Before preparing this recipe, hang up your
hamaca (hammock) in a cool shady spot. It will be necessary to rest a bit
after enjoying this soul-food soup.
1 pound cow's white-bone (the marrow is
also a flavor-adder)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,
to taste
1 tablespoon salt
2 beef boullion cubes
1¾ quarts of water
1 large onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery with leaves, diced
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1 sweet potato, peeled, cut in chunks
1 plantain, peeled, cut in chunks
½ calabas (West Indian pumpkin) or
Hubbard squash, cut in chunks
1 teaspoon sugar
"just a touch" ground cumin
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Method: In large kettle place cow meat,
heel and bone with salt, freshly ground pepper in water and bring to a
boil. Lower heat to medium-low and cook for 2½ hours or until meat is
soft.
Strain and return stock to kettle. Add remaining ingredients and bring to
a boil. Lower heat to medium, and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or
until vegetables are soft. Let rest for 10 minutes and serve.
Note: If heel is not available, add enough bone to equal 2 pounds.
About Wijkie Maduro: Wijkie Maduro, and Aruba-born resident, has made a life-long
commitment to preservation and preparation of Aruban cooking. Wijkie
retired from a career in politics and labor union work to open a
restaurant, now sadly closed, that offered "what our great-grandmothers
cooked; the lavish and sometimes complex Aruban cooking". His recipes have
been refined over the years from their earliest beginnings as sustenance
for the first Indian settlers to the multi-everything-and-everyone's
influences that followed.
