Category Archives: Cook’s Cupboard

Sep 28 2012
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Cook's Cupboard, Rich Pickings

Semolina semantics

In a Farro-induced trance the other day I stumbled upon Palestinian couscous. Hold on, I thought – is this just Israeli couscous with a side of branding? Well, this pack was a Trade Aid product, made by Palestinian women in Jericho.  And technically speaking, it looked distinct from what I’ve seen sold as “Israeli couscous”: this one was a bit browner (whole wheat), and kind of less perfectly spherical, if you like. The Arabic word for it is apparently maftoul. Anyway, I bought it and made a fantastic salad out of it with a herb-evoo paste, spring onions, pine nuts and delicious Whangaripo buffalo fresca. When couscous was all the rage – say, late 90s early 00s I ‘spose – we knew only of the Moroccan sort: small, white, light and fluffy if cooked well; a gluggy mess if not. These days you can take your pick – Moroccan, Israeli, Palestinian, and another ‘giant’ version I’ve bought from the Lebanese deli down the road, labelled moghrabieh.

The point of this story, I suppose, is that I love how we’re starting to dig so much deeper into different cuisines; turning up regional variations from all sorts of cuisines. Down the road from me in the Balmoral shops, you can eat your way round China – from Hong Kong to Henan with plenty of Beijng noodles in between. It’s also the idea that cultures and religions at loggerheads often share such achingly similar  culinary traditions. A few weeks ago I interviewed Yotam Ottolenghi about his and Sami Tamimi’s new cookbook, the excellent Jerusalem. He said food is the only thing that brings Jews and Muslims together in his hometown, the holy city; people might sit side by side to enjoy a meal in an eatery (and, my goodness, what amazing eateries they must have in that city). But, he lamented, even that is happening less and less. “It really is sad”, he said, and I agreed. It really is sad.

 

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Dec 06 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Samphire

It’s salty, crunchy and a bit of an ‘it’ ingredient on the culinary scene of late, with foraging television chefs like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Al Brown showing us where to find it and what to do with it. England has a long tradition of eating samphire – the type that grows in salt marshes (there are many other varieties of samphire which may or may not be as edible). There, samphire (Salicornia europea) was typically sold at fishmongers, or given away as an extra treat, as a suitably maritime accompaniment to your weekly fish dinner. That practice is no longer ubiquitous, but samphire is starting to turn up at farmers markets in the UK, so it’s likely we could soon see it for sale here, too.
The samphire that grows here in New Zealand  (Salicornia australis) is slightly different to that in Europe; it’s a little less fleshy, but just as flavoursome. There’s also rock samphire, which is also edible, but harder to find.  Look for samphire in tidal zones, the muddy or sandy flats of estuaries for example. Or you can buy samphire seeds from Kings and try to replicate a marshy environment in your home garden.  To harvest it, just pick the tender tips, leaving the fibrous stems and roots behind – this way you won’t need much prep, and you’ll leave its habitat largely untouched. The sudden rise in popularity of samphire foraging in the UK has led to worries of over-harvesting and destroying the root system, resulting in the mud flats washing away.
Although samphire is not a seaweed, its nutritional profile is similar to one, with an array of minerals, salts, iodine and calcium. It won’t keep very well, so use if soon after procuring it. You can eat samphire raw, but you’re more likely to detect its muddy heritage. To cook, treat it much the same as asparagus, but don’t add salt to the water as samphire already tastes of the sea, and bear that in mind when seasoning any dish you add it to. Three minutes in boiling water will do it, then refresh it in ice-cold water before adding to a dish or eating it as a standalone dish, with a bit of olive oil, or butter, and lemon juice.
Other ideas with samphire:
- A salad with baby new potatoes, samphire and toasted almonds.
- Add samphire to the delicious spring vegetable stew recipes that are popular right now.
- It’s very pretty tossed through spaghetti. Try with just some garlic, chilli flakes, toasted pine nuts, a bit of parmesan and plenty of olive oil. Add a poached egg on top for a filling meal – stirring the runny yolk through to coat he strands of spaghetti is ridiculously pleasing.

*As published in Taste magazine, November 2011.

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Nov 10 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Dried Limes

Brown and somewhat shrivelled, they almost look like a nasty surprise from the bottom of the fridge – but the flavour dried limes, often called loomi or Basra limes, bring to a dish is anything but old and tired. Typically used in Middle Eastern cuisine – especially around the Persian Gulf – dried limes can be found here at many ethnic food stores. Dried limes are pretty tough, and while you could try grinding them to a powder in a spice or coffee grinder, it’s easier to pierce the limes several times with a skewer and add whole to dishes as they cook. Traditionally they impart a distinctive tartness to stews and basmati rice dishes, and their sourness works especially well with fish and alongside pungent herbs such as coriander. Prod them occasionally with a wooden spoon to encourage them to release their flavour, and remove before serving. Add a dried lime to couscous during cooking to perk it up. As an alternative to a fresh lemon, pop a dried lime into the cavity of a chicken before roasting. Try cooking quinoa, Elby or freekeh with some dried lime and other spices. Make an Omani-style baharat (spice mix) with dried lime as the star ingredient. A favourite tea in parts of the Middle East is made by cracking open dried limes and infusing in boiling water.

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Nov 10 2011
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Best In Season, Cook's Cupboard

Nasturtium

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Nasturtium plants are easy to grow, invasive even, and are found in many a back yard without anybody recalling having planted them. The rounded leaves and bright-hued blooms are strikingly pretty, and can both be used in the kitchen, possessing a snappy peppery bite similar to radish. When using whole flowers, you may either pluck the petals or use whole, but do remove the centre pistils as they are bitter. With such saturated colour, the flowers are a natural for salads, garnishes and on hors d’ouevres, and here are some ideas to expand the culinary repertoire of the nasturtium: Make nasturtium butter by blending salted butter, nasturtium petals and little lemon juice, and use on steamed potatoes, corncobs and freshly baked bread. Similarly, make nasturtium mayo or aioli. Both the flowers and leaves make a lovely addition to a summery potato salad. Make a pretty salad by marinating whole flowers, finely shredded leaves and a little pickled ginger in a ponzu dressing for 5 minutes, and use to top seared tuna. Add petals and shredded leaves to rolled sushi. Make nasturtium vinegar by steeping a mix of leaves and petals in white wine vinegar for 2 weeks or more, then strain. The resulting vinegar will have a sharp bite and a vegetal flavour.

(Text as published in Taste magazine January 2011)

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Nov 01 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Baharat

A while back I posted a recipe for Fragrant Poached Chicken on Freekeh Pilaf, that called for the Middle Eastern spice mix baharat.

Baharat simply means ‘spice’ in Arabic, but refers to a blend of different spices that is used as a base to flavour infinite numbers of dishes. From North Africa via Turkey to the Gulf, each region Middle Eastern – and each household within those regions – has its own version of baharat. Some are as simple as black peppercorns and allspice, and others use more than eight ingredients. Turkish baharat includes dried mint, the Tunisian version employs the delicate perfume of rose petals, and in the Gulf the mix is heady with the tartness of loomi – dried lime. Most baharat mixes include allspice, cardamom and cinnamon or cassia and all blends are warming and aromatic. You can buy baharat spice mix (try gourmet food stores or Middle Eastern grocers’) or easily make your own mix with the ingredients you prefer, in a mortar and pestle.

Baharat is an all-purpose seasoning and is often fried off with butter at the start of cooking to disperse the flavour It’s used in all sorts of meat and vegetable dishes: soups, stews, tagines, meat casseroles, kofte, pilafs and couscous. It is excellent whisked with some oil and lemon juice to create a marinade for meat and vegetables. Baharat can also be used sparingly to season food after cooking.

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Nov 01 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Ground Roasted Rice

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This is a good thing to have a wee supply of in your pantry, if, like me, you like to cook Thai/Isaan food at home. I just love dishes like Nam Tok (spicy beef salad) and larb – they’re reasonably quick and easy to make and contain all the vegetables and herbs you could wish for in one meal. Those Isaan salads most often call for ground roasted rice, which is sprinkled over and stirred through to give the dish a beautifully nutty, fragrant flavour and for a texture-phile like me, a wicked little crunch.

To make it, simply toast raw jasmine rice in a dry, heavy-based pan (I use cast-iron for toasting things as you don’t need oil and the pan doesn’t mark). Toast until fragrant and opaque and starting to turn golden, then transfer the rice to a large mortar. If you only have a small mortar, you’ll have to grind it in batches, because the rice flicks around quite a bit and will fly over the sides, which is pretty frustrating. Grind the rice until you get a coarse powder. This can take quite some time and muscle – it pretty much counts as my workout for the day.

Store in an airtight container in the pantry for no longer than a few months, after that it will lose some  and crunch.

 

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Jul 06 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Gochujang (Korean Red Pepper Paste)

Not for the faint-hearted, this Korean condiment is a treat for those with a hankering for fire on the tongue and an instantly cleared nasal passage. If that isn’t you, don’t sop reading – it can also be tamed into something altogether more acquiescent with the help of other ingredients. Thought to have been made since as far back as the early 1700s, gochujang is a marriage of fermented soybeans, red chilli powder and glutinous rice powder, resulting in a very thick texture and an intense heat. In other words, a little goes a long way. The condiment was traditionally homemade, but commercial production has proliferated to the extent that the art of making gochujang at home has virtually disappeared. You’ll find gochujang in the Korean section of most Asian grocers, and some supermarkets stock it now too. When mixed with some soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds, its fire mellows – this is the perfect tangy dipping sauce for sashimi, steamed mussels or scallops, or spoon a bit onto fresh oysters in the shell. Gochujang is always served alongside Korea’s beloved dish bibimbap. Rice is cooked in a hot stone bowl (so the bottom is beautifully crunchy), sauteed greens, carrot, bean sprouts, mushrooms and beef are arranged prettily on top, then topped with sesame oil and a raw egg. Just stir through your desired quantity of gochujang, mixing everything together and conveniently cooking the egg. ‘Bibim’ means mixed, and ‘bap’ is rice. Nice.

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Jun 27 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Flax Seeds

The small brown seeds of the flax plant (also called linseed) have drawn attention for some time now as a rich source of omega­-3 fatty acids and beneficial unsaturated fats. They’re often taken in the convenient form of flax oil, but the seeds are also handy to have in the pantry to add a health-boosting texture to many dishes. A moreish snack is simply made by toasting equal quantities flax seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds in a hot heavy-bottomed frypan. Once they start to brown a little, add a wee splash of soy sauce and toss through the hot seeds, coating them with a salty tang. Turn off the heat and allow to cool before picking at them or you’ll burn your tongue like I usually do. Much healthier than potato chips and equally as satisfying when you crave a handful of something crunchy and salty. Flax seeds are also great to add to homemade muesli and breads. When taken with liquids (milk with muesli, for example), the seeds swell up in the digestive tract to form a kind of jelly. Sounds a bit gross, but word has it this helps flush out your system of toxins and aids digestion. Crushing the seeds also makes it easier for your body to obtain the benefits –try adding it to cakes and breads as well as fruit smoothies.

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Jun 27 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Cook’s Cupboard: dried Asian mushrooms

Beautifully delicate, fresh locally grown oyster, shiitake and wood ear mushrooms can now be found at many supermarkets, greengrocers’ and produce markets. The ones in my picture below came from the Avondale Markets. But you can also buy these same varieties (individually or mixed) dried and packaged, meaning you can keep them in your pantry to be used whenever you fancy a bit of fungi, for a fraction of the price of the fresh ones. To rehydrate the mushrooms ready for use, simply place the desired amount in a bowl, pour over boiling water, cover the bowl and leave for 10 minutes or more, until the mushrooms, including stems, are tender, before draining. The liquid can be reserved for stocks. Oyster mushrooms have a silky texture and slight seafood flavour, wood-ear are slippery with a delightful crunch, while shiitake are prized for their smoky umami (ultra savoury) taste. All three varieties are the perfect thing to add to steaming hot, healthful broths of ginger, garlic or miso – add udon or soba noodles and some greens and you have a quick, light meal. They’re a tasty vegetarian option when it comes to making nibbles. Make rice paper rolls filled with a mixture of wood-ear and shiitake mushrooms, blanched bean sprouts, stir-fried shredded cabbage and carrot, seasoned with soy sauce and a little rice wine. Or mix strips of oyster and shiitake mushroom with sesame oil, mirin, soy sauce and toasted sesame seeds and use to top oblongs of glistening sushi rice, securing in place with a thin strip of nori.

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Jun 11 2011
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Cook's Cupboard

Cook’s Cupboard: Freekeh

Despite it’s name, this Middle Eastern grain isn’t weird, or a bit scary. Even so, I haven’t come across it for sale here in Auckland, but I remember eating it at Lebanese restaurants when I visited Bahrain a few years ago, and am now on the lookout after seeing a delicious-looking freekeh and poached chicken dish served up on the Syrian episode of the Maeve O’Meara-fronted Aussie food series Food Safari. The interweb tells me it’s a cereal made by sun-drying then roasting green wheat. The seeds are subsequently rubbed and broken into smaller pieces, somewhat akin to burgul.

It’s only a matter of time before it hits the shelves here in NZ though, I’d say. That’s because overseas it’s being touted as the latest ancient-grain-slash-superfood, joining quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat et al on the pedestal of low-GI, mineral-rich carbohydrates we’re allowed to feel virtuous about eating.

The dish I liked on Food Safari involved poaching a whole chicken in a fragrantly spiced bath, then tearing the chicket apart roughtly before frying the pieces in a little butter. The freekeh is then cooked with ladlefuls of the chicken stock so that the grains expand, and remain fairly moist ready for serving. The chicken is served on top of a pile of freekeh and scattered with toasted almonds. Mmmmmmm.

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