Callaloo & Saltfish with Festival

How much do I love festival & fried dumpling? Let me count the ways! Most people love both but there are a handful who have a preference. For me, it’s always going to be festival! What’s the difference you ask? Let’s break it down:

Festival

Festival: Festivals are deep fried dough with a hint of cornmeal and slight sweetness that tantalizes your taste buds with every bite. The sweetness is obvious. The cornmeal gives the dough a deep, hearty flavor that’s sure to put you to sleep after enjoying a few. Sugar and cornmeal are included in the recipe, but in a much larger quantity so that their presence is immediately obvious. Festivals are most often served with jerk chicken and fried or escovitch fish. They can also be served with whatever your heart desires!

Fried Dumpling

Fried Dumpling: These delicious balls of fried dough land more on the savory profile. Some recipes call for sugar added, but the amount of sugar included is not always enough to be immediately obvious upon the first bite. These are most likely to be treated as bread and can be eaten with ackee & saltfish

While Festivals are a favorite of mine I do believe both frestival & fried dumpling have their own role to play! Fried dumpling with cornmeal porridge is my ultimate favorite Jamaican breakfast. I also prefer fried dumpling with ackee & saltfish as opposed to breadfruit.

Callaloo & Saltfish

Now for the callaloo & saltfish? That goes excellent with festival. It’s the ideal balance of salt & sweet. I pick up fresh callaloo in bunches from a supermarket called Merrick Farm in Laurelton, Queens. When I can’t pick up fresh callaloo, I opt for the canned version which gets it done as well. Festival can be purchased and made from a prepared dough mix available from the international aisle in your supermarket or you can make it from scratch. I always love an excellent recipe from scratch but I’m not above cutting corners and using a premixed dough every once in a while! Check out a few of my recipe videos and don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel!