Desserts
Carilley

What is Carilley? Carilley (aka Bitter Melon) is a vegetable and the plant grows as a vine. The color of the skin of carilley is a vivid green and it is bumpy and rough. The taste of carilley is very bitter. As a young child I remember my mother would fry the carilley or sometimes just add some salt and she would eat it just like that. It was too bitter for me.

My mother eats a lot vegetables and I noticed, in my trip to Trinidad 2011, she ate a lot of carilley. I started eating it too and to my surprised I enjoyed it! I almost ate the entire bowl of carilley! We mostly ate it like a snack. She would have the bowl on the counter and each time I pass through the kitchen, I would open the bowl and take a few pieces of the carilley.

Here is how she does it, she thinly slices the carilley and removes the seeds from each slice. Then she puts the deseeded sliced carilley in a bowl of water and adds some salt. Let the carilley absorb the salt for about one hour the throw out the water. At this point they are quite tasty, just add some pepper sauce, a little lime juice, two grated garlic cloves, maybe some salt if required and that it.

It was our mission to do some Stuffed Carilley, a recipe we heard about from a friend. But we were preparing so many other dishes that we did not have time to try it out before I left to return to my place of residence in the BVI. Look out for my next posting, it will be Stuffed Carilley!!!

Step By Step Pictures