Viva Brighton Issue #48 February 2017

RECIPE
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Danny’s Stuffed Pork Chop
Barbadian chef Danny O’Shea cooks up a
proper Caribbean dinner at Bus Stop
Back home in Barbados my partner Dominique and I had our own restaurant, much bigger
than this - there were 100 covers. We did a mix of everything - steaks, pasta, traditional
Caribbean - but we were famous for our burgers. I’ve been involved in restaurants
for 30 years. I just fell into the kitchen - I used to be bartender, then I started to help out
more and more. I loved the instant satisfaction of cooking.
I lived in Brighton in 1992, then started living in London, then Bournemouth, and then
I went back to Barbados for 15 years, where I met Dominique. When we were coming
back to England we decided to live in Brighton because we like being near the water, but
we love cities. If you live in a city, you can be yourself and go where you want, you don’t
get blocked into different zones.
When people hear ‘Caribbean’ food they tend to drift straight to Jamaican cuisine. In
Barbados we use a lot of pork, a lot of fish. We do a lot with brine, like a marinade, with
spices and dried herbs. The longer you can leave the meat soaking in the brine, the better.
And we serve proper portions - we like to have a belly full.
This recipe serves two.
Ingredients: two pork chops, 20 black peppercorns, 1tbsp Coleman’s mustard powder,
four dried bay leaves, five sprigs fresh thyme, one cup kosher salt, one cup brown caster
sugar, two cups apple cider vinegar, two cups water, 12 cups ice, Oldbay seasoning.
Method: bring the peppercorns, mustard powder, salt and sugar, mixed with the water
and vinegar, to the boil and simmer until the salt and sugar fully dissolve. Cool it down
by pouring in the ice.
Immerse the pork chop in the brine and rest in the fridge for a minimum of three hours
(but overnight is better). Then rinse off the chop and make a pocket incision into it.
Stuff with the fresh thyme and bay leaves.
Rub the chop with olive oil and Oldbay seasoning - if you can’t find this, you can use
Cajun spice instead. Grill it on both sides for four minutes each and then rest in the
oven, preheated to 180°C, for at least eight minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it
rest while you prepare your plate.
We serve ours with a creamy gravy, rice and peas, plantain and homemade coleslaw, but
you could do it with mash, or a salad. As told to Rebecca Cunningham
Bus Stop, 99 North Road, 01273 623143
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