Day/Country #16 -- Akrotiri (Crete)

Akrotiri

Fast Facts:

Population: ~10,321

Belongs To: Greece 

Official Languages: Greek

Known For: The site of the tombs of  Eleftherios

Venizelos and his son Sophoklis, headquarters of

the Cretan Revolution.

Yes, finally, I have managed to line something up to cook, and this time I drew Akrotiri.

I must confess to some misunderstanding as far as Akrotiri is concerned as it turns out there are three of them.  One was an ancient Minoan City located on the island of Santorini whose ruins are now a popular tourist attraction; another is the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia that whilst located on the island of Cyprus politically belong to the United Kingdom; and the third is a peninsula on the island of Crete in Greece.

In my hurried google to find out what groceries I needed to pick up on the way home from work I stumbled upon some Cretan recipes and ran with those.  Only after I'd cooked did Mum point out that Akrotiri as it appeared on our list probably meant the miltary base, but seriously, how good can military food really be?  And besides, Cyprus is it's own country and will be visited in time anyway...so today we're off to Crete!

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek Islands (of which Akrotiri forms a small rocky headland).  It was once the center of the Minoan Civilization, arguably the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.  In more recent times Crete has come to occupy a large part of the overall Greek economy but retains its own distinct cultural elements, including poetry, music...and cuisine.

So, with this in mind I decided to try a suite of Cretan-style dishes that included a starter of grilled artichokes (from a bottle I confess), kalamata olives (okay, so not exactly Cretan olives), and olive oil.  For entree I made Cretan dakos; basically a cretan-style crustini consisting of crispy twice-baked bread (I oiled and re-baked some ciabata buns) topped with diced tomatoes, feta and fresh oregano.  Then for mains I did a trifecta of pilafi (rice boiled in lamb broth), Cretan green beans with tomato, and the dish I was most looking froward to: coriander & thyme-rubbed roasted pork served with a white wine, honey, lemon, currant and walnut glaze.  (I also served the lamb boiled with a lemon to make the broth on the side--mustn't waste good lamb!).

The result was a positively enormous meal (as you might imagine) the highlight of which was absolutely the pork.  The starter was super-simple and moreish, and the dakos was delicious.  Unfortunately the rice was bland and didn't have a great consistency (I was so busy doing everything else I'll admit to neglecting the rice), and even the green bean dish was fairly uninspiring.  Finally the pork...admittedly it was slightly overcooked, but the glaze made it, with an intense flavour that went well with the meat, but really was so good I was tempted just to pick up a spoon and eat the leftover glaze on its own.

For an accompanying cocktail Mum produced a stunner she's dubbed Akrotiri Sunrise, consisting of ouzo, cointreau, grenadine, lemonade and a dash of strawberry conserve. It tasted like licorice and strawberry jellybeans..and I don't normally like jellybeans, but it was delicious!

Rating (out of 5):

Cretan Olives, Artichokes & Olive Oil 4/5

Cretan Dakos_4.5/5 
Pilafi (Cretan Style Rice) 2/5
Cretan Green Beans 2.5/5
Cretan Pork with Currant & Walnut Glaze  4.5/5
Akrotiri Sunrise 4.5/5 (although Mum gave it a 0, I loved it! So I um, drank hers too...)

Day/Country #15 -- Romania

As I've been working myself senseless Mum is cooking again! What a trooper.

Romanian Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 238,391 km²

Population: ~20,121,641

Capital: Bucharest

GDP (PPP) per capita: $16,518

Official Languages: Romanian

Known For: Transylvania (and yes, Dracula),

rolling countryside, sturgeon from the Danube delta

So today we're heading to Romania, known by most of us as the land of the fabled vampire Count Dracula, dwelling in a creepy castle in the mountainous region of Transylvania.  A few things you may not know are that it is home to the oldest human remains ever discovered in Europe (42,000 years old), and that it consisted of various principalities that fought for internal autonomy under the dominion of Austro-Hungarian rule, finally declaring independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877

At the outbreak of Word War II Romania declared neutrality under King Carol II, but territorial disputes saw Romania lose the bulk of the land it had gained following World War I and resulted the rise of military dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu, who sided with the Axis powers in 1941.  Marshall Antonescu was removed from power in 1944 and

Romania switched allegiance to the Allied forces.

Following WWII Nicolae Ceausescu's leadership saw Romania become a highly Stalinist police state, but this regime was toppled by the Romanian Revolution in 1989.  With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1991 Romania began a transition to democracy and in recent times extensive reforms have fostered economic recovery from its post-revolution decline.  Romania is now the eighth largest country in the European Union.

So, with its long history but comparative youth as an independent state, what traditional recipes would Mum find to cook? 

The unofficial national and definitely staple dish of Romania is a cornmeal dish called mamaliga; Mum improvised by bulking the dish up with cous cous, and while filling, it was still bland and served more as a stomach filler than a taste bud tingler.  This lack of flavour in the mamaliga was more than compensated for in the mititei, spicy homemade skinless sausages composed of mixed beef, pork and lamb mince seasoned with garlic, black pepper and thyme.  The black pepper was a little overpowering at first, but the flavours infused with time, and when I took the leftovers to work for lunch the next day the sausages were delicious!

What else to have a Romanian-themed cocktail than a blood-red concoction Mum dubbed Dracula's Nappe.  A mixture of vodka, chambord and grenadine it didn't taste like blood but unfortunately still wasn't all that pleasant and won't be making it onto the 'yum! lets have that again' list.

Rating (out of 5):

Mamaliga 2.5/5 

Mititei_4/5 
Dracula's Nappe 2/5 

Day/Country #14 -- Luxembourg

Luxembourgian Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 2,586 km²

Population: ~537,853

Capital: Luxembourg City

GDP (PPP) per capita: $79,785

Official Languages: French, German, Luxembourgish

Known For: Banking, castles, good-value alcohol,

beautiful china.

Our first culinary venture into Europe and we head to the tiny but extremely prosperous nation of Luxembourg.


A representative democracy, Luxembourg is headed by a grand duke, and is the only grand duchy (pronounced 'dutchy' rather than 'dukey'...) left in the world.  Initially founded as a Roman fortress, it was the site of an important Frankish castle (the Franks being a confederation of Germanic tribes that ruled much of mainland Europe during the early Middle Ages), and was a critical center along an important military supply route in the 1500-1600's, which stretched for ~1000km northwest - southeast through Europe and was known as the "Spanish Road".

So what from this land of fairy tales and feudal castles was Mum going to cook? It had to be the national dish!  With the tongue-twisting name of judd mat gaardebounen it consists of pork brined for four days, then smoked, boiled and finally served with creamy white sauce, broad beans and potatoes.  In addition to this marathon effort Mum also produced gromperekniddelen: egg and potato dumplings boiled and rolled in buttered bread crumbs.  Not to mention another original cocktail she's dubbed Eifel Groove, consisting of lager, orange juice, lemon juice and sugar syrup.

The pork dish was flavoursome and the meat simply fell apart on your fork, but with white sauce, broad beans and potatoes it was always going to be a bit stodgy.  The dumplings were also heavy, but in a nice way that would serve as a great alternative to a side dish of mashed potatoes that are so common in Kiwi home-cooking.  Finally the cocktail was refreshing, but it didn't really grab hold of your taste buds like some of Mum's other creations.

So, Luxembourg, a place I'd love to visit...though I'll prepare for some heavy and hearty meals while I'm there!

Rating (out of 5):

Judd mat gaardebounen 2.5/5 

Gromperekniddelen_4.5/5
Eifel Groove 3/5 

Day/Country #13 -- Kuwait

Well it's been a hectic couple of weeks, but don't worry, even though I haven't been blogging, Mum and I have still been cooking our way round the world...but yes, I have a bit of blogging to catch up on!

Kuwaiti Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 17,820 km²

Population: ~3,965,022

Capital: Kuwait City

GDP (PPP) per capita: $58,080

Official Languages: Arabic

Known For: Gulf War, Oil, Bedouin tribesmen

So the catch up begins with our Mum cooking a dish inspired by country #13 -- Kuwait.

Located at the tip of the Persian Gulf Kuwait shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and derives it's name from the Arab word for 'fortress'.  Historically it was an important center for long distance trade, but 20th Century trade blockades saw it undergo significant economic decline.  Today it is most well known in the western world for having been the epicenter of the Gulf War (code-named operation Desert Storm) in which a United States led 34-country strong coalition drove out the Iraqi army after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.  As they retreated the Iraqis set fire to 773 Kuwaiti oil wells; the fires burned for almost a year causing an environmental and economic catastrophe for Kuwait.  More recently Kuwait was used as the 'springboard' for the American-led campaign to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

A landscape of oil wells on fire in Kuwait, 1991 (image courtesy of
www.wired.co.uk.) 

Despite it's harrowing history Kuwait remains the eighth richest nation in the world, due to having the fifth largest oil reserves in the world (my cynical side piped up when I read this and thought 'well no wonder the world was so eager to help!').

Anyway, politics aside, the immediate issue for us was what to cook?!  After a little research Mum came up with a dish that is a kind of Middle-Eastern style biryani.  Consisting of lamb spiced with cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and lime, served with lightly saffron-flavoured rice and topped with pine-nuts and two tasty sauces: heshew (a tangy sultana pickle) and dakkous (tomato salsa-like sauce).  The dish looked delightful but unfortunately the flavours were, surprisingly, a little bland.  Happily the strong flavour of the heshew was able to rectify that situation.  The heshew was Mum's favourite aspect of the meal, but I was quite partial to the lamb (and may have been guilty of picking out a lot of the pieces once everyone had had their fill...).

Since Kuwait is a Muslim state Mum went with a mocktail to accompany the dish.  A mixture of pineapple juice, grenadine and vanilla icecream it was a sweet and cool fruity treat that we both guzzled down--restraint-free since it had no alcohol!

Rating (out of 5):

Machboos 2.5/5 

Heshew 4/5
Dakkous 3.5/5
Pearl City Passion 4.5/5

Day/Country #12 -- Japan

Japanese Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 377,944 km²

Population: ~126,659,683

Capital: Tokyo

GDP (PPP) per capita: $38,297

Official Languages: Japanese (Nihongo)

Known For: Sushi, sumo wrestlers, samurai,

ninja, Mt Fuji, geisha, karaoke, Hiroshima

& Nagasaki

Day 12 and I'll admit to being a little excited about landing Japan (Nippon or Nihon to the natives) as my turn to cook.  First off, it's a fascinating place with such a rich culture (that's also popular--everyone knows something about Japan) and second, I love Japanese food and have always wanted to try and make some Japanese dishes (like sushi), but it's one of those things I've just never got around to--until now.

I have fond memories from when I was a child of going to a Teppanyaki restaurant and watching the meal cooked right before my eyes, bits of rice and veges flying all over the place in a fast-paced controlled chaos that also saw meat being set on fire in a flash of blue and red flame...needless to say I was a little tempted to try this

style of cooking (although Mum may have been less eager for me to try it in her kitchen), but on reflection I thought it would be better to try something a little more sedate, but no less new to my repertoire of cooking methods.

Appologies to those wanting us to try the weird and wonderful, but today my menu did resemble what one might come across in any of the numerous Japanese restaurants you'll find in most moderately large western centers these days.  However I've done my best to make them as authentic as possible, even shelling out the big bucks (comparatively speaking) for some top quality rice wine vinegar (and it was worth it I assure you!).

So today, inspired by (and in deference to) Japanese cuisine, I made sushi nori (what everyone outside of Japan thinks of as plain 'sushi', the 'nori' meaning the roll kind--yes there are others to choose from), tempura (assorted sliced vegetables and prawns dipped in a frothy batter and deep fried) and oyakodon (chicken cooked in a rice wine, soy and honey broth, finished with egg and spring onion).  I also made gari (pickled ginger) and was planning to serve it with my sushi nori, but it turns out it needs to pickle for a week before it is pink and ready, so we shall have to try that another time (although my little jar proudly sitting on the breakfast bar is already turning a pleasing shade of bright pink--yay!).

Though the dishes in themselves are not very complicated and any one of them could be done in an hour or less (if you're an efficient cook), trying to do the three together so that they ended up being ready at the same time proved more difficult and in the end I was in the kitchen for 2 1/2 hrs making lunch.  What I came up with however (aside from a kitchen that looked like a bomb had hit it) was a trio of dishes that rank among some of my greatest culinary achievements; I am now a convert to homemade sushi nori!  I was even more gratified when Mum sat back halfway through eating it all and said bluntly 'well, this is a 5!'.

Mum was not to be outdone though...for our cocktail for the day she came up with a variation on the popular Japanese Slipper; she's dubbed it the Sakura-jima Slipper (named after the Japanese volcano you can watch erupting via online webcam) and it was a potent and delicious mix of midori, cointreau and lime juice. Yum!

So, my advice to anyone who's been too scared to try cooking Japanese style food before is to suck it up and give it a go--you may just surprise yourself.

Finally, good quality rice wine vinegar is your friend; 2 tablespoons along with 2 tablespoons of castor sugar and a pinch of salt mixed through freshly cooked sushi rice is what makes the sushi taste soooo good. Happy cooking :)

Rating (out of 5):

Sushi Nori 5/5 (I put raw salmon, avocado and cucumber in mine, but you could use anything)

Tempura_4.5/5 (Cook these last and serve them fresh from the frier to ensure they're crisp)
Oyakodon 4.5/5 (Would have been a 5, but I slightly overcooked the chicken)
Oyakodon 4.5/5

Day/Country #11 -- Somalia

Somali Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 637,657 km²

Population: ~10,000,000

Capital: Mogadishu

GDP (PPP) per capita: $600

Official Languages: Somali, Arabic

Known For: Civil war, Laas Geel Neolithic rock art,

pirates,  

It's back to Africa for us and this time to semi-arid Somalia--a place most of us probably associate only with pirates and civil war.  But I, and I hope you, will be pleasantly pleased to discover that of course, there's a lot more to it.

During the Middle Ages Somalia was the home of several powerful empires or sultanate states, and it is generally believed that in antiquity Somalia was part of a land known as Punt that was an important source of trade to the Ancient Egyptians. The country has (or possibly had; see below) world class beaches, and has one of the worlds best preserved and impressive collections of Neolithic rock art.  It also has one of the lowest incidents of adult HIV/AIDS in Africa (as low as 0.7%), attributed primarily to the country's widespread adherence to Islamic beliefs and principals.

But yes...Somalia has long been a land of conflict.  In the 1800's the British and Italians each claimed part of the Somali coastline (the longest belonging to a single country in Africa) and by 1920 the British had also claimed the interior of the country by finally defeating the Dervishes (yes, as in 'whirling dervishes'...although strictly the British defeated the Dervish army, which had previously conquered so many of the previous sultanates...).

Somalia enjoyed a little stabilty following the establishment of the Somali Democratic (read 'communist') Republic in 1969 after a coup d'etat by military general Mohammed Siad Barre, who can be credited with the adoption of the first national standard Somali language and writing system (yes, in 1969, hard for some of us other ex-British Empireans to imagine!).

Somalia, not all civil war and pirates; children
swim in a stunning river (www.earthtrek.com)
and beautifully preserved rock paintings at Laas
Geel caves (mikegreenslade.photoshelter.com).

Then comes the bit we all know about...the collapse of the communist government and
outbreak of civil war in 1991, which raged for over a decade and saw the development and dissolution of various autonomous regions, notably Somaliland (which is the only region Lonely Planet advises you to visit, mentioning that the necessary armed guards are much cheaper to hire there than in the capital).  Civil unrest in Somalia continues to this day despite a permanent federal goverment being established in 2012.

One last thing I came across during my quick google that is so disturbing I have to share it with you (I mean besides the usual atrocities associated with civil war), is that the war was used as an opportunity by two European companies (one Swiss, one Italian) to sign a contract with the self-styled Somalian 'president' (presumably he just happened to be the most powerful rebel leader at the time) to dump millions of tonnes of toxic waste off the Somali coast (presumably saving themselves the millions of dollars it would have cost to dispose of the stuff properly whilst also contributing millions of dollars to the further arming of that particular rebel faction).  All might have gone unnoticed had the 2004 tsunami not stirred up and washed a lot of the toxic waste ashore and caused the incident rate of symptoms consistent with radiation sickness to spike all along the northeast African coast!  Disgraceful!!

Anyway, this is a food blog, so I'll get off my soap box and present to you an exquisite Somali-inspired dish of mango chicken curry with Ambe sauce and fragrant rice that I enjoyed so much I had seconds, and then had the rest for dinner (Mum wasn't quite so inspired, but she did say she'd definitely make the fragrant rice again, and again).

Made with mango pulp, curry powder and coconut milk (plus a little sugar and garlic) the Ambe sauce was hearty with a tropical zing that went well with the chicken and array of vegetables (I also enjoyed the whole chunks of mango Mum chucked in on a whim--yum!).  In addition the rice, flavoured with cinnamon, cardamon and cloves, would make a simple but extremely tasty side dish to any number of meals, including this one.  Delicious!

The Somalians apparently drink a lot of chai tea so Mum tried an original chai tea-based cocktail she called Bur Massif (although I argued it should have been a mocktail as Muslim's don't drink alcohol).  The blend of chilled chai tea, vodka, cranberry juice, limoncello and sugar syrup was okay...we drank it...but we won't make it again in a hurry; a pity, as it was such a nice colour!  I think some tweaking may be in order to get this one right.

Rating (out of 5):

Mango Chicken curry with Ambe Sauce 4/5

Somali Fragrant Rice_4.5/5
Bur Massif Cocktail 2/5

Day/Country #10 -- St Vincent and the Grenadines

 Vincentian Flag

Fast Facts:

Land Area: 389 km²

Population: ~103,000

Capital: Kingstown

GDP (PPP) per capita: $11,700

Official Language: English

Known For: La Soufriere volcano, picture-perfect

beaches, filming location for Pirates of the

Caribbean movies.

At last!  I've found time to take my turn at cooking and we've made it (gastronomically if not geographically speaking) to St Vincent and the Grenadines!

Other than being vaguely aware that the country consisted of islands (32 as I discovered) somewhere in the Caribbean I did not know anything about the place...but after just a few minutes of googling I was delighted by what I found--it's the first place I've googled and immediately felt like I want to go there!  This might have had something to do with the enticing website A Taste of Vincy.  However, on reading the entry for SVG in my Lonely Planet Travel Book I further found out that SVG is a popular spot for the rich and famous; suffice it to say I am neither of these things and suspect I probably cannot afford to go there!  But it might be worth looking into one day none the less...

Anyway--back to the food!  My few minutes of googling convinced me that cooking SVG food was going to be next to impossible due to a lack of readily available (even un-readily available!) tropical ingredients here in the deep south.  Happily there is a wonderful website The Cook's Thesaurus which tells you not only what all the unfamiliar ingredients are ('what is breadfruit?' for instance) it also tells you what you can substitute for that ingredient in a dish (in the case of breadfruit you can use potatoes...I suspect it's nothing like the real thing, but it works for our purposes).

Consequently I came up with a trifecta of dishes including Callaloo Soup (which calls for callaloo and tannia but I used spinach and sweet potato); the national dish of SVG, Bul Jol (roasted breadfruit and fried jackfish; I used potatoes and hoki); and for our first forray into the realm of sweet treats: Arrowroot Cakes--I was intrigued by a recipe that called for a whole pound of arrowroot! Anyone who has used it before most likely only used a tablespoon or two to add starch to their cooking...we didn't have a whole pound (~450g) of it to use, but I dumped a 200g box in and hoped for the best.

The results...a nice and surprisingly filling meal!

The soup consisted of chorizo and spinach boiled in water and coconut milk with chives, sweet potato, onion and garlic (on a whim I used chorizo instead of beef like the recipe called for; it was a tasty alternative that I dry-fried initially to crisp off and get some of the fat out).  Mum loved the final product but I think the soup could have done with a little less water and a little more time to let the flavours infuse and strengthen (I made the whole meal in a little over and hour, but like all soups I think it will probably taste so much better on the second day).

As for the improvised Bol Jul, roast potatoes are always nice and the fish was also good, seasoned with chives, garlic, onion and thyme, then coated with flour and crisped fried in a pan, served with a tomato, thyme, garlic and onion sauce/salsa.

Finally, dainty little arrowroot cakes lightly flavoured with lime juice made a zesty desert and a sweet end to our SVG-themed meal (although they could have done with another two minutes in the oven...).



But lets not forget the cocktail!  Mum came up trumps today with another original she's dubbed 'Soufriere' after SVG's famous volcano which has a nasty once-in-a-generation habit of erupting and wiping out people's crops...a big deal for a country who's economy is built primarily on banana plantations!

Minus the ash and smoke but with a lovely rich red colour and intense fruity flavour Soufriere was a refreshing hit of creme de cassis, cranberry juice, sugar syrup and rum--we are in the Caribbean after all :) 

Thanks SVG for inspiring a lovely meal!

Rating (out of 5):

Callaloo (er...spinach) Soup 4/5 (would recommend making this in the morning then reheating in the afternoon to eat if you want a stronger flavour).

Bul Jol 3.5/5
Arrowroot Cakes 3.5/5
Soufriere Cocktail 4/5