Me and my mauby
Tastes Like Home
By Cynthia Nelson
Stabroek News
January 27, 2007
Mauby and spices (Photo by Susan Harewood)
Hi Everyone,
When last did you have a nice big glass of ice-cold, homemade mauby - the frosty beads of water on the glass from the coldness, the ice twirling in the glass, the heady scent of the ripened bark mixed with clove and cinnamon, the slight froth at the top indicating that it's been properly brewed? When last did you have such a drink of mauby?
Mauby was the one beverage I requested my mother make for me on my recent trip back home. Before I even reached Guyana, the bark was boiled with the cinnamon, clove and her secret ingredient - cracked nutmeg. She'd spent time brewing the mauby daily and sweetening it until it was right, perfect, and ripe.
I took my first sip and then I titled my head back and drank non-stop until the glass was empty. "Mommy, this mauby tastes soooo gooood; you make the best mauby." She smiled, modestly. My mom gets shy with compliments, although her mauby-making skills are exemplary, almost legendary.
I remember as a child the fantastic annual fairs we had at Sacred Heart Church. Mommy used to be in charge of one of the food stalls and she was also one of the main persons responsible for making the mauby and ginger beer. They would be bottled in recycled sterilized rum bottles and when the golden sun of the afternoon shone on them, they looked like liquid gold.
The mauby and ginger beer would be the first items to be sold out. Sometimes, only the ginger beer managed to make it to the fair because people would be calling at least two days leading up to the fair to reserve their bottles of mauby. It was that good and in such high demand.
The Knights of the Blessed Sacrament (KBS) boys, (altar boys) loved to come and visit "Auntie Barbara" because she always had treats for them. Gavin, Matthew and Dexter were the regulars. On weekends mommy made mauby, coconut buns, sweet bread and cassava pone (whenever she could motivate my sister or I to grate the cassava).
Mauby has always been a big part of Guyanese food culture. There was a shop on Lamaha Street, between Carmichael and Main streets, opposite the then Transport Board offices that used to sell mauby daily. The owner was Mr Balgobin but he was always referred to as the Mauby Shop Man and his shop, known as the Mauby Shop. I remember passing the shop and seeing it overcrowded with people, mostly men I think; some would be sitting on stools inside the shop, others, standing outside with large plastic tumblers filled with mauby in one hand and holding in the other, tennis roll and cheese or dhal puri or cassava ball or egg ball.
By mid-afternoon all the mauby would be sold out. I know this because on my way home from school I would stop at the shop hoping to buy some of this famous mauby but alas, there would be none. I used to stare up at the large oak barrel with a tap attached to the bottom wondering how all that mauby could be finished.
I can't recall when, but I know I did eventually get to drink the mauby from the Mauby Shop.
What is mauby? What is this thing, this drink that quenches our thirst in such a flavourful and satisfying manner?
Mauby is made from the bark of a small tree, Colubrina elliptica, and grows in many parts of the northern Caribbean, such as Puerto Rico and Guatemala and South Florida.
As popular as mauby is in the Caribbean, for many, it is an acquired taste. It is the finish, the after taste, of the drink with its slight bitter taste that turns some people off. The key, I believe, to making good mauby lies in the ripening of the drink. In other words, allowing it enough time to develop its flavour and brewing it daily. It is also important to know when to stop the process of ripening so that the mauby does not become exceedingly bitter; two days, a full 48 hours, is good time to strain the mauby and refrigerate it to be served.
The best mauby recipe is the one that has been handed down to you or the one you got from the person whose mauby you enjoy the best. People but a variety to things in their mauby, I've seen some recipes that include putting orange peel, star anise and Angostura Bitters. I've noticed also that immediately after the steeping process, some people add some of the cooled liquid (their desired strength) to water, sweeten with sugar, add ice and serve right away. Everybody does things their own way I guess.
Mauby syrup is big seller here in Barbados. Even eating establishments that offer mauby on the menu serve the syrup version. It will never taste the same as homemade but at least you will have some essence of it. I'm not knocking it because for years, that's what I've been drinking.
The trip home changed it for me though, after tasting the spicy, almost fruity flavour of homemade mauby, I find it difficult to drink the syrup version. So I got on the phone last weekend and had my mother talk me through the process with her recipe.
I started my process last Saturday mid-day, strained it off on Monday evening and enjoyed a glass of my own homemade mauby on Tuesday.
This was my first attempt; it is not as excellent as my mother's but it is better than any I've had in years. I won't make it every weekend but I will make it once a month perfecting my mauby-making skills. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll bottle the stuff.
Thanks mom, for the recipe and the memories.
Cynthia
tasteslikehome@gmail.com
www.tastesofguyana.blogspot.com