In this part of the world, it seems that almost anything can be served up in a pita. Most people are familiar with falafel and shawarma. Other local foods are served on pita like lahme bajen, or the pita is used as a spoon to scoop and wipe hummus and
This weeks post is tasty Spinach soup, a simple very quick delicate and visually attractive way to warm your cockles and sigh aahhh afterwards. There is not much you can write on the origins of spinach soup but I will give it a go. Spinach first appeared in the region
Just back from the paprika and fishy flavour of the Maghreb, we are now off to the boot of Italy. Timballo, a long-forgotten traditional dish, almost never seen on a restaurant menu anywhere ever, received positive exposure when appearing in a cameo role in the foodie movie Big Night released
Every ethnic group has its culinary pride. New Zealand Maori tout their under-dirt cuisine called the ‘Hangi’, the English have toad in the hole, the Scots wave around their Haggis, the Germans put that look on their face with their sauerkraut and the French, apoof! (their cuisine largely exists because
Once upon a time upon a time, Mums used to make everything. Thinking back, one has clear memories of homemade bread, cakes, jams, preserves, muesli, ice blocks and even delish homemade cooked ice cream. These days one buys it all but rarely feasts on anything other than tasteless empty pleasures.
This week I am doing one of my favourites that my mother in law used to spoil us with. Malka Yemini may her memory be blessed was a renowned cook with many feathers in her culinary cap, part Yemenite part Sephardi she had a well-stocked and colourful larder. Bougatchia which
It’s been a while since I posted a nice dessert, so I chose the lemon tart with its topping of Italian meringue. The pressing question is which topping should you use to adorn the lemon tart: the Italian, Swiss or French meringue? I know the New Zealanders think they
Parmigiano Melanzane What a great way to say Eggplant Parmesan. Full of gusto, Latin rhythm and a superbly succinct description of the portion at hand. Eggplant parmesan is a mix of continents. The eggplants originate from Asia, the tomato from South America and the cheese from Italy where it was
The culinary dish paella finds its origins in the Valencia region of the Iberian peninsula known today as Espania or Spain. Round rice, the principal ingredient of paella, was introduced to “Spain” in the eighth century CE by the Moors after their invasion and conquest of Iberia. The Arabs and
There are a variety of different pasta sauces that have come out of Italy. Most are products of the twentieth century with wealth being created by industrialisation and the knock-on effect to a burgeoning middle class. Restaurants and eateries exploded and started competing and striving for excellence, offering something more
I had promised Chicken Arrabiata (angry in Italian) for this week’s column, but July 4th popped up out of nowhere and you have to go with the flow. The chicken can’t get any angrier than he already is and will have to wait to be put in the
There is nothing quite like a good thick satisfying soup on a cold winter’s evening; that’s the general sentiment expressed by most regarding soups. Personally I have never been a soup man, always party to the belief that soup just takes up valuable and limited space in your
Smoked Paprika the Next Big Thing Paprika as we all know is made from ground up dried peppers. Peppers come in all shapes, names, colours, sizes, sweetness and levels of heat. Peppers as everyone should know are indigenous to South America and were introduced to Europe and then filtered on
Brisket, the Poor Man’s Butcher’s Cut. Winter down under is a good opportunity to sharpen your knives and try a long-cook culinary experience while making big savings in the process. Brisket is a singularly unsavoury name for any cut of meat that derives its naming rights from Scandinavian
Mouth watering is a foodie way to say to salivate Over here in the Middle East, the most common style of poultry consumed is the meat of the chicken leg and thigh. This is very unlike the norm throughout most of the West where the most popular cut of the
Phyllo, philo, filo pastry: the Eastern Med pastry Phyllo means leaf in Greek and is the healthy person’s version of the French mille feuille. The Greek version of puff pastry, unlike its Francophone cousin, contains no fat or butter and is made from flour, water and a little bit
