Pigeon peas bread, ice-cream and wine

Most know of pigeon peas pelau or curried pigeon peas in coconut milk, but there are many varied ways to use this kind of peas.

The Beyond Borders Living Product Expo introduced the public, yesterday, to many ways in which the peas could be enjoyed, including doubles, soup, roti, bread, ice cream and wine.

The expo was part of a partnership between BP Trinidad and Tobago, the Rose Foundation and the National Security Ministry through its Citizen Security Programme where the diversity of the peas was showcased at BP’s head office, Queen’s Park West.

Chairman of the Rose Foundation, Sterling Belgrove, said they were pursuing a drive for commodity optimisation.

“BP has been sponsoring a programme beyond borders for the past five years in high risk communities in TT. In these communities, there are people who have had very little economic choices outside of the ‘ten days’ and they have been clamouring for a better quality of life.

“How do you facilitate development strategies that would allow them to be self employed to become entrepreneurial to exercise some innovation the community? “In Covigne, Diego Martin, they were facilitated in expanding their pigeon peas cultivation and converting that raw ingredient into some 40 products. There is ice cream, wine, cocktails, pholourie, bread, cakes, jewellery, clothing, roti and doubles.

People who suffer with high blood pressure should not be eating channa (chick peas) because that sends up the blood pressure, but doubles is part of our tradition.

How do you facilitate people who love doubles, but suffer with hypertension? Pigeon peas becomes the alternative? The pholourie is gluten free and high in protein,” Belgrove explained.

The peas were converted into flour and used as a base.

Belgrove said while the use of the peas in certain recipes may be a novelty, most people after trying it were more than willing to use it as an alternative to flour.

Asked about the feasibility of using this perennial legume, Belgrove said the demand was growing.

“Pigeon peas is a hardy crop, it does not need much water. It gives a range of products from the basic peas that you eat right up to ethanol.

We are looking at ethanol as a bio-fuel so nothing wastes, from the root to the stem,” he said.

Pigeon peas usually mature at about 90 days.

Belgrove explained that this partnership was an investment to drive the entrepreneurial platform so that rather than giving people a handout, they were empowering them to take control of their destiny.

“The banner is Beyond Borders ... beyond economic and social borders, turf borders... beyond borders in all dimensions. We are asking people to expand their cultivation of pigeon peas and more importantly, integrate it properly.

We want to encourage citizens to go back to the land and plant,” he said.