World Cooking Archives - Page 16 of 30 - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: World Cooking

11
Apr
2020

Sighs of a Nun

categories: Desserts, Pastry Desserts, Spain

Hello, people of the internet! I hope you are all keeping safe and staying indoors! And whilst you’re indoors, why not make these little Spanish treats called Suspiros de Monja aka Sighs of a Nun.

I love food with kooky names so as soon as I saw these I knew they would someday make their way to here. I know they are not chocolate but consider them my Easter treat to you!

When I heard the name, Sighs of a Nun, I assumed it would refer to sighs of ecstasy over how delicious these are. Not so. They are delicious but the sighs are definitely not what I thought they would be!

The literal translation is Nun’s Farts as the sound of a dollop of uncooked pastry hitting the hot oil makes a sound identical to a nun letting off!!!!

I have noticed that my Sighs of a Nun are flatter than the ones I can see on the internet. I think that is because I pan-fried mine instead of deep-frying them. Either way, they were delicious! I was dubious about how much use the lemon would be in this but there was a distinct lemon flavour which I liked against the creamy interior and the crispy outside.

One of the best things about them, in these COVID times, is that you only pantry staples to make them. And, eaten while still warm? They are comfort food on crack!!! Like warm, creamy, lemony doughnuts! Albeit slightly flattened doughnuts in my case!

There is a recipe for Sighs of a Nun in the Goodhousekeeping World Cookery book which is where I first found out about them. They say Sighs of a Nun originate in Portugal and I have also seen recipes that say they came from France. I ended up using this recipe from The Spruce Eats so we are going with Spain!

Sighs of a Nun are fairly rich so just one or two will be enough…okay maybe three. Four will be fine. Hey, we’re at home. Who cares how many you eat?

Signs Of a Nun?

BTW, if you ever try to Google this recipe, Google has a bad habit (😃) of thinking you want to know about the signs of a nun…

If you were inadvertently directed here because you are trying to decide if you want to be a Bride of Christ…I’m sorry. I’ll try to keep the blasphemy and general debauchery down to a minimum. Sorry about the fart talk above. Given we are living in plague times, now more than ever I do not need the wrath of anyone’s God smiting me down.

Having said that, potential novitiates block your ears.

I can’t remember if I told this story at the time (it seems so long ago, for being less than a month!!!!), But when we were in the Uber on the way home from seeing New Order my friend Claire and I got an absolute earful from the driver who was a total God botherer. He kept saying to us “You people put your faith in science. What is science doing to stop this disease?”

Ummm….well…I don’t know EXACTLY. But I’ll put my money on science coming through with a cure before any type of divine intervention! And whilst we’re on that subject? When that cure comes, I certainly hope all those anti-vaxxers are going to politely wait at the back of a social isolation distance correct line while the rest of us get the jab and can give each other a big old hug!!!!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

09
Mar
2020

Name Plates: Caesar Salad

categories: Name Plates, Salad, United States of America

Today we are celebrating the Ides of March with, what else but, a Caesar Salad. The 15th of March may not have been a good day for old Julius C but, any day in my book is a good day to eat this classic American salad!

The Waldorf Salad may be the funniest American salad but the Caesar salad has to the most highly accoladed:

In the 1940’s Gourmet Magazine called it ‘the gastronomic highlight of the current moment’
In 1953 it was hailed as ‘the greatest recipe to originate in the Americas in 50 years’ by the International Society of Epicures.
Julia Childs called it “a sensation of a salad from coast to coast”

High praise for some dressed lettuce leaves!!!

What is Caesar Salad?

I feel like this is a little bit like trying to explain what is water. Caesar Salad is everywhere. And everyone “knows” what it is. And everyone has their own recipe. But let’s try to break it down a little bit….

Caesar Salad was created in 1924 by Caesar Cardini in his restaurant in Tijuana Mexico. The OG version was romaine (cos) lettuce leaves dressed in a mixture of garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, egg yolk, Worchestershire sauce, anchovies and parmesan cheese, topped with a lone crostini, black pepper and more parmesan cheese.

No bacon
No poached eggs
No multiple croutons

I love this more austere version of what we have come to see as a “typical” Caesar Salad.

Although I am not averse to any of the above and, indeed I usually include all of them when I make a “Caesar Salad” my purist heart balks at adding

Chicken
Kale
Prawns
Avocado, or
Lobster

I love all of those things. And they all have their place. But that place is not in my Caesar Salad. And I will silently judge you if you choose to give them a place in yours.

But I will not be so quiet if you give me, or choose for yourself, a so-called Caesar salad that contains pasta, pesto, quinoa, is served in wonton cups or comes atop of pizza. Because, those things maybe something. But what they are not is the ingredients of a goddamn Caesar Salad!!!

You will need to beware the Ides O’ March if any of those ends up in my Caesar!

By the way, the Cardini restaurant still exists and if you so desire you can drop by and have one of the ensaladeros make you a Caesar salad at your table just like they did back in the day!

Which has made that restaurant in Tijuana top five in my bucket list of places to eat.

If this damn virus ever abates and we can all travel again.

I Digress

Skip over this bit if you are only interested in Caesar Salad

Can we just stop and talk about Covid-19 for a mo?

We haven’t formally been told that we have to, but my work is encouraging everyone to work from home. There was a really weird atmosphere on Friday as everyone was packing up their stuff before heading home. It was like it was Christmas in that we felt like it might be a while before we saw each other again. But like Christmas with all the joy sucked out of it.

They’ve cancelled the Grand Prix which was meant to be in Melbourne this weekend and the Comedy Festival. They cancelled the Robbie Williams concert on Saturday but not the New Order concert I went to on the same night. By the way, the icing on the cake for that show was, as the house lights came up at the end of the gig, the song ushering us all out of the venue was REM’s It’s The End of The World As We Know It.

You can’t buy hand sanitizer, toilet paper or tissues for love or money. The supermarket shelves are largely empty of all non-perishable items.

Because I will be working from home for the indefinite future I went online tonight to buy a monitor that I can plug my work laptop into so that whilst keeping myself safe from the coronavirus I am not giving myself massive eyestrain. At one point I was trying to log on to our biggest office supplies company on two different laptops and my phone and it took FOREVER to finally make my purchase. I’m sensing monitors may join toilet paper and Graham Gene Potter on Australia’s most-wanted list!

What is happening in all your countries in reaction to the virus? Are you scared? Worried? Bored?

I am about 1% worried for my personal safety. I am mildly asthmatic so I am already slightly compromised on a respiratory front I am more scared for my mother who is obvs older and massively asthmatic.

I am also really annoyed that people have responded to this in the way they have in relation to panic buying.

I have been listening to the wonderful podcast American Hysteria recently and so much of what I am seeing resonates with what I have heard on there. Can we please all just calm the farm down in this?

And just to lighten the tone? Mystery solved!

Who, Who Was Caesar?

Caesar Cardini was an Italian immigrant to the United States who, along with his brother Alex, opened restaurants in San Diego and Tijuana. If you recall, the United States was under Prohibition from 1920 through to 1933. Mexico was not. So many of the rich and famous, including many Hollywood stars, would cross the border to eat and, more particularly, drink. Caesar’s became a popular hangout for these people.

Legend has it, that the restaurant was particularly busy one Fourth of July weekend. Kitchen supplies were running out so Caesar had to make a salad from what was on hand…ecco! Caesar Salad was born.

Then, as now, the Caesar salad was made tableside for a little bit of dramatic flair.

Caesar Cardini died in 1956, but as they say, the candle burned out long before the legend ever did!

The Recipe

I used this recipe from Taste for my Caesar and I can heartily recommend it.

For a more austere version, probably close to the OG version, I can also recommend Grace Kelly’s Caesar Salad as featured in Silver Screen Suppers as featured in Recipes For Rebels by all-round internet good guy Greg Swenson.

Variations

There are probably a million recipes for Caesar salad on the internet. TBH, a lot of them, as mentioned in the intro above are not “Caesar” Salads.

Choose wisely!

Modern Day Caesar

There are not that many modern-day Caesar’s.

There’s the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan and of course, the original Joker, Cesar Romano. But, today of all days, there can only be one Caesar for us to celebrate!

Happy Ides of March everyone!

06
Feb
2020

Prawn and Potato Curry

categories: 1970's food, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, India, Prawns, World Cooking

Greetings people of the internet. This week we are returning to our sojourn around the world via Good Housekeepings World Cookery. Last time we visited this book we were in Pakistan for a subcontinental take on Scotch Eggs. Today we are moving south and east into India for a super easy, super delicious Prawn and Potato Curry.

I threw some baby corn in as well because this is my year of not wasting food and we happened to have some in the fridge that was not going to last the week. To be honest, the baby corn should never have been bought. It was on sale and the fussiest eater in the world said he wanted it.

“For what?” I asked.

“I’ll think of something”

Something was not thought of. Hence the fact that the baby corn went into the curry.

There seems to be something in the air this year around reducing waste/saving money. I set a goal for 2020 to be my year of reducing kitchen waste. Halfway across the world, the lovely Jenny from Silver Screen Suppers is also cutting down on waste this year. My boss is radically cutting down on her kitchen waste this year by living off pantry supplies every fourth week and donating the money she would have spent on food to charity. I LOVE this idea!!!! Such a bold and generous move!

But back to the curry. This curry is very easy to make and for a curry, few ingredients. It is also very tasty! Here’s the recipe, direct from the pages of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. But please feel free to add in any veggies you may have that would otherwise go to waste!

Have a great week! And please tell me any tips you have for reducing kitchen waste!

14
Jan
2020

Pasties (inspired by Cornwall)

categories: Cornwall, England, Pastry, Travel, United Kingdon, World Cooking

We have had a few wet days this week (not complaining if it will put out some of the fires that are burning out of control). But the rather damp summer weather reminded of being in England last year and most particularly our trip to Cornwall where it rained buckets for the first two days. Which in turn reminded me of that great staple of Cornish food, the pasty! These are everywhere in Cornwall, well all through England actually, but eating proper Cornish Pasties was the very first thing we did when we got to St Ives. BTW, the people of Cornwall are tremendously possessive of their pasties. It is for this reason that I am not calling my version Cornish Pasties. Mine are more Cornish-ish Pasties.

We had an odd discussion after I ordered our pasties at the bakery.

“What did you call them?” asked the fussiest eater in the world.

“Pasties” In Australia, we pronounce these with a long A. Pah-sties.

Apparently, the correct pronunciation is with a short” A” like in “pastel”.

I can’t get on board with this, even if it is technically correct. They will always, and only ever be, pah-sties to me. If you’re British or a pedant, knock yourself out with that short A. For those of you not familiar with pasties or pah-sties, just remember that it is never pronounced “Paste-ies”. They are what strippers put on their nips and not delicious beef and veg cooked to perfection in a pastry case!

The pasties in Cornwall are crimped to perfection, each one the exact replica of its neighbour. Mine were a little bit more….hmmmm…let’s call them individualistic.

Pasties came about as food for Cornish tin miners. Originally, the pastry was just to protect the meat and veg from the dirt inside the mines so I guess that a few misshapen pastry shells would not have mattered back in the day!

There is a great article from The Guardian about the history (and contents) of the pasty which you can read here. My favourite bit of that article is the legend that the Devil was scared to cross the River Tamar from Devon because the women of Cornwall were renown for putting anything and everything into their pasties. Imagine popping down to your local bakery for a Satan Pastie! Although actually not quite everything – the carrot – which you will see in many recipes for pasties is a big no-no in the traditional recipes. Potatoes, swedes and onions are the only veg your pasty needs! It also needs LOTS of pepper.

Swedes are such funny things! I only recently found out that the colour difference in the swede is due to the white part growing underground and the purple part growing above ground!

I pretty much followed the recipe given by the Cornish Pasty Association except that I used bought shortcrust pastry! Another legend says that the pastry needs to be solid enough to be dropped down a mineshaft (and land) without falling apart. Mine were going from the oven to my lunchbox so I didn’t have to worry about their structural integrity so much!

Let’s wrap this baby up and pop it in the oven. While it’s baking away, let’s have a look at some of pics of St Ives and Mont St Michel.

This would be a great hill to have a picnic on. Get some pasties to go and enjoy the view!

Here is another article from the Guardian about where and how to eat your pasties. I actually think they are great for picnics as the pastry holds in the heat of the filling for a while. As for condiments – ketchup and the more of it the better for me. Maybe a teeny splash of tabasco with it!

This is The Sloop Inn where we stayed in St Ives.

And here is St Michael’s Mount. You can only reach this at low tide otherwise the causeway is underwater!

Let’s take a peek at our pasties…ah perfectly done!!!

What always astonishes me with pasties is how the meat and veg cooks exactly at the same time as the pastry. You never get any hard lumps of raw potato. It truly is like magic!!!! Now, where’s that ketchup?

Cornwall is so beautiful. I was really happy to be reminded of the trip and all the delicious food we ate there!. I made these pasties way back in October and just writing about them has made me want to make them again. Let’s hope the weather stays bad so I can get baking!

And finally, if you can’t get enough of pasties, here are some more facts….oops! I just realised I crimped my pasties in the Devonshire way! Good thing I said right from the get-go that these were only Cornish-ish (Cornish adjacent?) pasties!!!!

Have a great week everyone!!!!

10
Nov
2019

Broccoli & Stilton Quiche – Rye, England, 2019

categories: Blue Cheese, Broccolini, England, Travel, United Kingdon, World Cooking

I’ve been having a few holiday blues. You know that time where the last one feels like a long time ago and the next one seems like a long way away. So, I thought that it might help my malaise to revisit some of my favourite meals from holidays past.

Rye was our first stop on our holiday this year and I ate an incredibly tasty Broccoli and Stilton quiche from the Rye Deli.

Rye is such a pretty town and full of antique and retro shops. Well worth a visit! If you are heading to the UK and want a great quiche and some cool glassware! I bought some repro Babycham and Martini glasses. And some gorgeous vintage Laura Ashley cups and saucers.

The only things is…a bag full of glassware and a Broccoli and Stilton quiche are not good bag fellows. I spent the day shopping and loading myself up with all the gorgeous glasses. Meanwhile, my lovely quiche was getting squished to bits in my bag. It still tasted delicious but was certainly not in the pristine condition in which I bought it!

I love quiche but tend to veer towards the classic Quiche Lorraine or a Spinach and Feta quiche as my go-to’s. The Broccoli and Stilton Quiche squashed and battered though it was after a few hours of being pummelled in my backpack was a revelation. Such a tasty combination!

And also so pretty! I love how the swirls and branches of the broccolini (which I used instead of broccoli) look like little plants, making this quiche look like some sort of whimsical garden

Because I was trying to keep it British, I used a recipe I found on the Ocado website. However, in all honesty, this recipe was not as good as my original quiche from the Rye Deli. I think it was the onions. I don’t recall any in the OG version but do like the way the rounds of the spring onion play off against the straight stems and the flowery whirls of the broccolini. So, my recommendation would be to halve the amount of spring onions and cook them off a bit first.

Apart from the antiquing and the fab quiche, great fish and chips and a v good bookstore, Rye has some great olde worlde pubs

.A very cool castle, complete with stocks for anyone misbehaving!

And literary cred galore!

My only peeve with Rye was that we arrived just after 9:00 pm. And everywhere except for the fish and chip shop had closed or stopped serving food for the night. This was in the height of holiday season so it was kind of surprising. Having said that, the fish and chips were great so all was not lost.

If you can’t get to Rye, you can always get a taste of it by making a Broccoli and Stilton Quiche! If you can get to Rye, get there before 9:00 pm!

Have a great week!