Sweden, meatballs tradition

Hallå,

Swedish meatballs or köttbullar was the choice of recipe for Sweden. These meatballs are similar to that of Germany or Italy but distinct in the cream sauce that is served with the dish. The pork and beef meatballs were made with breadcrumbs, cream, onion and nutmeg. Served with pickled cucumber and mashed potatoes the dish was quite nice.

The creamy sauce adds a very different taste compared with the tomato based flavour of an Italian meatball sauce. I quite liked the combination. Cucumber still isn’t a favourite of mine but it is tolerable.

All good things have to come to an end, this is the last recipe that Bec and I have shared the cooking for. Due to changes in her personal circumstance I am moving out and as a result I will have to talk my new housemates into finishing the challenge with me. It has been a stellar run with 168 recipes shared together, 28 recipes to go.

Adjö

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Swaziland, bananas and cabbage

Hi,

Swaziland, is a country bordered by South Africa and Mozambique. For this country we decided to cook pork with cabbage and bananas. The bananas were probably plantains but mistakenly put in as bananas, in any case the meal wasn’t too bad. The bananas were cooked with soy sauce and salt before being added to the cabbage which had been cooked in white wine with chilli and garlic.

Overall the wine produced a strong flavour but it seemed to complement the soy sauce. The bananas added an interesting twist to the dish.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 6/10

Suriname, what is in a cuisine?

Hallo,

Recently I have had someone mentioned that a dish I cooked wasn’t representative of the country, it is one of the pitfalls from using google as my only source of reference and I would gladly welcome authentic recipes but so far they are slow coming. It makes me think though, what is the essence of a nation, a culture, a cuisine and a way of life? Do the influences of other cultures not form part of where each nation is today?

Suriname is a good example, the official language of the country is Dutch, a reflection of its Dutch past. Its cuisine is even more influenced with touches of the Dutch, India, China, Indonesia and Africa. We decided to cook a Surinamese curry, this made me wonder about whether the recipe was authentic. After doing a little digging I found that Indians arrived in Suriname as labourers in 1873, no doubt bringing their cuisine with them in part, after 10 years hard labour they were allowed to settle.

The curry was easy to make, chicken with garam masala, chili, ginger and onion, it was served with rice. I quite like the flavour of masala curries, it is different to that of curry powder.

Doei

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Sudan, potato and beef

مرحبا

Sudan, this is the northern part of Sudan for which we decided to cook dama bepotaatas. Essentially a beef and potato based dish.

The dish had multiple parts to it with the potatoes being fried separately and cardamom, cinnamon, green pepper and garlic bringing out the flavours. The meal wasn’t too bad at all, a little hot in parts.

وداعا

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Sri Lanka, food, food and more food

Hi,

Sri Lanka is my housemate’s boyfriend’s heritage and background, as a result I got to put my feet up and have the meal prepared by a proper Sri Lankan tonight. The recipes were authentic but there were a lot of recipes (and we will be eating Sri Lankan for a month). The recipes are as follows:

500g diced beef

250g green beans

250g red lentils

Mustard seeds

Curry leaves

3 potatoes

Curry powder

2 Onions

5 cloves garlic

Preparation:

Chop Onion (1 or 2) and garlic (4-6 cloves) (onion into rings, garlic as fine as possible)

Dice the beef (500g) and potato (2-3) (2cm cubes roughly)

Boil 2 L of water in kettle.

Wash 3 cups of lentils 3 times

Chop tomato into 8ths.

Chop green beans (4-5cm long).

Beef curry (1 hour)

In saucepan, add 2 tablespoon spoon oil. When the oil is hot, brown the onion (1/2 to 1 onion) and garlic (2-3 cloves) and curry leaves (half). Add the beef (500g). Add 3 teaspoon curry powder and chilli powder, tumeric, paprika, salt and pepper to taste (roughly 1 teaspoon each). Stir occasionally till meat is brown. Add potato cubes. Cover with boiling water from kettle (meat just covered) and let it simmer (~40 min)/ 10 min from end, add green beans. Add more boiling water if the level gets too low. Taste occasionally and add salt if needed.

Lentils (30 min)

In saucepan, add 2 tablespoon oil. When the oil is hot, brown the onion (1/2 to 1 onion) and garlic (2-3 cloves) and curry leaves (half). Add mustard seeds (1 teaspoon). When mustard seeds pop, add washed lentils. Add 3 teaspoon curry powder and chilli powder, tumeric, paprika to taste (roughly 1 teaspoon). Stir in for 1 min then cover with boiling water 1cm above lentils. Add chopped tomato, stir in. In 5 min, taste and keep adding salt a bit at a time till it tastes good. Simmer on low and stir occasionally. Take off heat before water boils off.

An eggplant and mustard curry was also made from this SBS recipe.

The above was served with rice. More than enough food for three people! The beef curry and lentils were hot but quite tasty with rice. The eggplant and mustard curry was much milder. The meal as a whole was flavoursome and similar to India.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Spain, seafood special

Hola,

Spain, the land of festivals, siestas and paella. Paella their national dish comes in many shapes and forms, we decided to cook a seafood Valencian paella.

The paella contained mussels, clams, prawns, squid and chicken. It was the first time I have ever had mussels and clams in any quantity and surprisingly, I really like clams. Mussels aren’t too bad either, I can take them or leave them in some aspects but clams are really nice.

In one short Spanish sentence, te amo paella. As a dish, paella is beautiful and flavoursome infusing numerous ingredients to create something wonderful. For the meal we had Bec’s parents, sister and nephew around and the meal was enjoyed by all.

Adios

Sam’s rating: 10/10

South Sudan, peanuts are not my friend

Hi,

South Sudan, officially a country in its own right gaining its independence in 2011 the country is just five years old. For this war torn country we decided to cook peanut stew with beef and spinach.

The recipe involves beef being cooked with onion, ginger and peanut butter before having tomatoes and spinach added. It is served on flat bread. The recipe was easy to make and initially fairly tasty. I believe my version is a lot runnier than the official recipe.

Initially fairly tasty, my palate found it heavy going about half way in. There is something about a lot of peanuts that doesn’t agree with me. I am not allergic or anything but too many nuts make me a little queasy.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 7/10

South Korea, beautiful BBQ beef

안녕하세요

For South Korea we decided to cook bulgogi which is essentially BBQ beef. The beef was marinated in onion, spring onion, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and black pepper.

I cooked the meat in a wok and added honey, the dish was served with rice. It is somewhat surprising to have two meals in a row which taste absolutely amazing but it did happen. I suspected that I would enjoy this meal as soy sauce and honey is always a winning combination to me plus sesame oil to top it off.

The dish did have a bit of a peppery taste to it but even so, it is my kind of dish.

안녕

Sam’s rating: 9/10

South Africa, Bobotie tonight

 

Hi,

Bobotie is South African’s national dish, with beef spiced with ginger, curry, garlic and mixed with breadcrumbs, raisins, almonds, lemon, carrot and onion it is relatively simple to make. The mixture is then cooked and put in a dish, an egg and turmeric powder is mixed and covered over the top of the dish.

The bobotie is really tasty, it tastes like a curry and reminded me of a shepherd’s pie although the taste is very different.

This is a dish I would definitely make again.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 9/10

Somali, people eat anything

مرحبا

Somali, the land known for its pirates, perhaps a Westernised cliché but in 2008, piracy was actually Somali’s biggest industry so maybe not too exaggerated. For Somali we decided to cook something that is known for eating everything and anything, perhaps not unlike people (as a whole)! We decided to cook Hilib AriIsku Duug (Braised Goat in Spices and Tomato). I have never tasted goat before so it will be interesting.

A journey to the Prahan Market (if you live in Melbourne, check it out) and I am equipped with goat shoulder (actually kid shoulder to be correct, although that sounds a bit like Hansel and Gretel). The meat was cooked with onion, garlic and water for over an hour. The spices and tomato were added and the meal was served with rice.

The goat is a very different sort of meat, perhaps somewhat like lamb shoulder however far more chewy then lamb. The sauce was actually quite nice.

وداعا

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Solomon Islands, pie and new things

Hi,

The Solomon Islands is a collection of Islands to the east of Papua New Guinea, for this nation we decided to cook Kibbe. This dish is made from beef (or lamb) and burghul.

In the dish we used tamarind concentrate and pomegranate, two ingredients that I have never tasted before. I quite like the pomegranate and the pomegranate nectar is actually quite nice as a drink.

The dish itself, the filling was very different, the pomegranate seeds added something a bit tangy while the lemon juice added zest. The tamarind added a flavour I couldn’t quite detect or explain. The crust was slightly hard but still enough moisture to make it ok, burghul pies will never beat pastry pies in my book.

A very different dish.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 6/10

Slovenia, pasta and goulash!

Zdravo,

Slovenia is a country in Europe that borders Italy, the Italian influence has carried across into the country’s cuisine. We decided to cook Goveji Golaž, essentially beef goulash which was served with pasta.

The beef goulash was slow cooked and tasted beautiful. A wonderful collection of spices, fruit and wine the meat was falling apart and melted in your mouth. Having not had pasta for a long time it added to the enjoyment of the meal.

It certainly is different from the traditional Italian pasta dishes.

Zbogom

Sam’s rating: 9/10

Slovakia, dumpling dinner

Ahoj,

Slovakia is a central European country who’s national dish is Bryndzové Halušky which we decided to cook. Bryndzové Halušky is essentially grated potato and flour that is boiled as dumplings, mixed with cheese and then served with bacon.

This type of dumpling is not one that I like that much. Served with bacon though I have a love hate relationship with the dish, the dumplings by themselves don’t taste very nice, sort of like a solid goo however with the bacon they are surprisingly ok.

Zbohom

Sam’s rating: 6/10

Singapore, easy and long

Hi,

For Singapore we decided to cook Hainanese chicken and rice. This recipe is rated as “easy” but easy doesn’t necessarily mean quick!

The chicken was boiled and then dunked into cold water. The rice was an interesting concept, it was cooked with ginger and garlic, as a lover of garlic I really liked it. The two dipping sauces were made, one ended up cracking a bowl (note to self, boiling oil is hot) and the other ended up cracking me (note to self, four chillies ground are hot). I quite enjoyed the spring onion and ginger dipping sauce, the other was a touch too hot even though I did tone the recipe down with only four peppers as opposed to five.

All in all I really enjoyed this meal, the rice was amazing and the flavour of ginger, spring onion and garlic… beautiful.

Bye.

Sam’s rating: 8/10 

Sierra Leone, a casserole for want of a better word

Hi,

For Sierra Leone, we decided to cook a meat stew. The stew was made with meat, onion, eggplant, tomatoes, salt and chilli pepper. We decided to serve the dish with potatoes.

The dish was quite nice, it reminded me of casseroles from home which were always good.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 8/10