those things that you always have in your refrigerator.
As I have said, use it with bread or biscuits. Tostones – twice fried plantains or breadfruit would be good with this too. Actually, anything with which you want to make a sandwich would work. Sometimes I make it as an open-face sandwich. This way, you can top it with other things, like cheese, which you can melt under a broiler. Yum! Or tomatoes and cheese melted under a broiler. So good!
Here’s how to make corned beef spread.
● Start with your favourite brand of canned corned beef. The other ingredients, use as much as little as you like. Make it your own. The one thing I would say, is not to add so much mayo that it becomes runny. You want it creamy but spreadable, not runny.
● To my can of corned beef, I added mayonnaise, grainy mustard, finely minced hot peppers and flavour peppers, as well as thinly sliced scallions/green onions using the white and green parts. (How I miss not having purple-head shallots.) I also added some freshly ground black pepper.
● Add everything to a bowl and use a fork to mix well. You should not need to add any salt as salt is already in the corned beef. Serve right away or put it into a clean container. Cover with cling film or plastic wrap directly touching the surface of the spread then close tight with the container’s cover and refrigerate.
When chilled, the spread will firm up, take it out a few minutes before you are ready to use it so that it is easily spreadable.
Let me end today just as I have started – with a question. Have you ever had corned mutton? I have not. But a friend brought me a few cans from Guyana and I am excitedly looking forward to trying it. Watch this space!
Cynthia
