Motherland: A Jamaican Cookbook

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To make the rundown, grill the aubergines whole over a naked flame – either on a gas stove or a barbecue – until the flesh is just soft, the skin is burnt and the air smells smoky. Place in a lidded container and, once cool enough to handle, peel. If you don’t have a flame, you can cook them under a grill until they start to smoke, or even do it in a dry pan over a high heat, turning frequently to blister the skin. Once peeled, roughly chop into big chunks. The daughter of a Maltese mother and Jamaican father, Thompson wanted Motherland to reflect her own family’s cooking, but also tell the story of Jamaican food. “The indigenous people never had a written language,” she says. The enslaved people who came later weren’t permitted to write. When researching, she had to interpret historical texts written from a white European perspective.

Now take a plum-sized amount of dough, roll it into a ball, then squash it into a disc about 5cm across. Repeat to shape all the dumplings. There are recipes for the classics, like saltfish fritters, curry goat and patties, as well as Melissa's own twists and family favourites, such as: The book will feature recipes that take cooks "on a journey" from the root of specific dishesto modern mealsnow eaten aroundthe world. In-depth research is woven into the recipes, from the legacy of the indigenous Amerindians, the impact of British and Spanish colonisation on the nation’s gastronomy, to the huge contribution from the enslaved people of west and central Africa and indentured workers from China and India. A few years ago, I experimented with browning corn in butter before adding it to fritters. It gives a lovely, subtly toasted corn flavour that reminds me almost of popcorn.Bloomsbury has signed debut cookbook Motherland, fromjournalist and founder of London pop-up Fowl Mouths Food Melissa Thompson. And then there is one of Jamaica's most famous signature dishes, curry goat – goats were introduced by the Spanish, but the dish was created following "the introduction of indentured servants from India". She’s delighted when I say that including the history of how the recipes evolved imbues the food with a sense of real depth and gravitas. ‘That’s exactly what I wanted: for people to feel invested in the food when they know where it came from.’

Mix the flours in a bowl and pour in the ginger beer. Stir loosely, as vigorous mixing will get rid of the bubbles you want to keep; don’t worry if there are some lumps.Remove the heads and shells of the prawns, leaving on the tail sections. (You can also use shelled prawns, as long as they are raw.) Mix in a bowl with the garlic, ginger and some pepper and leave for 30 minutes.

In a Dutch pot or large saucepan, fry the onion in a little oil. After eight minutes, add the garlic and ginger and cook for another couple of minutes before adding the spices, mixed with a little water to prevent them burning. Stir and cook until the spices become aromatic.I ask about the book’s title - Motherland. ‘I find it quite grounding. It represents the people who make the food, and how a lot of food gets written about through a yearning for your birthplace. Initially I was going to call it Fatherland, but that’s got hints of the Third Reich.’ Add enough oil to a deep frying pan so it’s 2.5cm deep and heat over a medium heat until a piece of batter dropped into it will sink and then rise, bubbling, after a couple of seconds. A cookbook charting 500 years of influence on the vibrant cuisine of Jamaica, written by acclaimed food writer Melissa Thompson.