Soups

There are as many soups as there are ingredients and many of them are associated with particular occasions. ‘Saturday soup’ is a clearinghouse for the end of the week when we are always so busy fixing house and repairing ourselves. It is a one-pot lunchtime affair quite often made with beef and substantial amounts of vegetables and ‘blue food’ or ‘hard food’ (yam, dumpling and potato).

‘Mannish water’ or ‘goat head soup’ is prepared for most serious occasions in Jamaica, where a goat is usually slaughtered for the feast. Christenings, ground-breakings, weddings, wakes and all-night sessions are all occasions for this soup. Virtually nothing of the goat is left out and it is a potion with claims to aphrodisiac qualities. If this is at all possible, mannish water could be considered a masculine soup: it is often cooked by men and is more likely than not to be cooked on an open fire, outdoors.