Happy Jump up on the parkway and rep yo flag day 🇯🇲 🇧🇸 🇧🇧 🇹🇹 🇭🇹 The West Indian Day Parade Carnival is an annual celebration of West Indian culture. In the 1930’s a wonderful woman by the name of Jessie Waddell and some of her West Indian friends started the Carnival which is now known as the West Indian day parade in Harlem staging costume parties in large, enclosed places like the Savoy, Renaissance and Audubon Ballrooms due to the cold weather during Trinidad and Tabagos pre-lantern celebrations around the world. However, because of the very nature of Carnival, and the need to parade in costume to music, indoor confinement did not work well. The earliest known Carnival street parade was held on September 1, 1947, subsequently the permit for the Harlem parade was revoked in 1964 and 5 years held annually on around the first Monday of September-also know as the Labor Day parade in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City; What we call the Parkway. Today is the day where street vendors will prepare their countries version of all the things that make West Indian culture so rich flavorful, and unique. With different variations of Jerk Chicken, to bammie and my personal favorite which is more of an after party dish, Oxtails. I mean who says that street food has to be one hand only?? This hearty, warming recipe is inspired by Jamaican and West Indian oxtail stews. Oxtail is a cut that benefits from a long cook time: Here, it falls off the bone and is surrounded by an incredibly rich gravy with a lot of body. Worcestershire sauce is traditional and balances the dish’s earthy, spicy and sweet flavors. The butter beans add a slight bite to counter the tender meat. But back to that gravy: Sop it up with naan, roti or my personal favorite buss up shut or serve it over coconut rice and peas. You can watch my entire version on how I make my Oxtails https://youtu.be/Ld6H4OLiQAc Video: @nytcooking #oxtail #nytcooking #laborday #westindianfood #cheflife #ny #newyork #brooklyn #harlem