Pork tenderloin with tamarind

As you can see, I straddle the fence when it comes to my diet. If there weren’t so many omnivores in my life I probably would buy a one way ticket to vegetarianism, but there are, so every so often I will post a recipe which is about meat.

St. Lucia produces some very good pork, and we also use local spices extremely well. This is a combination of the two. The flavour achieved with this mixture is very evocative of visits to family estates in my childhood in Soufriere. Its sweet, earthy and aromatic. Redolent even. Very mysterious of what’s drying in that shady barn over there…..

Whenever we go to London now, I bring my friend Emma a stock of these spices. She loves mace, and uses it in her cooking, but didn’t know that it is the beautiful orange tracery which covers the nutmeg. Maybe you didn’t either?? Why would you?

Quite a complex little design really, as the inner nut which we grate has a woody shell which bears the marks of the mace which grows completely covering it.

Serves 4

655g pork tenderloin cut into thick slices or steaks

1.5 tbsp tamarind paste

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp honey

3 star anise

1 tsp crushed fresh mace

good grating of fresh nutmeg

salt and pepper

Spring onions (salad onions) snipped for garnish

So, my friends, simply mix all the marinade ingredients together and in a mystical, magical way, cover all the pork and leave it to absorb all that loveliness for at least an hour and up to overnight if covered and in the fridge.

I chose to barbecue mine, but you could just as easily grill them or roast them. Obviously each option will give you a slightly different outcome, but I promise all will taste divine. Whichever you do choose, err on the side of caution in terms of cooking times as the last thing you want to do is dry this out. I bbq’d mine for 5 minutes on each side on a very hot grill.

I think served with plain boiled plantain, or sweet potatoes, and a clean fresh green vegetable, maybe bok choi……