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KALLALOO!
A
Caribbean Tale
co-author,
David Gershator
illustrated by Diane Greenseid
Cavendish, 2005
New & revised paperback
edition:
Little Bell Caribbean, 2015
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*Notable
Social
Studies Trade Books for Young
People, 2006
*Summer
Reading
Program, USVI,
2021 |
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| From
the book jacket: |
Can a shell
really make soup?
It might, if it’s a brown and white
West Indian shell, fresh from the
sea. All it needs is a master soup
maker like Granny to stir the pot,
along with a little help from the
folks in Market Square. Who wouldn’t
be willing to lend a hand when it
comes to cooking up such a super
soup as kallaloo, a soup famous from
Jamaica to Trinidad? But there’s one
thing missing––and even the magic
shell forgot to mention it....
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| A
little about the book: |
Phillis says--
"Stone
Soup" has always been one of my
favorite stories. When I was in
college I thought of it often as my
friends and I scrambled to make a
meal from nothing. At the
supermarket we'd buy a box of
about-to-be discarded vegetables for
a dollar and concoct what we of
course called "stone soup." David
and I were recalling those days one
night, probably over a bowl of soup,
and he said, "Why don't we write a
Caribbean stone soup? The soup would
have to be the most popular soup in
the islands, and instead of a stone,
we'll use a shell!"
Kallaloo is
practically the national dish of the
Caribbean. We first discovered it in
1969 when we moved to St. Thomas,
and our first taste was prepared by
our neighbor, Arona Peterson. Mrs.
Petersen wrote a column in dialect
for the local newspaper and books
about traditional herbs and
proverbs, but she also catered local
specialties out of her house,
including kallaloo and, to our kids'
delight, sugarcakes.
Our book
includes a traditional recipe for
kallaloo, basically a rich, thick
soup, more like a stew, plus an easy
recipe which Popeye would
appreciate:
QUICK KALLALOO
FOR TWO
Boil one
package of finely chopped frozen
spinach OR cook 3 cups of fresh
spinach in 2 tablespoons of melted
butter, covered, until tender. Add
3 cups homemade or canned fish
stock (or any kind
really--vegetable or chicken is
fine) and boil. Add half pound of
cut-up fresh or frozen fish
fillet. Simmer until fish is
cooked through. Be careful not to
overcook.
To
serve, add lime juice to taste
and a scoop of fungi.
(Fungi [pronounced FOON-gee] is
the same as corn meal mush or
polenta: corn meal and boiling
water stirred together until the
meal is soft and the mixture is
thick.)
Diane
Greenseid and her husband
Pete McCabe visited St. Thomas in
2006. Diane and I have something in
common, other than our love of
picture books. Our husbands are both
songwriters! David and I got to hear
the catchy singalong song Pete wrote
for Kallaloo!
It begins like this:
KALLALOO SONG
Words and music: Pete McCabe
The
poor hungry lady walked by the
sea.
She
was thinking about food for her
empty tummy.
She
picked up a shell to hear what she
could hear
and
imagined a voice whispered in her
ear:
Soup.
“What?”
The
shell said soup.
“Soup
would be great. Soup would be
nice.
But
I’m afraid I can’t pay the price.”
But
the sea shell said, This soup is
free
if
you just sing along with me:
If
you want a super-duper soup
make
your stew kallaloo.
If
you want a super-duper soup
make
your stew kallaloo.
Take
this shell, throw in the pot.
Offer
a taste to every friend you’ve got
If
you want a super-duper soup
make
your stew kallaloo.
She
went into town and boiled up the
shell
in
a big iron pot she found at the
well.
The
water was bubbling. The stew was
hissing
when
a friend took a taste and said
something’s missing.
Water
and a shell won’t do it alone.
I’m
throwing in this old ham bone.
If
you want a super-duper soup
make
your stew kallaloo.
If
you want a super-duper soup
make
your stew kallaloo.
Take
this ham bone, throw in the pot.
Offer
a taste to every friend you’ve got
If
you want a super-duper soup
make
your stew kallaloo.
And the story song continues.
Everything gets added to the
pot––onions, greens, spices, and
fish, until it’s a kallaloo, for
true!
And David and I wrote a kallaloo
calypso:
KALLALOO CALYPSO
Words: Phillis & David Gershator
Music: David Gershator
If
you feel hungry-hungry, belly talk
to you.
Don’t
worry at all. Granny knows what to
do:
mix
fish and onions, ham and spinach,
too,
crab
and okra in Granny’s Kallaloo.
Clap
your hands, stamp your feet
if
you’re ready for an island treat.
Hullabaloo,
what a hullabaloo!
Hullabaloo
for kallaloo!
If
you feel hungry-hungry, add a
scoop or two
of
yellow cornmeal fungi in your bowl
of stew.
Your
belly will be happy and say for
true
thank
you, thank you, thank you for a
lovely kallaloo.
Clap
your hands, stamp your feet
if
you’re ready for an island treat.
Hullabaloo,
what a hullabaloo!
Hullabaloo
for kallaloo!
If
you feel hungry-hungry, if you’re
feeling blue,
don’t
worry at all now, you know what to
do.
Call
your friends and neighbors to come
and eat with you
and
cook them up a big pot of hearty
kallaloo.
Clap
your hands, stamp your feet
if
you’re ready for an island treat.
Hullabaloo,
what a hullabaloo!
Hullabaloo
for kallaloo!
And here's a reminder from David––
Kallaloo:
it's everybody's favorite stew, the
national soup of the Caribbean. Try
it, you'll like it, the story and
the soup––better than Campbell's.
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| From
the reviews: |
"'Lunchtime,' said Granny, 'and me
belly bawling' ...So begins this West
Indian version of the ever-popular
'Stone Soup.' In lilting language,
Granny and her hungry stomach have a
conversation about what they are going
to do as she sits fishing, but not
catching anything....This humorous
tale can be enjoyed alone, but is well
suited to reading aloud. Greenseid's
bright and vibrant acrylic
illustrations are a perfect
interpretation of the text and bring
the setting to life. A well-written,
engaging, and gentle story about
sharing and the power of working
together to achieve a goal." School
Library Journal
“A delightful retelling of ‘Stone
Soup,’ done Caribbean style. In Market
Square, a magical shell assists Granny
in summoning various ingredients from
local merchants which eventually
result in free soup for all and a
‘happy hullabaloo!’ Kallaloo Recipes.”
National Council for the Social
Studies & the Children’s Book
Council
"Acrylic illustrations in brilliant
tropical colors practically dance off
the pages....This tale could be read
aloud for pure pleasure, or it could
launch a classroom unit on
cooperation, world hunger, folktale
variations, or life in the West
Indies." Library
Media Connections
Art by Diane
Greenseid
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