A bake and shark at Maracas Bay is truly an experience for both tourists and locals alike. In my list of things to do before you die I would say “Having a Bake and Shark at Maracas Bay” should be high up on the list. By the way, this one has already been crossed off more times than I could remember. And, I may have a few hundreds more crosses before I die lol!!
The taste is truly exquisite especially with all the sauces…Me, being the gree…ur! hungry person that I am, I must have all the sauces and sides which are available. So, on my rounds I must have my garlic sauce, chadon beni chutney, some hot pepper sauce, lettuce, cole slaw, ketchup, mango chutney, tomatoes, cucumber……somebody bring me a napkin, I’m dribbling here lol!!! 🙂
Having a bake and shark with everything at Maracas Bay
Bake and Shark and Carnival
Anyhow, bake and shark is not only limited to Maracas Bay but it also has gotten so popular that it is a staple at “all inclusive” carnival fetes and concerts. And, I don’t have to tell you all what’s going on in Trinidad and Tobago around this time. It’s CARNIVAL !!! …
And, I’ve gotten the carnival fever again which will only be over by Ash Wednesday. With all the soca music and calypso around, I can literally feel the carnival energy around me…..These days my TV is stuck on Synergy TV and when I can’t get enough I go online and watch more videos…
This year I will to be staying up on fantastic Friday to watch Soca Monarch and Groovy Soca Monarch. I’m just as curious to see who will win the one million dollars first prize for Soca Monarch. I have my favourites but let’s just wait and see. Anyhow, time to talk about the recipe (boy do I get side tracked easily!!)
So, whether you’re liming either in an all inclusive fete or on the beach Maracas Bay, to cool down after a day of jumping up in the road, bake and shark is one liming food you just can’t miss or I should say do without. A friend of mine likes bake and shark so much that she makes it a lime every Friday to go down St James to get a bake and shark for TT $18. But you all are in luck, today you won’t have to spend all that money to enjoy a good bake and shark, because you have the recipe here step by step courtesy of simply trini cooking.
This dish, to me, is another top liming food found in Trinidad and Tobago around carnival time or any other time as a matter of fact. Just like corn soup, geera pork or chicken, pholourie, doubles and pigfoot souse, bake and shark is truly a favourite of ours.
So if you’re in Trinidad and Tobago to enjoy carnival, don’t forget to try out a bake and shark while you’re enjoying yourself in a fete or on the beach. Who knows, maybe you’ve already done that and crossed it out of your list! Enjoy bake and shark. This is as Trini as it gets!
My Bake and Shark recipe
Bake and Shark
Ingredients:
For Bake:
2 cups flour ( all purpose)
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup water
oil for frying
For Shark:
1 lb shark
3 tbsp green seasoning*
3 lemons (or 4 limes)
1 egg ( for egg wash )
flour ( to flour shark )
salt to taste
oil for frying
* If you don’t have green seasoning use 1 chive, 10 leaves chadon beni, 2 seasoning pepper, 1 small onion, 2 cloves garlic and 3 leaves big leaf thyme.
Direction:
Squeeze about 3 lemons in some water and leave the shark to soak for about 3 hours. Afterwards wash the shark in clean water.
Season the shark with the green seasoning and salt.
Dip the seasoned shark in the egg wash.
Then in some flour.
The shark is now ready to be fried.
Deep fry the shark until golden brown and drain on paper.
Mix the ingredients for the bake and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
This is how it looks after half an hour.
Make balls about three inches in diameter.
Then flatten out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.
You can vary the size according to how large or
small you want your fry bake to come out.
Fry on both sides until golden brown. Notice how it swells like float.
Drain on paper and assemble using fresh tomatoes,
lettuce and your favourite condiments.
And that’s how the cookie…Uh!! fry bake fries. ha ha!! Until then. Bye!
P.S. If you liked my bake and shark recipe please leave a comment below.
Bake and Shark
Ingredients
- FOR BAKE:
- 2 cups flour all purpose
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. yeast
- 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- Oil for frying
- FOR SHARK:
- 1 lb shark
- 3 tbsp green seasoning*
- 3 lemons or 4 limes
- 1 egg for egg wash
- flour to flour shark
- salt to taste
- oil for frying
- [* If you don’t have green seasoning use 1 chive 10 leaves chadon beni, 2 seasoning pepper, 1 small onion, 2 cloves garlic and 3 leaves big leaf thyme.]
Instructions
- Squeeze about 3 lemons in some water and leave the shark to soak for about 3 hours. Wash the shark in clean water. Season with the green seasoning and salt.
- Dip the seasoned shark in the egg wash, then in some flour. Deep fry the shark until golden brown and drain on paper.
- Mix the ingredients for the bake and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Separate into balls about three inches in diameter.
- Then flatten out to about 1/4 of an inch thick. You can vary the size according to how large or small you want your fry bake to come out.
- Fry on both sides until golden brown. Drain on paper. Assemble using fresh tomatoes, lettuce and your favourite condiments.
I am no good at kneading flour so my bakes don’t look nothing like that lol!
I am so missing home right now.This Feb marks 17 years i have been in the US and 17 years missing Carnival.
One of these days i will be there to jump up and wave!!
PS
please post some Carnival pics : )
Becky, I’m surprised at how long you haven’t come home. But as we say in Trini I feel your navel string bury here just like mine. One good day you’ll be able to visit. Anyhow I do plan to post some pics of carnival so keep checking.
I have been back 2 times within the 17 yrs, just not for Carnival.I miss Carnival and Christmas in TnT soooo much .I am coming this June 2009 for a visit with my kids and hubby,can’t wait!!
Oh I see! hope you enjoy your visit.
What a beautiful and delicious site you have here! I regret not paying more attention to what was happening in the kitchen when I was growing up. Now that I’m on my own, I’m slowly trying to teach myself to cook all of our traditional dishes. I call my mom to ask a question now and then and because nothing is written down she can’t give me specific directions. Thank goodness for you and your blog 🙂
Thank you Aziza for your gracious comment. Stop by soon; more recipes to come.
Hi Lynn,
I do apologize and thank you for noticing that typo. I made the necessary adjustments. Also you don’t need to use warm water because self rising yeast was used. Hope this helps 🙂
Hi. Is there a special type and size of shark to use? I am currently in Florida and my friends catch small to medium sized shark all the time (which they end up throwing back into the sea). I was wondering if I can just fillet those and cook it for the bake n shark.
Hi Macca, I prefer larger sharks simply because I believe they should be given time to grow.
My heart bleeds for the ones who do not return home.. you all are missing out…we sell shark in England and I always make it as my adult children can’t seems to make it for themselves no matter how many times I show them…. Shark N Bake for Notting Hill Carnival here we come
Thank you for this recipe and the others on your site. I just returned from my first trip to Trinidad and cannot wait to try preparing some of these dishes for my friends here in the states to give them a taste of Trini cuisine! I’ll let you know how it goes!
When frying bake (and it does not matter how high or low the flame is) the oil after a while turns black thanks to the flour. It hampers the proper frying process as items still to be fried turns very dark very fast and the inside it still the cook. What can I use in the oil to prevent this from happening? For example if I am making 10 bake, by the 5th the oil would start to turn.
That’s easy Aisha you have to let the flour rest a while before you fry. Just leave it about a minute or two to let the flour, used when dusting, absorb into the fry bake dough. This also applies to any type of frying you’re doing. It works!
Hello
This dish seems very delicious indeed.. the only problem is that sharks are being overfished like crazy all around the world including your area.. is there a chance we can encourage a movement to make this dish with something else – such as lionfish which is very tasty and invasive species in the caribbean atlantic? The world is changing and although i know this is a culturally important dish i believe we also need to sacrifice our pleasure to allow the planet to thrive again. What do you think? Can you and your supporters join me in this mission? Much appreciated
Rebecca I too am a shark conservationist. The shark typically used in Shark n Bake is the black tip which is not on Trinidad’s endangered list. Hammerhead Mako and White tip sharks are on Trinidad’s endangered list but not typically used in this dish. I hope that helps.
Been there, ate that, totally agree absolutely dogs bollocks. Just a bit hard in the rest of the world to get small shark, but will use grouper.