The name spring roll is a literal translation of the Chinese Chun Juan, a food that is eaten traditionally in Asia every year to welcome the coming of spring. Spring rolls are stacked up once fried golden brown, resembling layers of gold bars to Chinese folk: a wish for a
With the rapid global rise in the cost of living, many folk are forced to pay closer attention to their weekly supermarket bills as they struggle to stay ahead of the game. To that end it is worthwhile casting your eyes back to poverty-proven and time-tested recipes from the days
While Japanese cuisine isn’t part of my regular culinary commentary, I very much enjoy a roll of nigiri or a good sashimi as much as the next person. Many Japanese delicacies are not only aesthetically pleasing and interesting, but are also very often the perfect “bite size”, making them
Stuffed mushrooms first started appearing as a popular recipe in the late 19th century in Italy. The Italians are renowned for stuffing everything and anything from zucchini flowers to pasta dough: the culinary term for this in Italian is ripiene. Anything on an Italian menu with the prefix ripiene will
The empanada is a popular finger food eaten with different fillings throughout South America. Empanada comes from the Spanish empanar, which translates to English as ‘breaded’ or something wrapped in bread. Depending on where you are geographically, you will find empanadas with a wide variety of fillings such as beef,
Everything has an interesting story behind it, even the simple homemade carrot cake. Carrot cake first appeared during World War II in Great Britain, where “housewives” were forced to use natural sweet products to sweeten their cakes due to the lack of available sugar. In 1943 the British War Ministry
Old Ljubljana is the picturesque capital of Slovenia, a relatively new Balkan nation state fashioned in 1991 from the western corner of the now disintegrated communist Yugoslavia. Populated in the late sixth century AD by Alpine Slavs (or Slovenes), they have a long history of subjugation by Germanic types: first
There are a hundred variations of the oatmeal biscuit: some more successful than others. Oatmeal, the significant ingredient in the biscuit, we all remember well as a staple for breakfast in the form of porridge a long, long time ago. Great for winter, it filled the kids up and shut
When cooking for official dinners and banquets, juggling the different courses, oven times and plating can often be a little stressful. Last minute demands, confusion and miscommunications over dietary needs are always a disaster waiting to happen. Vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, no garlic, no onion… There’s often someone waiting to
The Milanese veal cutlet, as the story (and there are many of them) is told, was discovered by an Austrian general on a military campaign against North Western Italy in the 19th century (most of Europe was fighting itself during this period; actually, Europe has been fighting itself since spears
Right now we are smack bang in the middle of summer here in Israel. The coastal areas are suffering their usual extremely nasty heat and humidity. Meanwhile just 40 kilometres away in Jerusalem the days are hot but dry and really quite bearable. Jerusalem evenings it seems were custom made
Biscuits are everyone’s favorite: they are so popular, it doesn’t matter which country you happen to be in, they will always require a dedicated supermarket aisle just to themselves. Biscuits as we know them today first appeared in Britain during the late Middle Ages. In New York, however,
This one is a nice mix of great Italian and Greek cuisine. Using the filling of a Tuscan “Torta de Fungi” (porcini mushroom quiche filling) and delivering it in an attractive crispy Greek phyllo pastry basket, embellished with a thyme-mushroom mix tossed in white wine makes for a nice entree
One might expect that having just returned from a Cretan holiday during which I heaped accolades on our favorite meat dishes of lamb and goat, that I am still in a state of denial and remain in holiday mode, trying to keep the Cretan Island dream alive. Not so! Herbed
This week’s post introduces a little known popular Israeli treat, the krembo, which literally translates from Hebrew as “cream inside”. While unique in name to Israel, it is pretty common all over the world and comes in all shapes, sizes and names. The krembo is basically Italian meringue (marshmallow)
Without a doubt the mighty beef hamburger would have to be one of the most familiar and loved foods invented by man. While not eaten by all folk on a regular basis, the hamburger has played a significant part in all our lives as one of the dreaded “munchies”. Economically
