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Welcome! My name is Colleen Shelswell and I now recreate the wonderfully aromatic blends of seasonings and sauces just as my grandma Clara did. I was brought up by my grandmother in Trinidad’s rural south while my mother completed her nursing training in England. I recall that Grandma Clara had a wonderful garden, with orchids and almost every herb and spice she needed for cooking and her medicinal infusions: broad-leaf thyme, garlic, shadow bennie (like a pungent coriander), bayleaf, parsley, ginger and chilli bushes. Grandma Clara was always up hours before anyone else, picking, blending and grinding her herbs, and we woke to the wonderful aroma of yeasty cornbread, slow-cooking chicken stew and crispy, cheesy macaroni pie. I believe that the food and flavours of childhood remain in you adult subconscious. I was so mesmerised by my grandmother’s tireless cooking that my cousins had to plead with me to come out to play. I began making pepper pots to sell at country fairs almost ten years ago, returning to college to study catering and learn more about food presentation. I developed a flair for cake decorating and set up a home business producing elaborate celebratory cakes. I had a favourite aunt who lives in Trinidad who has started to grow scotch bonnet for my business, adding a multi-generational family link to Clara’s Pepper Pots. My sauces can be used for more than traditional West Indian dishes. I recommend Caribbean flambo for vegetable stir-fries and spicy lasagnes. Jerk seasoning can be added to grilled steak and barbecued meat and fish, especially Jerk Chicken. It makes a delicious cross-cultural dish of jerk chicken wrapped in rice pancakes spread with my hot apple and plum jelly (also great with cheese) and strips of cucumber and spring onion a kind of Port of Spain meets Surrey” variation of Peking duck. Two and a half years have been spent on working on recipes (frustratingly, my grandmother never wrote down) before beginning small-batch production. It took a total of five years to become fully established. Even when I’ve been up since before dawn, the wonderful feedback makes it all worthwhile. I remember a hectic Saturday when I was too busy to warn a very genteel, elderly lady about to sample my extra-hot chilli sauce. There was an eerie silence, I thought she was going to explode or worse, but she said, "That was gorgeous!". I haven’t tasted anything as good as that since my childhood in India, and proceeded to tell me all about the wonderful spicy stews her parents’ cook used to make. It was a rare occasion when a customer’s tales made my mouth water!. These sauces are a real blend of true Caribbean flavour. The recipes have been used for generations and bring life to our Caribbean Culture for the love of food. The original Clara's recipes have been faithfully recreated in my original recipes.These products began as a project in my kitchen in the early 1990s. A great deal of work, dedication and my love for food lead to the product you have before you. So go on ... treat yourself to a little Clara Pepper Pot today. The range contains no artificial preservatives or additives and is suitable for vegetarians. |
   
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