Month: March 2015

Thai Cucumber and Prawn Salad

Published by

This is a simple and intense salad, that tastes undoubtedly thai. First, make the dressing. The ingredients should be added to a mortar in the following order: pinch of salt 1 garlic clove, peeled 2 bird’s eye chillies or one regular red chilli pinch of white sugar 1,5 tablespoons lime juice 1 tablespoon fish sauce It should taste sour, salty and hot. For the salad: 2 tablespoons dried prawns (shrimp) 1 small cucumber 3 red shallots sliced handful of mixed mint and coriander leaves Grind the dried prawns in an electric mini chopper or coffee grinder until very fine. Wash the cucumber, then cut in half lengthwise and slice finely . Combine cucumber, shallots, mint and coriander, then dress. Arrange on a plate and sprinkle over the dried prawns. Recipe from : ‘Thai food’ by David Thompson

Dried prawns

Published by

We usually dry some prawns once in a while and keep them refrigerated. We use them in several SE Asian recipes, including the Thai Cucumber and Prawn Salad. 10 large uncooked prawns (shrimp) 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons fish sauce or light soy sauce pinch of white sugar Peel and devein prawns, then wash them. Mix salt, fish sauce or soy sauce and sugar; pour over prawns and leave to marinate overnight. Place prawns on a cake rack over a foil-lined tray (this makes for easier cleaning). Dry them  in a very low oven  for around 4 hours at 90°C with the door ajar – until dried but not brittle. Once dried, the prawns will keep for several weeks refrigerated. Recipe from : ‘Thai food’ by David Thompson  

The Coffee Cantata

Published by

Coffee arrived to Europe at about the same time J.S.Bach was born and became quickly very popular. However, there was opposition declaring coffee to be the “bitter invention of Satan.” Local clergymen in Venice condemned the drink and Pope Clement VIII was asked to intervene when the controversy became too much. Before making a decision however, he decided to taste the beverage for himself. He liked it so much, that he gave it Papal approval. The Coffee Cantata is a small, comic, secular cantata, composed sometime in the early 1730’s . It is actually a funny piece, in which Bach makes fun at both coffee drinkers and their critics. The story focuses on a young woman named Lieschen whose father, Herr Schlendrian, tries to deter her from drinking coffee. She refuses to give it up, saying that “if I couldn’t, three times a day, be allowed to drink my little cup of coffee, in my anguish I will turn into a shrivelled-up roast goat”. It is only when he refuses to allow her to marry that she relents. …

The Coral Sea

Published by

The Coral Sea is a small book about loss by Patty Smith, telling the story of a man on a journey to see the Southern Cross. She also has an album reciting the text accompanied by guitar. The album evokes a feeling that I have encountered watching the actual Coral Sea of Mauritius, a place where the landscape and sea is overwhelming, and unlike any picturesque stereotypes. The waves crush on the coral reef, leaving an expanse of water and light for the eye and mind to ponder. It’s bright and dark at the same time. “Ο ήλιος κυκλοδίωκτος, ως αράχνη, μ’ εδίπλωνε και μέ φως και μέ θάνατον ακαταπαύστως”: “The spider-like sun chased  in cycles was folding me in light and death incessantly”.   Mauritius was French and English with a population of African, Indian, Chinese and European origin. And so is the food. It is a tamed creole version of Indian and Chinese – local fresh-water shrimps with curry-, or a European fantasy of the exotic – palm heart salad with a  light …

Little Chocolate Cakes

Published by

Many years ago I ate those little chocolate cakes in a friend’s house. I asked for the recipe and since then I make them regularly.During the years I adapted the recipe according to our taste. The original recipe demands for more eggs, sugar and butter, but I think that this version works better. In the summer we keep the cakes in the fridge, in which case the cold cakes match very well with a Sauvignon Blanc. 200 g  good quality dark chocolate  (66% cocoa solids) 120 g unsalted butter 3 eggs 3/4 cup caster sugar 1/2 cup self-rising flour, sifted 2 Tbsp rum (optional) Preheat oven to 180 C /fan. Prepare a 12-hole cupcake tray lined with paper cases. Break the chocolate into small pieces and drop into a bowl with the butter. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter full with hot water, then sit the bowl on top so it rests on the rim of the pan, not touching the water. Put over a low heat until the butter and chocolate have melted, stirring occasionally …

Marmalade Cocktail

Published by

Besides excellent beef, Hawksmoor in London have very good and sophisticated cocktails , and a very pleasant cocktail bar in Seven Dials (here is a link to their catalogue). They have published a book (Hawksmoor at Home) that is an excellent and entertaining read, celebrating Britishness in food (if you have the book take a look page 117). There a section on anti-fogmatics ( anti-fogmatic: An alcoholic drink taken in the morning to brace oneself before going out into bad weather, before 11am, or whenever steam and energy are needed). We take ours on a latter hour, and here is our favorite: 1 tsp orange marmalade 50ml good gin 5ml Campari 15ml lemon juice a dash of orange bitters a twist of orange peel Place a headed barspoon (or teaspoon) of marmalade in a shaker. Add the gin and stir, pressing the marmalade against the side of the shaker to loosen it up. Add the other ingredients, fill up the shaker with ice cubes and shake hard to break down and dissolve the marmalade. If you’re left with a big glob …