Coals of Fire. Verna Penn Moll. England:
Cedar Tree Books, 1998.
(The Development of the Caribbean Fireplace, Cooking facilities and Fireplace Technology, with traditional customs, myths and sayings. Illustrated by Joseph Hodge)
The author reminds us of the contributions the earliest Virgin Islanders, the Siboney Indians and later immigrants, Europeans and Africans played in developing the fireplace, as they experimented and invented ways to upgrade cooking facilities. Penn Moll unearths several illustrated island-variants, which have never been documented before, and while the author shares the ingenuity of Virgin Islanders with readers, she records for us an important segment of Caribbean cultural history.
Review
“This is a wonderful book describing the technology of fireplaces for cooking from Siboney Indian times through to present day folk-cooking. Although everyone in the Caribbean now cooks on gas or electric, the few people lucky enough to have a traditional bread oven in the garden do produce superlative bread and cakes. At Carnival time though, out come the coalpots, the kerosene drum barbeques and the latest – cast-off wheels of cars and trucks turned into ovens! The pen and ink illustrations by Joseph Hodge are spot-on. Just the right amount of detail and no romanticised coconut trees waving in the backgrounds. An excellent and informative read.” (Petra X Off having Adventures)
Other Non-Fiction Books by Verna Penn Moll.
Contact Verna about buying Coals of Fire
$10.00 USC. (Paperback) (Used)