Memory from Matt Proom
I can’t remember exactly when I had my first taste of St Helenian food but am I glad I did?! We have neighbours who are from St Helena and I have to admit that until I met them I would have assumed St Helena had some connection with St Helens in Merseyside which shows how little I knew about the place.
I have been intrigued about the place ever since, everything from the giant tortoise to the controversial airport, from the unconventional way to get there to the delicious food which I have been very lucky to sample on more than one occasion! I’ve eaten the food when there’s been a social occasion and it seems to me that St Helenian food and a get together go hand in hand!
Plo is quite frankly delicious especially when accompanied by a dollop of chutney, fish cakes are nice as are the stuffed pepper things (damn I can’t remember there name). Cheese straws always seem to be made in abundance and are so moreish!!!
The showstopper has to be the coconut fingers though, OMG they are amazing and my friends make them perfectly but funnily enough never make enough (I actually don’t think there’s a number that would satisfy ‘enough’).
I think there’s a link between the food and my experience of St Helena culture, both are very welcoming, interesting and make me feel part of something kinda special. My friends are the only people who I feel ok just walking through their front door without knocking because “that’s what we do on the island” similarly Plo is usually served in a big pot as if to say “come, help yourself”. I love how the culture around St Helenian food is so social and that that culture has made its way to a little part of South Bristol. Oh and I’ve gained two awesome friends who happen to make some of the most delicious food!
Memory from Gordon Smith
We eat Saint food often, and plo is an occasion. Although we havent been to the Island, the food connects us to our family and heritage and brings people together.
Memory from Emma-Jane Richards
No outdoor event was complete without Plo’. Mummy and Aunties cooking fish Plo’ in a massive silver pot over a makeshift fire balanced on jagged rocks at Lemon Valley or piece bacon Plo’ cooked on raised stones and an old iron grate on the dry yellow grass at Horse Pasture during the Easter holidays camping. At Francis Plain served up from the boot of your car at school sports days or best of all down the Seaside with your friends after a night out.