Book Review: Street Cafe Morocco

The colours used in this book are what first attracted me to pick it up. The photography by Jeremy Hopley is very captivating.

The book covers recipes for street food in Morocco. So the foods themselves are easy to prepare. Most recipes have less than 6 ingredients, so its easy to throw a dish together with ingredients in your grocery cupboard or refrigerator.

Primarily targetted at a British audience, I find myself being more generous with the chilli powder than recommended in the book. But its been great at getting me to use some of the spice mixes I picked up on a recent trip to Morocco.

Do not let that fact scare you. A majority of the recipes can be prepared without searching for exotic ingredients.

Jallab

My first introduction to this drink was just 2 days ago and I'm already hooked.

Wikipedia says that Jallab is consumed all over the Middle East and is a special delicacy in Lebanon and Syria.

I haven't ever had the chance to taste this drink in Egypt, but I read a lot of blogs by Lebanese, who were passionate about this drink.

The drink is a combination of Rose syrup, date syrup/molasses and I think it has crushed raisins too. Thinned down to a watery consistency, topped with pine nuts and served chilled.

The syrup is commercially available in some parts of the world. It can also be bought online.

If you get the syrup in a bottle, you just have to add chilled water, garnish with pine nuts and serve.

The resulting liquid is a lovely deep pink almost bordering on red.Its an extremely refreshing drink. Rose and dates both have cooling properties and hence its a great drink in sultry climates.

A cursory google search for "Jallab recipe" wasn't very fruitful. If I had to take a guess from the drink that I tasted (ok, downed is a more appropriate word) I'd go for the following.

Equal parts of rose and date syrup, (the rose flavour should be a little stronger than the dates) and some pureed raisins. While rose syrup is slightly troublesome to make at home, date syrup should be easier.

Choose a moister variety of dates, clean and soak in a little water to further loosen in up. Remove seeds if any. Puree in a blender/liquidiser.

Repeat same process with a few raisins, (you can soak them with the dates and combine the processes). I'd say a handful of raisins (again juicy ones would be better) for about 200gms of seedless dates.

Puree, strain and add water to bring to the consistency of the rose syrup. (don't add sugar, the dates and raisins will have enough sweetness of their own)

Blend the rose syrup with the date+ raisin syrup.

To serve, dilute with chilled water to a really thin consistency. Garnish with pine nuts and serve.

This recipe can't be stored outside a refrigerator as it has no preservatives in it. If it splits into two layers (because of different denisty of the syrups) don't worry, just give the bottle a good shake before mixing.

The prepared drink should not split, as you will be watering it down and the densities should then equalise.

Mussels Masala Fry

Tip 1: Fresh Mussels, obviously taste better than the frozen variety

Tip 2: They need to be cooked as lightly as prawns.

Marinate the meat of mussels in a mix of chilli, turmeric, cumin and vinegar. (This is a standard paste thats ground in large quantities and stored in most Manglorean houses) but you can use powders, just create a paste with the vinegar. Adjust chillies to your liking, turmeric and jeera are intended to have just a hint of a flavour, you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar if you prefer to make it fresh.

Heat some coconut oil in a pan (this gives it a very South Indian flavour, you can use regular oil) temper with curry leaves (there's really no substitute, Sorry)

Saute thinly sliced onions (50 gms onions for 200 gms shelled mussels) in the tempered oil
Then mix in the marinated mussels with the marinade.
Stir fry at high heat, so juices get trapped inside.

Serve hot with rice and dhal or rice and rasam.

Variant:
I use a similar recipe for prawns and I pop some potatoes in there for contrasting texture. Also the flavour of prawns seems to blend well with potatoes. I myself wouldnt use a mussels-potato combo.

The Khakhi Kookbook

This is a title of a 1917 cookbook compiled by an American Missionary in India.

A Free Online edition is available here

Interesting reading. Purely for historical and literary reasons.

Cookabiliy? Not too sure. . . . .

They don't sound authentic to me as an India, would love to hear what an American thinks of these recipes

How to serve Chicken Wings for Guys!

Found this floating on the web somewhere. LOL

Recipe : Mince Cutlets/ Indian burger patties

This was something mom would make us when we came home with good marks or won a prize at something. They were a special treat because it meant mum had to individually shape these cutlets and the cooking process is a little lengthy. But they are so worth the effort!

Ingredients:
1 kilo mince (beef/chicken or mutton)
1/2 kilo potatoes (you can increase this quantity if you want more cutlets or to stretch your budget)
some fresh corriander
salt
stew powder or pepper powder for a strong taste
optional : 4 tablespoons channa dhal (split chickpeas) soaked for 4 hours at least - this gives a third texture to the cutlets.
egg for frying.

Method:
Put washed mince, skinned potatoes, dhal, salt, stew/pepper powder in the pressure cooker without any added water. Cook for 3 whistles (Hawkins).
Open cooker, if any liquid is remaining, keep cooking it with the top open until dry.
If you want smooth cutlets, grind the mince in the mixi/food procesor, else just mash and blend everything with a potato masher.
Add chopped corriander and mix well.

Beat one egg.

Shape into cutlets (any shape or size you like - burger/croquette/meat balls), dip in beaten egg and shallow fry on all sides.

Server with rice and curry for a meal.
Between slices of bread for breakfast/snack/journeys/picnics.
With chutney and sauce as a tea time snack.

This can be eaten anytime.

Optional : Roll in bread crumbs after dipping in egg and before frying.

Recipe : Green gram & Bamboo shoot

This is a traditional Manglorean recipe, normally made when bamboo shoot is in season which is for a month in the year.

With canned bamboo shoot, this favorite dish of mine can now be made year round.

Ingredients:
1 can bamboo shoots drained and chopped
3/4 can green gram (sabut moong dhal with chilka) lentils
1/2 a coconut grated (you can substitute dessicated coconut, but it wont taste as good as fresh coconut)
1 large onion
3-4 cloves garlic
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard
vegetable powder
sol/ tamarind
oil

Soak the green gram overnight. You can even sprout it if you choose to.
If the bamboo shoot is fresh, it needs to be soaked in water for a day or two (changing water every 4-6 hours) to take away the heatiness. (This is an Indian term that I cannot find the right english translation for)
If the bamboo shoot is tinned, you can just drain the water and rinse before using.

Cook the green gram and bamboo shoot with a little salt, a piece or 2 of sol (or substitute with tamarind - but this will blacken the color of the dish) and a little vegetable powder to your preference. I like it crisp while my siblings prefer it mushy.
(If you like your sprouts raw, then only cook the bamboo shoot)

Heat a teaspoon of oil.
Drop crushed garlic into it and roast till it turns dark brown, add mustard seeds, more vegetable powder and curry leaves. This is the seasoning.
Add chopped onion and coconut and cook till raw smell disappears.
Add the green gram, bamboo shoot mix and mix well on heat.

Serve hot with rice and dhal.

Obituary: Sabina Sehgal Saikia

Sabina Sehgal Saikia was a food writer who had been with the Times of India group for over 17 years who at the time of her untimely demise had risen to Consulting Editor at the publication. She died in the Terror attacks in Mumbai where she was staying on the 6th floor. She was in Mumbai for the wedding of Bachi Karkaria's son next week.

Sabina could make or break a Delhi restaurant based on her reviews. She initially wrote an extremely popular column called "Main Course" for the Saturday Times, which later moved to the Delhi Times.

I was first introduced to her, when I picked up the Times of India Restaurant Guide for Delhi, 8 years ago. My next 2 years in Delhi were made tolerable by this handy book. I tried out restaurants based on her recommendations and agreed with her judgment over 80% of the time. She was honest and direct.

The Times of India Restaurant Guides to Hyderabad and Bombay could never match up to the standard that Sabina had set. She had spoiled me against other guides with her perfection and accuracy.

I subscribed to the Times of India in Delhi, just to read her column, although the Hindustan Times gave much better news coverage in Delhi.

An excellent cook herself, she soon visited me in my living room on NDTV cooks demonstrating an especially fiery looking Green Chilli Pickle.

I never met her face-to-face, but I felt like I knew a part of her. The part of her that loved good food and in Saif Ali Khan's words "acha khaana khane ke liye, hum kahin pe bhi chalenge" (to eat good food, we will travel anywhere) and in a wierd way, I identified with this part of her.

Sabina will be sorely missed in the food writers world. Our sympathies go out to her husband Shantanu and her two young children who will feel her absence much more than her millions of devoted readers.

Sabina you brought joy into the lives of food lovers: May your Soul, Rest in Peace.

Jamón ibérico - The King of Hams!

I received this in the mail, a couple of days ago:

From swine raised like royalty, cured ham called jamon iberico is finally here.

This party has been two years in the making. At the home of Frank Cutitta, friends are beginning to gather. Cutitta, a media executive, is in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on pasta alla carbonara and veal saltimbocca. Outside on a stone patio overlooking a pond, people mill around the guest of honor.

It weighs 13 pounds, glistens with fat, and is capped by a dramatic black hoof.

It's a ham, but not just any ham. This is jamon iberico de bellota, the be-all-and-end-all, Rolls Royce, of ultra hams: one that positively demands a party. It comes from Spain, and it is among the first whole bellota hams to legally reach this country. Until now, to get a taste of this porcine holy grail, American foodies had to hop a plane.

The ham has arrived in the United States because the Spanish company Embutidos Fermin, located in the medieval village of La Alberca, spent much of the last decade working to meet USDA specifications. The company built a new slaughterhouse and formed a partnership with chef Jose Andres, host of the PBS series "Made in Spain," and Portland, Maine, importers the Rogers Collection. In 2008, they got the green light. The following year jamon iberico began to trickle into the country, first in the form of sausages, then paletas, or shoulders. But the actual hams, which take several years to cure, didn't start shipping to customers till recently.

The ham has arrived in Wayland because Cutitta's friend Victor Grillo, the man behind such ads as the famous Ginsu knife infomercial, heard about it long ago and decided to get his hands on one.

He found out he couldn't. "It was forbidden fruit," he says. "You want what you can't have." When he discovered a waiting list for jamon iberico (pronounced: ham-ON ee-BEAR-ee-ko) started by La Tienda, a website specializing in Spanish products, he put down his name and a
$199 deposit.

He was among about 400 people to do so, according to La Tienda owner Don Harris. That was two years ago. Some people have been on the waiting list for as long as six years. Very few of them are in the restaurant business. These are individuals, caught up in pure porky obsession.

"They are ham fanatics," Harris says. "One guy was postponing his wedding till he got one. He has a motorcycle club called the Patas Negras," or "black hooves," another name for the Iberian pigs from which the ham is made. "We had a customer who went and visited his ham in the mountain village where it was being cured."

Jamon iberico's cult following stems in part from its mystique: nearly nattainable, dearly expensive. It retails for $96 a pound and up.

Its provenance adds to that; the ham comes from pigs that are as coddled as the cattle that become Kobe beef. The pigs roam free, feasting on acorns ("bellotas" in Spanish). "They live in pig paradise," says Harris. "They grow up as a gang together for two years, then when it's time for them to meet their maker, they play them Mozart. After Mozart, they go to bed for the night. I don't know if they're tucked in. The next morning they get hot showers, then some mysterious carbon dioxide enters their atmosphere and they go off to piggy heaven." This is referred to not as slaughtering the pigs, but as sacrificing them. The hams then cure for up to four years in clean mountain air.

The piggy spa treatment takes place for a practical reason. "They want them very mellow," Harris says. "If they're scared, they produce epinephrine. If they're not stressed, the meat is fine. I'm not saying the ham people are pig lovers. They're meat lovers."

The main reason bellota ham is so coveted, of course, is its flavor.
"It's very meaty, rich, marbled with fat," writes Andres in an e-mail from Spain. "Jamon iberico is the finest ham in the world. It is a ham that will ruin you for other hams." He recommends serving it alone, or topped with caviar and rolled up like a cigar.

The meat is dark red, almost the shade of corned beef. It tastes like prosciutto in Technicolor, nuanced and blossoming in the mouth, with a lingering touch of iron. The fat has faintly fruity undertones; it dissolves on your tongue. Harris says the curing process converts much of the fat of acorn-fed hams into healthy monounsaturated fat, like olive oil that happens to taste like pork. According to the nutrition label on Fermin's website, a 1 ounce serving has 84.5 calories, 51.3 from fat; about a third of that is saturated. So it's not exactly health food, but it does taste extraordinary.

"The operative word for the bellota is 'meaty,' " says Harry Saltzman, the La Tienda customer who went to visit his ham in La Alberca. "Even the fat, which of course my wife assiduously cuts off and I love and I eat when she's not looking. I've been told the acorns give the ham and the fat this rich flavor. It's spectacular. Nobody believes it's as good as I say."

Back at the Cutitta home, the spread is on the table. Cutitta, who is famous among friends for his cooking, has created a feast based around Grillo's ham. There are slices of jamon iberico de bellota, unadorned; figs topped with the ham, manchego, and Italian honey; skewers of shrimp with ham; mushrooms with ham; the carbonara and the veal ("make sure you say it's from Waverly Market," Cutitta says).

"Isn't it great when food brings people together?" Grillo says. Then he takes his first bite of carbonara, topped with more slivers of jamon and Spanish cheese. "I'm gonna fall over," he says, practically swooning.
"Oh my God, this is awesome. This is better than sex."

And with that, it's time for a toast. "Here's to the pig!" Grillo says, raising a glass of Rioja. And together the friends salute the guest of honor.

"Here's to the pig!"

SOURCE: Devra First Globe Newspaper Company.

Wikipedia also has an entry on this ham that seems to support this article.

Interesting, isn't it?