Day 13 - Bahamas!

Every once in a while, my mood syncs perfectly with the country I'm cooking in - today was one of those days. The weather was cool and rainy, but I was feeling relaxed and mellow, so what better way to (legally) prolong that feeling than to cook up some delicious Bahamian food?

First, the beautiful country whose rich history is so often overlooked for it's beaches and tourist attractions. One of the things about this venture that I find most gratifying is researching the countries. Aside from the culinary adventure, I have the privilege of talking to and meeting people I otherwise never would have from all over the world.  I feel my own horizons expanding in ways that bring a whole new perspective and appreciation for our diverse planet. Can you feel closer to people and places without ever leaving your house? I think I do. 

Documented Bahamian history begins with the words, "Baja Mar," the name the Spanish bestowed on the islands. This term is misleading, however; it means "shallow sea," but the islands are really mountain plateaus that emerged from the Atlantic hundreds of thousands of years ago. As they grew, they hosted countless generations of coral, which today comprise the islands' limestone base.

The "Lukku-cairi" or island people, as they called themselves, were the first settlers. Originally from South America, they meandered up through the Caribbean and finally arrived in The Bahamas around the Ninth Century AD. Known as Arawaks, they are also called "Lucayans" and "Indians"- a label bestowed by Columbus, who mistakenly thought he found the East Indies when he dropped anchor in San Salvador in 1492. Once again, that evil dude invaded and exploited the indigenous people.

Next, English settlers who left Bermuda in 1647 searching for religious freedom formed the first British colony on the Island of Eleuthera, and began a prosperous agricultural economy that still thrives today. Britain then recognized them as a colony in 1718. During the Civil war and Prohibition, the Islands became popular for rum running and eventually served as an air and sea way-station in the Atlantic during WWII. When Cuba was closed to US tourists in the 1950's, The Bahamas forged ahead to become one of the world's most popar tourist destinations. 

Now for the food: I LOVE curry, so decided to make Curry Goat and Pigeon Peas with Rice.

 Goat is tough, so I marinated it overnight in a mixture of scallions, onions, garlic, Scotch Bonnet peppers and curry.

Brown the meat in a large pot, then add broth and coconut milk - that's what I'm talkin' about!

And here are the ingredients for the Pigeon Peas and Rice: peppers, garlic, scallions and thyme sprigs

My spice rack, which was already pretty full, is now completely packed

 Having way more fun than I ever could  have imagined

Curry Goat

5 pounds goat meat, cut into bite sized pieces
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
3 large onions, chopped
3 Scotch bonnet peppers, minced. (For less heat, seed the peppers and remove the veins.)
1 teaspoon allspice
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
About 6 tablespoons curry powder (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup frying oil of your choice
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup coconut milk
Juice of 2 limes

In a large bowl, combine the goat meat, scallions, half of the onions, 1-3 Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, salt and pepper, and 4 tablespoons of curry powder. Mix the ingredients together, coating the pieces of goat well with the mixture. Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to marinate overnight.

The following day, remove the goat meat from the refrigerator and set aside. Place a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add 1/4 cup frying oil. When the oil is hot, add two tablespoons of curry powder to the pot and stir it into the oil. Cook the curry powder for a few minutes, stirring it constantly and taking care that it does not burn.
Add the remaining onions and cook them until they are translucent. Add the garlic and the seasoned goat meat to the soup pot and mix well to combine all of the ingredients.

Add the stock, the coconut milk and the lime juice.

Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down the heat, cover the pot and simmer the goat meat for 2 or3 hours (or until the meat is very tender), adding water as needed.



Curry Powder

5 teaspoons ground turmeric
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
3 teaspoons cayenne
3 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons whole black pepper
2 teaspoons star anise or aniseed
2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
1 whole clove, minced
1 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon whole allspice.

Combine all ingredients and mix them together well. ( A mortar and pestle are great for blending the ingredients.) Store the curry powder in a tightly sealed jar away from heat and light.

Pigeon Peas and Rice

1 Cup peas (canned or dried)

2 Cloves garlic

5 Sprigs fresh thyme

2 Cups rice

4 Cups water

1 Red or green bell pepper

2 Scallions

1/2 cup diced bacon

1 TBSP tomato paste

Cook the peas (if using dried)

Fry bacon in medium pot

Add scallions, garlic and peppers and cook for 3-5 minutes

Add salt and pepper, thyme and tomato paste

Add peas

Add rice with 4 cups water

Bring to a boil

Reduce heat and cover till water absorbed and rice is cooked.

Anthony Boutard on What Makes Fruit Great?

One of the best presentations I got to attend at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in Portland last month was a conversation between chef and cookbook author Deborah Madison and farmer Anthony Boutard of Ayers Creek Farm. Ayers Creek Farm is an organic farm located in Gaston, Oregon in the Wapato Valley 10 miles west of Beaverton and 40 miles from the ocean. The theme was fruit and I learned so much! Here are a just a few highlights from the discussion:

Deborah Madison asked, "What makes fruit great?"

• Boutard said, in some ways it's hard to say because everyone's palate is different; for example some people love tart marionberries, some people hate them.

• According to Boutard, the best fruit has acidity upfront. Acid and tannins in fruit are complex and cannot be simply duplicated by adding lemon juice. Sweetness on the other hand is not very complex.

• Shipped fruit seems like it loses acidity (another reason to buy local).

• The best way to get shoppers to warm up to fruit with high acid, is to give samples to their kids. Kids love acidity!

• Some fruit are best suited to wide temperature variation, such as melons and plums that want hot days and cool nights. Different plums grow in different parts of the country. In California there are lots of Japanese plums and in Oregon more European plums.

• Cellared fruit takes on different characteristics. It won't have the same texture, it may not be crisp, but the flavor can be amazing. Boutard said the best apple he ever ate was a russet apple in Switzerland, it had been cellared for many months and was mealy, but complex and delicious.

• Grapes with seeds have more flavor and nutritional value. Boutard calls grapes "celibate" or "fecund" instead of seedless or seeded. A little sex helps sell! Grapes with seeds don't last as long as seedless varieties but the seeds are worth eating too. You can't eat Concord grape seeds but other grape seeds have a spicy flavor that balances the sweetness of the fruit.

• Picking fruit takes real skill. For example, some fruit needs to be watered the night before picking, such as raspberries, other fruit like plums will split if watered when already ripe. Boutard has been working with the same Oaxacan family for years because they understand how to pick fruit.

• Systemic pesticides and fungicides cannot be washed off fruit. Boutard chooses to grow fruit that is well-suited to the environment and can be grown organically rather than fight mother nature.

• Machine picked fruit is not as fully ripe because it is picked using beaters.

• The best way to judge the quality of most fruit, is to smell it. Don't look at the size. The first batch of fruit often has more pectin in it that the subsequent crops.

Numi Puerh Tea

I have become a puerh pusher. Anyone who takes so much as a whiff from my cup, ends up buying their own. I discovered puerh tea a few years ago at a wonderful tea shop, Modern Tea, run by tea expert Alice Cravens, (now sadly closed). It was served in the traditional manner in a tiny tea pot with tea broken from a cake of puerh. Not long after I purchases some loose puerh tea from Tillerman Tea in Napa. But it's the perfect-for-sampling Numi Tea tea bags that have made me go pro.

Puerh is a fermented and aged green tea that has many of the characteristics of black tea and more antioxidants than either black or green tea. It is dark and malty with rich flavor that can handle a splash of milk. Up until recently it was almost impossible to find high quality puerh tea bags. Normally I buy all my tea loose leaf, bulk, never in bags, but Numi Tea is making some fabulous puerh tea blends, available in bags. They use whole leaf tea, not dust. The convenience of tea bags has worked well for me because I am usually just drinking one cup and I often take a few bags in my purse and my suitcase.

Back in January I participated in Numi's Puerh Challenge. I didn't drink three cups a day because it's just too much caffeine for me. But I quickly added to my stash buying boxes of Magnolia Puerh and Emperor's Puerh to my favorite the Chocolate version. The Numi Chocolate Puerh tea is a blend of all organic ingredients--puerh tea, cocoa powder, vanilla, Theo chocolate cocoa nibs, rooibos, orange peel, nutmeg and cinnamon. It is such a treat! It has lovely spicy notes that pair with the mild chocolate and rich tea.

For a more delicate tea I like the floral Magnolia blend which has green tea and magnolia flowers along with the puerh. The Emperor's version is pure puerh, nothing else added. It is the most robust with toasty rich flavor, great when you feel like you want a cup of coffee. The only version I'm not crazy about is the Mint Puerh, but to each his own. Numi also sells puerh in a brick and in bulk, which is probably what I will end up purchasing next. The advantage to the brick is that a small amount of tea can be used again and again, to make up to 4 cups of tea.

Puerh is considered a very healthy tea, potentially strengthening your immune system and reducing the risk of heart attack. Other studies show tea can reduce cholesterol and triglycerides and lower blood pressure. I would love to tell you I lost weight drinking this tea, but I don't think I did. But it absolutely gets me going in the morning on those days when I need a little extra boost and the different varieties seem to fit my mood at different times of the day.

Mango Cucumber Salad Recipes

Ok here's a crazy idea, one basic salad that can be either sweet or savory. I was trying to think of what to do with some mangoes coming my way from the National Mango Board this week and then I saw a tweet from @SimpleGourmetLA with the idea for a "mojito cucumber, mango and strawberry salad." It occurred to me that both cucumber and mango could go either way--sweet or savory.

I'm always looking for ways to use common ingredients in slightly unexpected ways. Here the twist is using cucumber in a sweet fruit salad and using sweet mango in a savory salad. English cucumber is available year round and does not need to be peeled. It has a very mild flavor and a fine texture without big slippery seeds. Best of all, it has a terrific crunch! I used the most commonly available mango, the Tommy Atkins variety in both salads. It's not a very tropical, luscious or creamy mango, but more of a workhorse, with citrus-like flavor, able and willing to stand up to whatever you demand of it. It's a bit on the firm side so it's particularly good in salads.

For the sweet salad I combined cucumber, mango and strawberries and for the savory version, cucumber, mango and radishes. You might recognize the ingredients from the savory salad as being similar to what you find Mexican street vendors selling. Each salad is flavored with lime, but the sweet salad gets a touch of honey and mint, the savory salad, a pinch of salt and green onion. Both are bursting with juiciness, crunch and Summery flavors and would be great at a picnic. I'd serve the savory salad with grilled fish or chicken. I'd serve the sweet salad with a scoop of sorbet or just a couple of cookies.


Mango, Cucumber, Strawberry SaladServes 4

Ingredients

1 Tommy Atkins mango, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 large English cucumber, cut into chunks
1 pint strawberries, trimmed and cut in chunks
Juice of a fresh lime, squeezed
2 teaspoons honey
2 sprigs chopped fresh mint leaves, about 12 leves

Instructions

In a mixing bowl combine the lime and honey and stir until smooth. Add the mango, cucumber, strawberries and mix. Sprinkle with mint and taste for seasoning before serving.


Mango, Cucumber, Radish Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tommy Atkins mango, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/2 large English cucumber, cut into chunks
1 bunch radishes, trimmed and cut into chunks
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Juice of a fresh lime, squeezed
Pinch kosher salt

Instructions

In a mixing bowl combine the lime and salt and stir until dissolved. Add the mango, cucumber, radishes and mix. Sprinkle with green onions and taste for seasoning before serving.

Enjoy!

Day 12-Azerbaijan! The last of the "A" countries. Up next, Bahamas, baby!

Ahhhh, the last of the "A" countries...Azerbaijan. How many people (besides our brilliant Verizon Repair Technician, who not only knew that Andorra was a country but knew where it was), know anything about Azerbaijan? Embarrassingly, I didn't, but now I know a little about it's ancient history, culture and amazing food. First the location and a VERY brief history:

About 5,000 years old, Azerbaijan was occupied by Iranian Sasanids and in the 7th century by Arabian Khalifat.  In the second half of the 18th century Azerbaijan broke up into smaller states - khanates and sultanates.By the end of the 18th century Iran was under the rule of Gadzhars, an Azerbaijani dynasty. Skipping way ahead, the modern history of Azerbaijan contains one more significant page - Armenia - Azerbaijan conflict over annexation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Republic . Having declared itself  an independent democratic state in 1991, Azerbaijan lost its 6 areas, including Nagorno-Karabah Autonomous Region. In 1994 the countries signed the cease-fire treaty and on August 30th, 1991 Azerbaijan became an independent state.

Traditional food in Azerbaijan includes bread, pancakes and thick soups. Pilaff (plov), both savoury and sweet, is a favourite in Azerbaijan. The savoury pilaff is prepared using rice with meat, or fish, and vegetables and spices; the sweet version often contains dried apricots and raisins (which are also used on occasions to flavour meat recipes). So that's what I made: Parcha-Dosheme Plov or, layered rice pilaf with dried fruits and chestnuts:

 The process for preparing the rice had many steps: rinse it, soak it, then steam it. It's cooked by layering chicken, onions, rice, fruit and more rice. Then the whole thing is steamed and saffron is added at the end.

 Chopping the onions

 

Cakes and sweets include baklava and halva. Fruits available are apples, cherries, grapes, melons, raspberries, plums and peaches. I decided to go for the baklava, but a simplified recipe:

Make the dough, roll it out, chop the walnuts, layer the dough with filling, bake - awesomeness

Not in the recipe, but it's Saturday night , right? 

 

The windowsill over my sink - not in the recipe either, but so what, I like the picture, it's my blog, so I put it.

Here's the link to the recipes: http://www.azcookbook.com/layered-rice-pilaff-with-dried-fruits-chestnuts-parcha-dosheme-plov/ 

and for the baklava: http://www.azcookbook.com/easy-baklava/

The final analysis:  Everyone loved the rice pilaf and my kids asked me to make the baklava every night....and the best part? They now know some of Azerbaijan's history AND where it is on our beautiful world map...sure beats World History 101.

Day 11- Austria!

I had the afternoon off today, so decided that this would be as a good a time as any to visit Austria. Austrian cuisine tends to be on the heavy side - lots of meat, dumplings and stews. Perhaps best known is the Wiener Schnitzel, often cooked in beer. Austrian cooking is most often associated with Vienna, birthplace of Sigmund Freud. And, while I could definitely include research on food and eroticism from a psychoanalytic perspective, I'll just stick to cooking for this blog. But I digress...The Austrian's are most famous for their pastry and cakes, notably Apfelstrudel, or apple strudel and the Sachertorte. For this reason, I decided to eschew the heavy sausage in beer thing and make a well know desert.

  Austria is a landlocked country situated in southern Central Europe. Slightly smaller than Maine, it occupies a territory of approximately 32,000 square miles, which includes much of the mountainous territory of the eastern Alps and the Danube region.

 I settled on the Sachertorte, or Austrian Chocolate Cake - This rich, chocolate cake, also known as Sacher's Cake was created by Franz Sacher when he baked it for an Austrian prince. Traditionally this is served with fresh whipped cream. It sounds hard to make, its actually quite easy:

 

Egg whites & Chocolate batter

Frost first layer of cake with chocolate, then glaze entire cake with apricot preserves

And here's the best part- the finished product!!

Our assessment is that the cake is very good but didn't wow us. I like a dark chocolate, super rich, but not sweet cake. This one was made with semi-sweet chocolate, and I prefer bittersweet. Still, the apricot preserves added a nice tartness to the chocolate flavor, and with whipped cream, it'd be even better. Lastly, although the recipe didn't call for straining the apricot preserves, I would have, since the chunks of apricots looked a little lumpy under the chocolate glaze.

Recipe

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
• 1/2 cup flour

For the filling

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves

For the icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C/Gas mark 3) and grease and line with parchment, or waxed paper, two 8-inch round cake pans.
2. Separate the eggs. Put the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Beat the yolks until smooth.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until creamy. Stir in the egg yolks gradually.
4. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in double boiler over low heat or slowly in microwave (10 seconds, stir, 10 seconds, stir & continue until melted) Stir chocolate into the creamed mixture.
5. Put the egg whites into a large bowl, or mixer fitted with a whip attachment, and whisk until they are firm and form soft peaks when you lift the whisk.
6. Mix the flour into the chocolate mixture. Then one spoonful at a time, fold the egg whites into the cake batter with a metal spoon.
7. Pour the mixture into the cake pans. Smooth the top with the back of your spoon and bake the cakes for 35 minutes.
8. When baked, run a knife around the edge of the cakes to loosen and turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
9. For Filling: Melt the chocolate in a bowl. Mix in powdered sugar and the butter. Use a knife to spread the chocolate paste onto one half of the cake. Then, put the other cake on top.
10. Melt the preserves in a pan over a low heat. Spread it over the top and sides of the cake with a blunt knife.
11. For Icing: Sift the cocoa powder and the powdered sugar into a bowl. Add water, a teaspoon at a time, until it reaches a spreading consistency then spread it all over the cake.

Interview with Claudia Roden - part 2

Photo credit: Red Saunders
In part 1 of my interview with Claudia Roden she shared her experiences from years of writing about the food of the Middle East and her thoughts about cooking in the US and Britain. In part two, she tells us about her upcoming Spanish cookbook, recipe testing, and her opinions on culinary innovation.

For years I've read that you're working on a Spanish cookbook, how is that coming along?

For 5 years I worked on it and I've just given it in. I spent years eating, meeting people, having fun, also doing a lot of research and the history of Spain through it's food, the literature and so on. I researched the life of the aristocracy, the peasants, the church, every recipe has meaning. I only include a recipe if it tastes good, usually if it lasts 100 years it is good. The added pleasure is to know how it fits in to the culture. It becomes a way of life and it's been very enriching.

In a year it will be out, we are now doing the food photography, when I get back (to London) we will start again. The photographer is going around in Spain. I've done two editions of the book, one in metric and one in cups, for the American edition, so it's taken rather longer. I always want to test everything myself. I want to make sure of the measures. I am the responsible one so I want to do it.

Your recipes are some of the most reliable and consistent I have ever used. What's your opinion of recipe testers?
You have to give other indications, by that I mean not just timing, cups and measures. Until now I had never used recipe testers, but I also invite people to dinner or invite one person to dinner and feed them, so that is my test. Right now after having tested all the recipes 2-3 times, they are being tested again. My published in the UK, Penguin, has a policy to retest all recipes, so they asked if I wouldn't mind. I was very glad but I'm crossing out a lot that has been put in by the tester. I do add variations in time, but she has put in so much material that I fear will put off anyone from cooking! I want recipes to be short and direct. I assume someone knows a bit how to cook. She puts in every dish how to fry onions, I just think if people are busy with the timing they may not pay attention to the other signs.

You can't tell everyone everything the best is to teach them to gauge for themselves. They'll have to learn to be confident of their taste and their senses. You can't put every single eventuality in a recipe. I believe you must trust people to use their common sense. People should really trust their senses. You must trust your taste. Cooking is an art of the senses. We can explain as writers, that's our job, not to just give measures.

You and Paula Wolfert are both heroines of mine. You both seem to be able to get amazing details from home cooks. What are the keys to getting people to share their recipes, especially people notorious for not sharing recipes, like Italians?

I do a lot of advanced contact. In Italy the very first contact was an ideal one. I was invited to a dinner with regional chefs and cookery teachers from around the country and there was a man who organized things that had connections to other culinary enthusiasts around the country. Cooking teachers were very generous. They were not necessarily teaching Italian food, but I got them to help me make contacts. I found food lovers who go out to eat in different towns, I had personal connections that helped. I didn't waste any time at all since I was under pressure from the Times.

I would ask people on the train for help, I would ask someone in a train compartment, "what is your favorite food?" and several people would join in the conversation. I was told (by the newspaper) to go everywhere, eat everything, take people with me, but I couldn't always fit in so many meals so I just phoned numbers from the phone book calling randomly and asked people what do they eat? But none of the recipes from restaurants or from home cooks worked. You have to try and use your common sense. You can't force people to be absolutely correct.

In Spain I observed people cooking at cooking schools. In cooking and catering schools they teach Spanish and International food, but all that the young people want is to use machines and technology. They are all besotted by Ferran. On the other hand there is almost a backlash in Spain where people are concerned with preserving their culture and region. The threat has galvanized them to not give up on their beloved recipes.

Speaking of Spain, where do you stand on culinary innovation?
I am very impressed by a lot of innovators, I am not only tolerant but I think everyone is free to invent. Of course a lot of chefs think they have to invent everyday to be respected. In the past people had pride in their dishes, even classics. Now people feel driven to do something new. In a way a lot of messing about happens artificially. When there was change it was due to society--like hybrid dishes of different cultures that took 100 years to become part of the culture. There is change in food when culture changes, but to have a culture where you despise tradition and only revere innovation is very sad. Food is part of identity. Countries like France and Italy should not give up there identity, besides, most people are not very good at innovation.

I don't see the point in innovating to surprise or to gain prestige when it doesn't taste all that good. Sometimes the look becomes more important than the taste. Food photography made an impact that way years ago. The visual is important but you want to eat something that has real taste. Knowing what to put together is very important. If you area great creator you are fantastic. If you are just trying to be in fashion chances are it's not worth it.

In Spain chefs have gone through innovation using science and technology and because of the reaction by Spaniards, they have come back a bit. The roots are there, they want to use regional ingredients. I love the cooking of Santi Santamaria (a prominent avant-garde Catalan and Spanish chef). It's exciting, but it's not what home cooking is about. It's good to shake the Spaniards out of bad habits for example frying everything.

The French had the same experience with Nouvelle Cuisine but they have gone back to their original culture. It's important to find the balance between old and new. For restaurant chefs it's one thing, but for home cooks it's another thing altogether. It seems people entertain more in England than they do in the US, but sometimes what they do is too fussy (influenced by the culinary innovators). To entertain you should do one big dish and have everyone serve themselves. People are afraid to entertain because they think it's old-fashioned. That's a shame.

READ MORE Check out the post from yesterday, part 1 of my interview with Claudia Roden