We celebrated with a simple white cake - freshly made mango jam between the layers, cream topping. “Baking” in a frying pan produced a dense cake but for a jungle concoction it wasn’t half bad. Or as one of the Germans said (eyebrows popped up) “Dat iz one tasty cake man!” We ate and drank well and talked late into the evening (I’m sure it was at least 10PM before we went to sleep).
On non-birthdays, mangoes mostly find their way into our bellies unadultered. Alternately, they find their way into our bellies significantly adultered with Guyane’s local rum, La Belle Cabresse along with some off the tree lemons and cane sugar. There’s often a bottle chilling the fridge…and I’m generally the one making them.
An even finer beverage is Patawa which is made from the palm tree of the same name. The tree produces a massive, drooping cluster of fruits heavy enough that I needed a rigging line to lower the mass.
The fruits are prepared by pouring hot water over them and letting them stand for twenty minutes or so. The water is drained off and the fruits are pounded while water is added in bits.
The pulpy result is strained and then used as a sauce over rice or farina (manioc) or sweetened with sugar and treated like a beverage. The beverage is hot chocolate meets creamed coconut. It goes down really easily.
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