I posted about this magical night — the Dep’s first tropical staycation — a while back, and I want to share these other photos, too. Our chef Jeremy was in charge of the main course (spicy jerk chicken, coconut rice and black beans, stewed kale, and a tropical cabbage slaw), and successfully left many, many people frozen in their food comas.
I was in charge of the rest of the dinner, which included my own “Le Pick Up Beer Nuts” (still not quite sure what “beer nuts” actually are), which were delicious but incredibly time intensive (I had to deep-fry 10lbs of raw peanuts in very small batches… boring and tedious work!). After they came out of the pot, warm and golden brown, I tossed them with a mixture of brown sugar, salt, black pepper, ground allspice, cinnamon, ground ginger, deep-fried garlic chips, fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice + its zest, and scotch bonnet hot sauce, and added and added salt until they were perfect. It was the ultimate blend of sweet, spicy, and salty —otherwise known as the holy trifecta of flavor — and a perfect complement to ice-cold Red Stripes and dark ‘n’ stormies.
I was also in charge of the dessert course: a very dense, rich chocolate-rum-coffee cake, topped with a rum-infused whipped cream and a minty passion fruit and mango relish. The night was so fun (it ended with me teaching people how to do the Macarena?!) that I hope this becomes an annual Le Pick Up tradition.
