March 2010 - Nepal

Okay So I admit, we got a little bit lax in our blog keeping, but hopefully we are back on track again. So, Nepal. Now I must admit that when we pulled Nepal out of our hat we were quite stumped as to the type of food that we would be eating. Would it be more Indian, Asian, Russian or have its very own flavour. Well after a quick perusal of the recipes on the internet we decided that perhaps the best way to capture the flavours of Nepal would be to leave it to the experts. That said we found an amazing Nepalese restaurant called, " Mustang" right here in Sydney. Mustang (pronounced Moo-stang) is an area of Nepal nestled in the Himalayas. We all decided to order the banquet which could provide a comprehensive coverage of the menu and let us have the complete Nepalese experience.

Our Menu for the evening was:

STARTER

• Momo (chicken dumplings)

• Haku Chhwela (grilled diced beef)

• Aloo Chops ( potato cake)
• Papads and Nepalese Achar

MAINS:
• Butter chicken
• Mustang Lamb
• Mixed Vegetable curry
• Everest Chicken
• Pumpkin Kwaa
• Steamed Rice

DESSERT:

• Himalayan Baraf ( homemade icecream flavoured with cardamom and pistachio nuts)

Well I think we all were quite impressed. It is a difficult type of food to describe. The curries were familiar but there was something sweeter and less spicy about them. Ialso felt that some of the spices that we are used to like coriander and cumin were more toned down and other flavours were more prominent. I loved the momos in particular which were the steamed dumplings which I suppose shows the Eastern influences on the cuisine. All in all it was enjoyable, the foods that we expected to be less spicy were the hotter ones (potato cakes) and the ones which we thought would be more spicy, like some of the curries were milder. As you can see from the vast array of foods, we really did have a banquet!

NEXT MONTH: CHILE

January 2010 - Uzbekistan

After a short December holiday break, we are back up and running for the new year. This month brings us to Uzbekistan which was formerly part of the Soviet Union. The main food of Uzbekistan is the rice based dish or palov. This is a rich meaty stew prepared on a bed of rice. Unfortunately living in the southern hemisphere and being slap bang in the middle of summer, we decided against preparing the palov and decided to try and create a more heat friendly, but authentic menu. With this in mind, here is our menu for Uzbekistan:

• Kovoqli Varaki Somsa - Pumpkin Samsa





• Karam Dolma - Cabbage rolls with meat





• Fresh Fruit skewers and Ice cream with Halva

Uzbekistan is now firmly on my places to visit list. The food was very tasty. The starter was a roast pumpkin and caramelised onion filled pastry. We all enjoyed them so much that I am surprised we even had room for the main course. I even had the last one for breakfast this morning, shh, that's a secret. Our main course was mincemeat and rice filled cabbage rolls. The rolls were made in a tomato, lemon and sultana based gravy and they were sweet and tangy. The recipe suggested that they be served with mash potato which is what we did, along with a basic side salad. We all stuffed ourselves on the cabbage rolls too so a light dessert was a welcome relief. Apparently Uzbekistan is known for its fine fruit and vegetable produce and so in honour of that we had tropical fruit skewers with plums, mango and melon along with ice cream and halva which is widely eaten in the region.

NEXT MONTH: NEPAL

November 2009 - Kuwait

Kuwaiti food is largely representative of the surrounding food cultures such as Arabian, Indian and Western. There is also a large Bedouin influence. The most common spice mix in Kuwait is a fusion of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cumin, nutmeg, black pepper and paprika. We approached the preparation of the meal by creating an assortment of traditional salads, mezze, Kuwaiti spiced kebabs, rice and the Gers ogaily which is an oil less cake made with cardamom and saffron.

• hummus and beetroot spreads

• pita breads and fresh salad
  

• Assorted kebabs and rice

Traditional cake

This was a very easy cuisine to prepare and pretty familiar too so I am not going to delve too much into the individual salads and dips. Most of the ingredients were readily available and it felt pretty healthy too. The large assortment of salads and the spicy kebabs and rice worked well together to create a healthy and light meal that is easy to replicate. The kebabs were done on the barbecue and the traditional spices with which they were seasoned made a tasty and aromatic main course. The only disappointment of the evening was the sponge cake which I am fairly sure is supposed to rise to more than half a centimetre in height :) but nevertheless we got the idea of the flavour and texture.

NEXT MONTH: UZBEKISTAN

October 2009 - Cyprus

Cypriot cuisine has evolved as a fusion of Greek and Turkish cuisines. Halloumi, or known as hellim in Turkish – is the national cheese of Cyprus. Cypriots grill their food over charcoal. Traditionally, artisha (cumin) and kolliandros (coriander) seeds make up the main cooking aromas of the island. Mint is a very important herb in Cyprus. It grows voraciously, and locals use it for everything, particularly in dishes containing ground meat.
Our menu for the evening is:

• 
  Watermelon and Halloumi Salad



• Pita and Hummus





• Chicken Souvlaki


• Koftes





• Machalepi and Turkish (Cypriot) Delight

What I love about these evenings is that each one seems better than the last. Cyprus was a huge hit. The watermelon, basil and halloumi salad was a fabulous combination. The saltiness of the cheese versus the intense sweetness of the watermelon created a fusion of flavours which just worked so well. We didn't bother to separate the courses this time and just stuffed our pita breads with the salad, the hummus and the souvlaki and kofte balls. The souvlaki were a mix of chicken and grilled halloumi basted in ouzo, honey, olive oil and vinegar. The kofte balls were heavy on the mint adding a Greek spin on the normal meatball. Dessert was interesting. The machalepi is a rosewater and cornflour dessert with a consistency not unlike jelly. It was pleasant but I don't know if it would hold mass appeal as the rosewater flavour is very strong. We accompanied the dessert with Turkish delight (which is claimed by the Cypriots as being their national food too) and the closest thing to baklava that was available at the local bakery.

All in all it was a very light meal and quite different from all the heavy curries and stews that have preceded it until now. A very nice supper to whip together at the last minute.

NEXT MONTH: KUWAIT

September 2009 - Sri Lanka

This month's challenge is the island country of Sri Lanka, home to around twenty million people. The food of Sri Lanka is hot and spicy. The base food of the inhabitants of the island is rice which they consume with curry which is both vegetable and fish based. The cuisine of Sri Lanka draws influence from that of India, as well as colonists and foreign traders. As with many of the countries in the area, Sri Lankans traditionally eat with their right hands.


Our menu for the Sri Lankan evening is:

• Sri Lankan Rolls
• Home made Rootis
• Beef Curry and Rice
• Sri Lankan Love cake
  

This was probably one the most successful evening yet. Sri Lanka rolls are a curried vegetable (potato and carrot) filled spring roll, which is dipped in a batter and bread crumbs before frying. We ate these with some chili sauce on the side and they were crispy and very filling. They would make for great 'hand arounds' at a dinner party. Very impressive rotis were made from scratch with the addition of coconut making the roti more typical of the Sri Lankan type. The coconut definitely gave the roti an extra nice flavour. The accompaniment was a fairly traditional beef curry and rice which was very tasty and mild. Dessert was a Sri Lankan love cake. Love cake is a spicy cake which tastes a bit like a cross between a Christmas cake and a spice cake. It was sweet and very interesting as all the individual spices each added a bit of zing to the cake in different ways. We had fun trying to taste each component with every bite. Among the ingredients are lemon zest, almond essence, nutmeg and semolina. Strangely there is no oil or butter in this recipe and all the moisture comes from the addition of the stiffly beaten egg whites.

NEXT MONTH: CYPRUS