ASSESSMENT

 

https://foodwineculturemelbourne.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/eat-little-bird/

https://foodwineculturemelbourne.wordpress.com/2012/10/25/pizza/

https://foodwineculturemelbourne.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/tandoori-had-th/

Eat, Little Bird

http://eatlittlebird.com/2012/07/22/twin-peaks-cherry-pie/

So without a doubt there are many great food blogs out there and as an amateur I can only hope to strive to be as sophisticated and knowledgable as them one day. But one of my absolute favourite sites to browse on is one called eat little bird. I’ll admit the fact that she’s a Vietnamese in the coporate world did biased me a little bit, but reading through and experiencing her website really was an enjoyable experience. Her website, the colours and design brings a very calm ambience to her cooking as opposed to the passionate atmosphere of people like Jamie Oliver and Gordan Ramsay. So when I’m leasurely browsing through it I’m reminded that cooking is in fact a pleasure rather than a chore. The basic format of her website is divided into recipes, travel and cookbook reviews. Her emphasis is on the recipe however it is not your tpical splurging on recipe. Instead she as the author gives her own account and her own experiences of cooking the recipe. On top of this she also compares and contrasts the many varying types of the one recipe and discusses which one works best based on anecdotal experiences. This is fantastic because it doesn’t just splurge out a bunch of number and ingredients rather it looks into what elements work best together, what doesn’t and what the followers can try at home. Furthermore the visual format is also refreshingly new. As opposed to having a recipe with three or four pictures placed right by the text the instructions are photoshoped onto the photography taken and the result is a very sophisticated looking blog. This approach makes it easier for the followers at home to actually use the recipe. Rather than search through a paragraph of words it is simple sentences placed underneath photos of each step. What she also does that’s great is cookbook reviews. Because of your like me you know all too well that there are plenty of rubbish cookbooks out there that don’t really do anything for anybody. The author herself is a collector of cookbooks and what she does is go through the mourtain and pages of recipe and posts up ther recipes that are worth spending sometime on. Because let’s face it not evry recipe from a cook book will tickle everyone’s fancy. This approach to discussing food is great because not opens up the door for people to modernise and twist traditional recipes.

POT-AU-FEU

This is considered one of the national dishes of France. Pot-au-feu translate literally to pot on fire. It is a stew often made with beef and vegetables, typically carrots, turnips, leeks, celery and onions. The meat cuts used are typically meat cuts that are of low costs that require long hours of cooking. Also included in this dish are cartilaginous meats such as oxtail and bone marrow. It is spiced with bouqet garni, salt, black pepper and cloves. When cooking this dish it is allowed to cool so that the fat condenses and floats to the surface and solidifies. On the other hand allowing it to cool will result it in a jelly like texture, something most people will find interesting to say the least. Pot-au-feu is used as a soup and is enriched with rice, pasta or toasted bread in order to give it some substance so that it can be a more hearty and filling dish. Growing up my mother made me this dish with some shell pasta and between the ages of 5 and 7 it was practically the only dish that I would eat, being the picky little brat I was. When I go out to experience this dish at restaurants it brings me back to those toddler days where I would sit in front of the television with playschool and my little dress up and mum bringing me that dish for lunch. This is one of those dishes that is simply perfect for the winter and autumn season. It’s full of flavour, extremely beautiful to smell and it keeps you feeling nice, warm and cosy. It’s always fascinated me how each individual ingredient can seem so bland and boring but when put together a whole new flavour and world of taste is created and this is definitely the case with this dish. The individual sweetness and aromas of each and every ingredient comes through to provide a simply beautiful and humble dish.

French Wine and Cheese

When we think of France in terms of the food industry, it is without a doubt a heavy weight. The French bring an element of sophistication and modernism to their dish like no other country does. There’s also a sense of delicacy when we think of authentic French cooking. Today I’d like to discuss two of the things that they are most famous for which is their wine and cheese. Wine and cheese are a staple in the French diet. It would not be unusual for a person in France to have one or two glasses of wine at lunch. In fact it is perfectly normal to sip on wine throughout the meal as we sip on water as we eat. A big platter of various cheese is passed around during lunch and eaten with bread. French cheeses come from many different regions of France, and like wine, different regions specialize in different flavors. The areas around Paris and to the northwest concentrate on the softer brie andcamembert while the eastern regions produce more hard cheeses, such as emmental. Many central regions produce variants of goat cheese, whereas in other regions cow or sheep’s milk is more commonly used to make cheeses.Several French cheeses include the town or region where they are produced in the name of the cheese itself. For example Brie de Meaux designates that this particular brie originates from the region of Meaux. Historically, this is important for notifying consumers of the flavor of the cheese, but these names are increasingly used as political controls on cheese production. The AOC label so common on wines is sometimes used to inform consumers purchasing cheese as well. The Alsace Region mainly produces white wine, and borders Germany. It has changed hands between the two countries numerous times, and the German influence is clearly seen when touring the region.
Bordeaux, located on the Atlantic coast exports and produces mostly red wines that bear the same name as the region. There are over 9,000 chateaus producing wine annually, and the area is filled with beautiful architecture.
In Burgundy, red and white wines are equally produced. Beaujolais, in the south produces mostly reds while Chablis in the north grows mainly white. Burgundy produces some of the world’s most expensive wine, due to the rarity of certain grapes.
Champagne is the coldest region located about 100 miles east of Paris. The in order for sparkling wine to bear its name, it must come from this region. There are other wines produced in this region, but Champagne remains the most popular export.
Jura, located close to Switzerland is famous for dark red wines. This region attracts many visitors each year due to its location in the Alps.
Languedoc-Roussillon, produces more wine than any other region, and is known for selling in bulk. It is said that the grapes that grow in this area have been around longer than the existence of humans!
The Loire Valley is a primarily white-wine region and produces a lot of Savigon Blanc. Many of the chateaus here are giant castles, built hundreds of years ago, by owners who felt the need to protect their wine stashes with fortresses.
Provence, in southeast France rests on the Mediterranean produces reds and whites, however is known for its famous rose wine.
The Rhone Valley is primarily a red wine region. Syrah, or Shiraz comes from this region is very popular.  This region has over 6,000 registered wine growing properties.
The South West Region produces white and reds alike, and rests on over 40,000 acres of vineyards

Pizza

As wonderful as other cuisines are there isn’t much depth in history compared to the Italians. So I apologise if I’m going a little overboard on the history. When we think of Italian cuisine two things come to mind. Past which I have spoken about in one of my previous blogs and the second is pizza. Upon doing my research I was pleasantly surprised at what a history it has had. Dates back to the 6^th century of the Persian empire, when the darius soldiers would bake their flatbreads on top of their shields which they placed on top of an open fire. This bread would be topped up with cheese and dates. Fast forward to the first century and it was found that flour cakes were eaten widely in Pompeii. By 1522 tomatoes were brought back to Europe from the new world. As a result the poorer people of Naples added this ingredient to their dish hence creating the first ever simple pizza which consisted of tomato, cheese and various herbs. By the 17^th century this dish became prominent among the peasants, eventually a name was given to it by the name of Pizzoli. Fast forward to 1889 a prominent pizza chef by the name of Raffalle Esposito was invited by King Umberto the first and he’s wife Queen Margarita to their castle to cook up some pizza dishes.  Chef Esposito ended up making three pizza dishes: the first consisted of pork fat, cheese and basil. The second had garlic, tomato and oil, the final pizza had tomato, cheese and basil. The king and queen were thoroughly impressed with all three dishes but the one that the queen favoured the most was the one which had mozzarella, tomato and basil. As a result the chef decided to name that dish after the queen hence giving rise to one of the most popular types of pizzas today; margarita. By the 19^th century almost everyone in Italy were having a pizza dish at least once a day for either breakfast, lunch or dinner. Eventually stalls were set up and were named pizzeria whereby people were able to stop by with their friends to catch up over a slice of pizza. This dish was also sold in bakeries and were made in big trays which were then cut up for customers.

Needles to say commercialise pizza is not half as good as the ones which are made with love at the restaurants. Growing up one of my favourite was the good old hawaiin, good old ham and pineapple. However in a restaurant which specialises in pissas made in woodfire ovens I tend to go for the pizza that has a few different types of mushrooms in it with cheese and herbs. There just something so lovely in the simplicity of the dish along with the varying textures of the mushroom that I just simply indulge in.

Tiramisu

This week I’m going to talk about one of my favourite desserts to eat which is the Italian dessert called the tiramisu. The tiramisu dessert is made with espresso, marsala, separated eggs, caster sugar, marscapone, thickened cream, sponge fingers (savotardi). Mix the coffee and marsala together into a shallow dish and set aside. Beat egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl with an electric beater until its pale and thick. Combine in marscapone and whipped cream gently. Soak the biscuits in the shallow dish of marsala and coffee. Cover with a layer of the marscapone mix. Layer again with lady fingers, drizzle with the mix of espresso and marsala and put a layer of the marscapone mix. Repeat this twice or however many times you want ending with the marscapone mix. Cover the dish with glad wrap and leave in the fridge for at least two hours. To serve dust the dessert with cocoa. This dish is one of my favourite because it steers away from your typical sweet cake or ice cream dessert, the coffee flavour wafts beautifully around your mouth with the light creaminess of the mascarpone cheese topped up with chocolate. The soaked fingers add a different dimension to the dish, I have to admit at first it was hard to appreciate but the more accustom I became to it the more it grew on me.

As always I’ll talk a little bit on the history of this dish. The history of the tiramisu is somewhat foggy and there are various stories of how it came to be. The most prominent story is that the dish originated from Sienna. The dish was made in honour of Cosimo the third when he visited the country. The dish was made to satisfy he;s sweet tooth. As a result he loved the dish so much that he brought it with him to Florence. Eventually the dish began to gain national popularity and was extremely popular amongst English artists and interllectuals.

The name of the dish literally translates to “pick me up” which is right considering it has energising ingredients such as eggs, sugar and coffee. If you’re out with friends then what better way to finish off your intalian meal with this delicious dessert? If not then this serves as a fantastic pick me up on a Sunday afternoon with some tea surrounded with friends catching up on what’s happening in life.

Pasta

Italy is without a doubt one of the food capitals of the world. I could write pages and pages on Italian cuisine only to do it some justice. When we think of Italian cuisine we instantly think of pasta, with the average Italian eating more than 28 kilos of pasta a year it is considered the international staple diet. Not only is have a long shelf life when it is dried but it is also made of durum wheat which has high nutrition value as well as durum wheat thriving in Italian climate. The history of pasta dates back to when Arab invaded Italy back in the 8^th century. A dried noodle like product was introduced into Sicily. It slowly began to grow prominence during the 1300’s due to the fact that durum wheat was easily accessible as well as it was easy to produce especially for the peasants. In early times pasta was eaten plain, dry and with fingers. Up until the 18^th century an author by the name of Francesco Leonardi introduced a tomato sauce recipe in he’s book L’Apacio moderno. This recipe revolutionised how pasta was eaten because this was the first sauce ever made and from then on sauce became part of eating pasta. At the evolution of this only rich people where able to eat pasta with sauces as they were the only ones who were able to afford utensils to eat the pasta with. Today there are three general types of pasta dishes: pasta asciuatta; cooked pasta with condiments, pasta in brood; served with sauce or soup and finally pasta al forno which essentially is a pasta bake. Traditionally pasta was eaten in smaller portions however as time went on it became more and more bigger. The very basic pasta is made with egg, salt and flour and is made by kneading all the ingredients together. If you’re a health freak like I am I prefer to use wholemeal flour with just some water.

There are a lot of great pasta recipes out there, ranges from carbonara to creamy bacon etc. As lovely as these sophisticated I do prefer simple, wholesome recipes for my everyday eating. One of the very basic pasta sauces is obviously tomato and garlic served on spaghetti. One of my favourite sauces to make is a tomato, onions and mushroom. What you do is heat a pan with some olive oil, sauté the onions till brown, add in some wedged tomatoes and some mushroom and serve with angel hair pasta. This dish is tasty quick and healthy, just my kind of dish. Another one of my favourite sauce to eat pasta with is pesto. If you have some spare basil lying around in your kitchen simply throw it in the processor with toasted pine nuts, lemon juice, pepper and olive oil until it binds together in a some-what thick consistency. 

PAELLA

For the past two weeks I have been speaking about the Moroccan culture, this week I would like to move up north just a little bit and discuss the country of Spain. At the mention of the name the Spanish are known for many great things such as bullfighting, soccer, dancing and the list goes on. One of the most predominant, some people may even call it the national dish, is one called a paella. Today we refer to the paella as an actual recipe however it is actually a style of cooking, whereby a short, round pan with a thick based is used. Traditionally it was made of iron but has time progressed it is now made of stainless steel. Typically the paella is a rice dish, whereby short grain rice, saffron and olive oil is used.  Anything can be added to this dish, all sorts of meat or it can even act as a vegetarian dish, today one of the most popular types of paella is the seafood paella. The dish originated back in Valencia and was made for labour workers over an open fire. The whole concept of the paella is to provide a dish that was simple, hearty as well as affordable. A typical recipe for peasants was that of rice, olive oil, saffron, tomato, onion and snail. What the dish was also able to provide through time was the socialisation of it. Labourers would gather around an open fire where conversations, jokes etc were exchanged and this provided a tight social group for that group of workers. Even today families gather at home to make this dish and debates and discussions would take place on the best ingredients to add into the dish, as well as who is the master of the dish in the family. The other social occasion that has come from this dish is that called a paella picnic, where a groiup of people cram themselves into a car, the boot is filled with food and drink and they are on a road trip to either the beach or the mountains. There wood is gathered and a fire is created with olives and sausages as nibbles while the paella is cooking on the fire. One of the greatest things about this dish is the fact that it creates such a warm and endearing atmosphere whereby family and friends are able to bond. This is what it as a dish represents. Even back in Spain where there were street parties this dish was what was made as the main dish

Moroccan desserts?

As promised in this blog I’m going to take a look at Moroccan desserts. The reason for the question mark in the title is purely because this is the first time I’ve ever encountered Moroccan desserts. To be quite honest I didn’t even realise they existed. It was difficult for me to locate some bakeries that sells these traditional desserts and so I write this blog based purely on the research I found rather than first-hand experience. If you go on the internet there are many modernise desserts or desserts with the influence, but what I want to look more at is the traditional sweet dishes.

For the more casual dining events, seasonal fruits are often used to finish off a meal, it’s only really in the more occasional events where s sweet dish is prepared. A popular ingredient to use in Moroccan sweets is almond paste, typically made from ground almond, argan oil and honey. It is usually the filling for many pastry dishes, for example one of the most popular sweet dishes is call “kaad el ghzal” or if translated to English called gazelle horns, you can tell why just from looking at the picture. This dish is basically pastry which wraps itself around a filling of almond paste which is baked and coated in sugar. Another dish made using the almond paste is M’hanncha or translated to snake pastry. The pastry is simply thin filo pastry and the filling consists of almond paste, almonds, butter, almond meal, sugar cinnamon and orange flower water. It is coiled up, baked and finished off with some icing sugar.

Another popular sweet dish halwa shebakia, this is deep fried dough taking shape of flowers which is deep fried and then coated with honey and sesame seed.

The final sweet delicacy is Ghriyba, this is simply a cookie with almond, flour, sugar and butter. Despite its simplicity it is only really made for special occasions, this dish is considered the most special of them all.

three course lunch today?

This blog was actually inspired by Chris from all stars masterchef when he cooked up a tagine and it got wondering what the dish was. I started with the origin of the dish which is Morocco. It is a country located in North Africa and is quite well known for their generous culture, beautiful beaches and aromatic cuisines with the use of spices such as saffron, cumin, coriander, ginger, ground red pepper etc. Unlike the western culture the main meal of the day for them is lunch, which is typically a three course meal. The first course can be either a hot or cold salad, a lot of the time eggplant and tomato will be the main ingredients in this first dish. It is then followed by a dish called the tagine (sometimes spelt tajine). A tagine is not necessarily a recipe but rather a style of cooking. It is a clay pot with a conical lid and acts similar to that of a portable oven. The whole purpose of this cookware is to be able to simmer the dish at a relatively low temperature, for long periods of time over a charcoal fire.  This was because this clay pot was created to cook tough, cheap cuts of meat such as chicken neck, lamb shanks etc and these cuts of meat required time to cook thoroughly in order for it to be falling off the bone. The most popular religion in morocco is Muslim and so pork and alcohol are not to be incorporated in any way. The conical structure of the tagine was made so that the cooking process would lock in the moisture and not dry out. This is possible due to the fact that the steam condenses in the conical lid and drips back down into the dish, lid prevents the moisture from vaporising. Some of the main ingredients used in this dish include olives, chicken, lamb, beef, prunes apples, raisins, nuts, preserved lemons etc. The lunch ends with a series of fresh seasonal fruits.. On the more special occasions or celebratory events, desserts are usually served (I’ll talk more about it in the next blog). Finally every meal is served with a cup of mint green tea which can be sweetened with honey if desired. When pouring the mint tea the people like it to be poured in a certain way where lots of bubbles are formed.

 Tagine is a great dish if it is made right. With not enough care, this is boring and one dimensional. It becomes nothing more than a vegetable stew or a dish with meat overload. However if this dish is made right then it is quite a nice dish, it’s perfect for the winter seasons where you are in search of some comfort food. In contrast to the deeply braised sauce with the meat that melts in your mouth there are refreshing bursts of yogurt, dried fruits, olives as well as the textures of nuts that are found in there. One last thing I forgot to mention is that Moroccans don’t eat with cutlery instead a flatbread is often served with a tagine.

 

Thanks for reading.