Retro Food For Modern Times

Hello time travellers, and welcome to December 2004, where we are decking the halls with Fusion food courtesy of Delicious Magazine.  For those who are not familiar with the term,  the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts says it involves  “bringing together ingredients from different cultures and merging recipes. This technique of joining culinary forces offers truly novel flavour combinations and unique menu offerings”. 

In their examples, they list Tex-Mex and French Vietnamese. My personal favourite fusion was an absolutely fabulous Korean Taco place near where I used to work. Their kimchi fries were to die for!!! Kedgeree, which I also love, is a fabulous Anglo-Indian creation. I am also not averse to a tandoori chicken pizza!

On the menu today, we have an American / Middle Eastern mash-up, an Anglo-Indian combo that is not kedgeree and an Irish / French marriage to finish off.  Will these be in the realm of kimchi fries?  We’ll find out soon enough. 

But first, it wouldn’t be a 20 Years Ago Post without a quick look at what was making the charts in December 2004. 

Step Back in Time – December 2004

Movies

Today we are looking at the film charts from December 2004 and what a month!  In the first week of December, National Treasure was number 1,Bad Santa was #4 and Garden State was #6.  Week 2: Team America: World Police was #1.  In Week 3, Ocean’s Twelve was number 1. Personally, I hated that one so it just goes to prove you can’t have everything.  But in the fourth week,  Lemony Snicket was # 1, and to round out the month, Meet The Fockers topped the box office, and Phantom of the Opera, which we spoke about last month, was #6.

Music

There was no change from last month in the top songs. My Boo by Usher and Alicia Keys was number 1 in the first week, and Drop It Like It’s Hot by Snoop Dog was top of the Billboard charts for the rest of the month. 

Books

In a weird twist, The Da Vinci Code headed back to the top of the charts in the first week of December.  I can’t explain this. The movie didn’t come out til 2006 so it wasn’t tied to that.  And surely everyone who wanted to read it, had already read it by then.  Maybe it was a surge of people buying Secret Santa gifts for their coworkers.  Anyway, its return was short; Night Fall by Nelson DeMille took top place the second week, and Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom was the best-selling book for the remainder of December. 

Two things that I would have wanted as Christmas presents that year were the rerelease of Stephanie Alexander’s Classic “The Cook’s Companion“, although with a massive price tag of $125, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t under any tree with my name on it.  Also, according to Delicious magazine, this was when Nigella Lawson’s “Feast” was released.  

So, now that we have set the scene, let’s set the table for our fusion feast!

Lobster Cocktail with Preserved Lemon

This recipe livens up the traditional prawn (shrimp) cocktail with a bit of luxe from the lobster and some Middle Eastern flavours of preserved lemon and harissa.  You will see that the recipe calls for a whole lobster.  I used a far more economical lobster tail, and one tail between the two of us was perfect for a starter.  This meal looks elegant and ritzy but can be made without a high price tag.  

This was delicious, and every ingredient had its place.  I had never even thought of using a grain in a seafood cocktail.  And, to be honest, I thought about not including the burghul wheat.  Please don’t do this, it brought a beautiful nuttiness to the lobster cocktail.  I’d never had it before but now, I want to have burghul in every seafood cocktail!   It was a game changer ingredient! 

A word of advice on the sauce.  When I first made the harissa sauce, I thought it was a little bland, so I added more harissa.  I then popped it into the fridge whilst I made the rest.  The flavours continued to develop, so what I ended up with was somewhat spicier than when it went into the fridge!  It still tasted delish, but be careful if you are playing with the ratios, as you don’t want to overpower the flavour of that lovely lobster! 

Finally, our lime tree was also bare so I used a lemon as my garnish.  We’ll now have to wait til winter for fresh limes but the lemon tree is the gift that keeps on giving!   

Lamb Rack with Coconut Gravy and Mango Chutney

This feels to me like a perfect blend of the Fussiest Eater in the World’s tastes and mine.  He likes his good old English roast.  I like a bit of spice!  This recipe was, therefore, a win-win!  It felt a bit unusual adding the curry gravy to the meat after it was cooked but this recipe really worked for me!

Baileys Crème Brulée

Speaking of win – win…Baileys is one of my favourite tipples.  And crème brulée is one of my favourite desserts.  This was DELIGHTFUL!  The Baileys was there but more like a whisper than a scream.  If I hadn’t known it was was Baileys  I would have spent the first few spoonfuls thinking…”I know what that flavour is….but I need just one more spoonful to figure it out”…and after that I would have decided not to worry too much about defining the flavour and just dug in for sheer enjoyment!  And of course, if you want a stronger Baileys flavour, a little glass on the side wouldn’t go astray!

And just listen to that crack!

My Nigella Moment – Tomato Tarte Tatin

For first-time readers, this refers to the moment at the end of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows when she sneaks back to the fridge to have another bite of something delicious.  In the context of these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that may not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in because it is too good not to share. 

The tomato tatin was absolutely delicious.  What made it SPECTACULAR was the caramelised garlic.  I made the tomato tarte tatin on a night when I was by myself so I made a quarter quantity of the caramelised garlic.  Massive mistake.  It was absolutely delicious.  I had some left over after the tomato tatin and I put it on absolutely everything I ate over the next day or so.  Salad?  I added it to the dressing?  Steak, I added it as a little condiment.  Snacking – the carmelised galirc and butter on really fresh bread was divine.  Seriously someone needs to bottle that up and sell it.  I would buy a lifetime supply!

The ricotta cream was also really nice.  I did add a little tip I picked up from Girl Dinner and added a splash of pickle juice into the ricotta mix which I thought set it off really nicely! 

What a month!  Each of these brought me joy! I’m so glad the December 2004 issue of Delicious delivered fusion, not confusion.  Now, I need to dash; I have a great little business idea I want to try out!

Have a great week!