Grenada's National Dish - Oil Down

Oil down is the national dish of Grenada with a long, interesting history. The name comes from the oil from the coconut milk and the meat juices that settle on the bottom of the pot when the dish is ready to eat.
The origin of the dish is during slavery when slaves from neighboring estates would get together to share a meal. This was not only a practical way of combining scarce resources but also a way to socialize. Each person would bring what they could salvage from the master’s larder, hence the varied ingredients. By each person contributing, each felt comfortable in sharing in the meal.
In modern times, cooking oil down is usually a family or community event, much like our American BBQ.
There are as many ways to cook oil down as there are families who cook them, but the basic ingredients are pretty much the same: breadfruit, coconut, salt meat or fish (these were brought by ships from Europe in previous centuries & constituted the main ingredient in the diet of seamen as well as the diet of slaves), dumplings, turmeric and callaloo. The latter is the only ingredient native to Grenada, used by the original Amerindian inhabitants of the island.
Since I like to cook & try new recipes, I decided to cook oil down. The result will be recorded in my upcoming book “Caribbean Cooking Disasters”. I put too much water with the grated, fresh coconut, the requisite coconut milk was too thin. I put the callaloo in the bottom, so it became a sticky mess, I didn’t soak the salt pork long enough, well, you get the idea. But I learned & herewith is my own recipe for oil down:

INGREDIENTS:

1. 6 to 8 pieces of fish or meat
2. 1 medium sized breadfruit cut into chunks
3. 1 to 2 bunches callaloo (spinach can be substituted in places where callaloo isn’t available – us about 1 & ½ lbs. spinach)
4. 3 cups coconut milk
5. 2 to 3 1” pieces of fresh turmeric, cut into small pieces
6. Your favorite dumplings, about 2 per person.