Day 163: South Sudan and Shaiyah

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to South Sudan and we are making both the husband and the cat very happy. We are going to have meat!
For today's dish, I have decided to make Shaiyah. Although you can use either goat, lamb or beef, I went for lamb, since goat meat is hard to find around here.
Shaiyah is is usually a dish prepared for a special occasion. When the whole family gathers and an animal is slaughtered, you make Shaiyah. It has to contain bony pieces, fatty pieces and none of the animal has to go to waste. Especially the fat gives a certain aroma and flavour to the dish.

Let's get to today's recipe:

500 g lamb pieces
1 red onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
1 chili, sliced
bay leaf
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
salt
lime for garnish

Put all the ingredients in a pot and add some water - 1-2 cups should be enough. Boil the meat until it is done, but does not fall apart.
In a frying pan, heat some oil and add the meat. Fry until crispy and brown on all sides. Remember to stir well to prevent the meat from getting burnt and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Place the meat on serving plates. Squeeze the lime juice on the meat and serve. You can serve it with some raw onion slices or salad.

The meat was delicious! So fragrant and juicy. As someone who peels off every single bit of fat on ham, I am very picky when it comes to fat. However, today's meat was so crunchy and crispy, that I was even able to eat some of the fat - all would have been too much for a first ;) Both the husband and the cat were grateful, though.

Love,

Raffi

Day 162: South Korea and Kimchi Bibimbap

안녕하세요 (read: annyeongaseyo), Raffies!

We are going to South Korea today! I have been looking forward to today's dish! Bibimbap was the first dish that open the doors to the culinary world of Korean cuisine. There are so many delicious dishes in Korea that I know of and probably so many more I have never even heard about.

Korean cuisine is famous for its spicy soups and delicious barbecued meats.
I would really like to visit Korea, but for now I am eagerly following the adventures of Sylvia in Korea to get a teenie tiny glimpse at this wonderful country.

Today's recipe is accompanied by a homemade kimchi and I don't think I have to say much more about it. It is wonderful! Obviously spicy and so incredibly satisfying, because it simply has it all :P

As for the bibimbap recipe, I have followed my great Korean cookbook "Our Korean Kitchen" (by Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo):

*Serves 2

Marinated beef
100g ground beef
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Toppings
50g bean sprouts
100g spinach
1 spring onion
100g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 eggs
sesame oil to season
soy sauce to season
sesame oil to fry
roasted sesame seeds

Fried Rice
*150g Kimchi
2 cups rice

Gochujang sauce
2 tbsp gochujang chili paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil

Mix the ingredients for the marinate and mix with the meat. Leave to marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Put the rice in a small pot. Rinse it with cold water and carefully get rid of the water. Repeat this until the water gets transparent. Cover the rice with the same amount of water as of rice (if the rice is 1 cm thick, cover with 1 cm of water) and put it on the fire. Once it gets boiled, turn the fire to low. When no water is left, it is ready. Set aside and keep warm.

Now, fill a medium pan with water and bring it to a boil. Blanch the bean sprouts, spinach and spring onions one after another until tender. Do not mix them! Put them on a plate and season with sesame oil and soy sauce. Still do not mix them!

Pour some sesame oil in a large pan (ideally a wok) and fry the shiitake mushrooms until brown. Put them on the plate with the other vegetables and season with sesame oil and soy sauce.

In the same pan (wok), fry the marinated beef with sesame oil. Once it is well cooked, set aside a bit of it for garnish, add the kimchi and the cooked rice and mix well.

Fry the eggs in a pan as done as you like. Ideally the yolk should still be runny.

Now the cooking is done. Put the fried rice in a medium or large serving bowl. Put the fried egg on top of the rice and put all vegetables and kimchi and cooked beef on top of that. Garnish with roasted sesame seeds. Serve warm.
You can add some Gochuajang sauce mixed with soy sauce as a dip.

*How to make Kimchi at home:

For Cabbage:
half of cabbage or napa cabbage
50g salt


For sauce:
2 tbsp sesame seeds
4 tbsp chili pepper powder
1 garlic clove
1 small piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp gochujang chili paste
1/4 grated apple
50 ccl water
1 tbsp flour

Wash the cabbage well and cut it into small pieces. Put it in a small storage bag, not leaving any air inside. Use one or more bags if the pieces of cabbage do not fit in one. Cover the first bag with a second bag so that the liquid does not leak. Put something heavy (like a dictionary) on the bag and leave it for 1 hour.
Now start to prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients (except water and flour). Pour the water and add the flour in a small pot, heat them on a medium fire while you blend them continuously. Once it gets dense add it into the sauce mixture you have just prepared.
Wash the pieces of cabbage well in running cold water to remove all the salt. Leave them to rest and drain for 1 hour.
After that, add the cabbage into the sauce and mix well.
Put kimchi in a small bag to assure that it is always soaked.
You can enjoy the kimchi after some hours or after some days (even some weeks or months!). It is said the more fermented the kimchi is, the better the flavour. So you can either wait for a few hours or for a few months ;)

Love,

Raffi

Day 161: South Africa and Melktert

Good evening, Raffies!

Apparently I managed to write down the wrong number of days somewhere along the road..which brings me back to day 161 today of 197 in total..seems like counting to 100 is not that simple after all..I am very sorry XD

Anyways, we are now in South Africa and we are going to enjoy a typical South African dessert: Melktart. It resembles a cheesecake, but instead of using cream cheese, the main ingredient is milk.
Now I might have mentioned before that I do not digest milk that well, not that I have a lactose intolerance, but I can't drink milk on its own. So for today's dish, I only enjoyed a small slice. It was really creamy and soothing.

South African cuisine has a very strong Dutch influence and this recipe is not exception to it.

The recipe is really simple:

4 c milk
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
3 tbsp melted butter
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar
cinnamon for sprinkling

In a bowl, mix the butter and the sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks and mix until creamy. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Pour in the milk and the vanilla sugar.
In another bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff. Add to the mixture. Pour the mixture into a buttered pie form and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes at 190° C. Now reduce the heat to 160° C and bake for another 25 minutes. The centre of the cake should be slightly jiggling. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve either hot or cold.

For my version, I did not use a pastry crust, but you will find it in a lot of versions. You can even infuse the cinnamon in the milk before cooking, to give it a stronger cinnamon flavour.

Love,

Raffi

Day 162: Somalia and Lahooh with Suqaar

Good evening, Raffies!

Today I was very excited, because I could finally eat Injera again! Last time I ate it, it was over 100 days ago..we were just at the beginning of our journey and I had come across the fabulous cuisine of Eritrea.
Tonight, however, we are going to Somalia. It is time for Lahooh with Suqaar. Lahooh is a sourdough bread that resembles the Eritrean Injera.
Lahooh is a flat bread of somewhat spongy consistency. On the top, it builds little holes. It resembles a pancake, but you only cook it on one side. The best was to enjoy it, is warm and just freshly cooked. Add a little butter, honey or sugar or soak it in tea.
Lahooh is used as a plate and you use it to scoop up the different dishes of your meal. These dishes can be places on the Lahooh or in a bowl. It is a necessity in Eastern Africa and it is consumed on a daily basis at all times.
As for the Suqaar, it is one of the many possible dishes to serve with Lahooh.

The recipes are quite simple and as a result you will have a delicious and very filling meal.

For the Lahooh, I followed this recipe from a lovely website on Somali food:

2 c flour
1/2 c millet flour (I ground the grains up and made my own flour, since I could not find it)
3 c water
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Start by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl. Be careful not to have any lumps in the batter. It should be smooth. Cover it with a cloth and wait for about 1-1.5 hours until it has doubled in size. Now it might be that some liquid has settled on the bottom of the bowl. In that case, stir the batter.
Heat a skillet and spread 1/4 cup of batter in circular motions - I followed the recipe and started from the middle. Cook on one side until golden brown. In case the batter sticks to the pan, add a few drops of oil and rub with some kitchen paper. Continue until you have used up all the batter.

For the Suqaar I still followed the recipe from the same website:

300 g beef, cut in bite sized pieces
2 eggs
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp paprika
salt
pepper
2 green onions, chopped

In a skillet, fry the meat until brown. Add the oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the onion and stir for a few minutes.
Now add the tomatoes, the garlic, coriander and paprika and cook for 5 minutes.
Make two holes in the pan. Crack the egg into the hole. Cover the skillet and cook until the eggs are done. Enjoy!

I must say that the Suqaar reminded me of Shakshuka. The sole difference being that it contained meat, unlike Shakshuka. Obviously it was scrumptious. And we ate with our hands! Although, I think I could use some more practice in elegantly scooping up my food with a piece of Lahooh.

Have a great weekend, everyone!


Love,

Raffi

Day 161: Solomon Islands and Cassava pudding

Hello, Raffies!

Today we are going to tingle our taste buds with some nice dessert. We are going to the Solomon Islands and we are going to enjoy some cassava pudding.

This is a traditional recipe from the islands and the result is a somewhat gelatinous pudding with a great flavour.

The recipe is quite simple and the result is a lovely dessert:

500 g cassava
225 g brown sugar
1 c coconut milk
1 egg
40 g melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c hot water

Start by peeling the cassava. Wash it and finely grate it. Now Mix the cassava with the coconut milk, baking powder and brown sugar. After having mixed it well and add the egg and the melted butter. Mix well again and pour the water and whisk.
Preheat the oven at 180°C and butter a form. Pour the mixture and bake for 45 minutes. Let the pudding cool down and enjoy!

Love,

Raffi

Day 160: Slovenia and Buckwheat porridge with mushrooms

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to Slovenia and even though the first to strike my mind when thinking about Slovenian cuisine is ćevapčići, we are not going for that.

Slovenian cuisine is influenced by its climate and by the neighbouring countries. You can find Austrian, German, Italian, French and Slavic. Although soups have only been introduced relatively recently, they are very common. However, the traditional meal was porridge. There are different varieties of porridge.
Fruits and vegetables are also widely spread. Interesting that dandelion is a common ingredient for salads. One famous salad is with potatoes and dandelion..delicious!

As for today's dish, we are going back to old traditions and we are making a lovely buckwheat porridge with mushrooms. Mushrooms are very common in Slovenia and it is still quite popular to collect mushrooms and eat a lot of fresh mushrooms.

The recipe is really simple:

150 g buckwheat grains
500 g mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
butter
cream
fresh parsley
salt
pepper
fresh thyme

Start by cooking the buckwheat in salted water. Drain and set aside.
Stir-fry the onion and garlic in butter. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Now add the cream, salt, pepper and thyme. Now add the buckwheat and the parsley. Enjoy!

It was delicious. I myself absolutely adore mushroom, therefore I really enjoyed this!


Love,

Raffi

Day 159: Slovakia and Bryndzové halušky

Good evening, Raffies!

The cold weather is still not leaving us, so we are happily making our Slovakian dinner. Today we are going to try the Slovakian version of the Italian gnocchi: Bryndzové halušky.
This is one of Slovakia's national dishes. It consists of  Bryndza, a type of sheep cheese, which is soft and creamy, and halušky. Halušky is somewhat similar to the German Spätzle.
If you can't find the Slovakian cheese, you can use feta, cottage cheese or some creamy goat cheese, but it is not the same. :)

The recipe is quite easy and the result is fantastic. A perfect dish for cold days!
The following is for 2 people:

2 potatoes, peeled and grated
1 c flour, or more
salt
bacon
125 g Bryndza
50 ml cream

Mix the grated potatoes and the flour in a bowl. Add the salt. The dough has to be sticky. In order to achieve this, you might need to add more flour. Once the dough sticks to your spoon, you are good to go.
Cut the bacon and fry it until crispy. If you'd like it fattier, you can add oil or butter for frying, but I skipped it. Set it aside.
In a casserole, bring salty water to a boil. Try a bit of the mix in the water. If it does not break apart and comes to the surface, you can proceed. If it breaks apart, you need to add more flour to the mixture.
If you want to follow the traditional way of cooking, put some batter on a cutting board and cut small dumplings directly into the water. Alternatively, you can use a Spätzle maker, if you have one. Make several dumplings and stir the water, because they will sink to the bottom. Wait until they come to the surface and have a different colour. Remove and set aside. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
Now transfer them all into a bowl and mix with the cheese and the cream. The cream is optional for those of you who like it extra creamy.
Serve and drizzle with bacon. Enjoy!

Love,

Raffi

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Day 158: Singapore and Char kway teow

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to warm Singapore and we are going to enjoy some lovely Char kway teow. As the weather in the Netherlands is not exactly cooperating for a summery feeling and my mom is texting me that she is swimming in the pool at home, we are bringing some warmth into our kitchen.

The cuisine in Singapore contains elements of different countries and traditions. It combines the dishes from all the immigrants that meet in Singapore. You can find Indonesian, native Malay, Indian, Chinese, English, Portuguese, Sri Lanka, Thai and Middle Eastern cuisine building up the unique tastes of Singapore.

For today's dinner we chose a Chinese noodle dish. The recipe is really simple and like most Chinese dishes quick to cook, once you have chopped up everything.

For today's recipe I followed my recipe book (Best-ever Cooking of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia & The Philippines) and my mom's friend's recipe:

250 g chicken, cut in bite sized cubes
250 g tiger prawns
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp cornflour
1/4 c peanut oil
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp shrimp paste
2 cm fresh ginger, thinly chopped
1 package flat rice noodles
4 shallots, sliced
1 chili, sliced
70 g bean sprouts
1/2 c soy sauce
Thai basil to garnish

Combine chicken, oyster sauce and cornflour in a bowl. In a wok, heat the oil and stir-fry the ginger, chili, garlic and shrimp paste. Add the chicken and fry until brown. Now add the prwans and fry until they change colour. Add the noodles (it might be that you have to soak them in boiling water first. Check the package) and stir-fry for a few minutes, until soft.
Add the bean sprouts, shallots and soy sauce. Cook for a few minutes and serve immediately. Add some soy sauce or oyster sauce, if you need more salt. Serve immediately. Garnish with some Thai basil.

The noodles were delicious. The sauce was creamy and just wonderful.

Love,

Raffi

Day 157: Sierra Leone and Meat stew

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going back to Africa and we are going to enjoy a nice meat stew from Sierra Leone.
The cuisine of Sierra Leone is a proud one. Its cuisine shows a great variety of ingredients with seafood, fish, meats and vegetables. From the omnipresent fufu, which you can find in most African countries, to Jollof rice - which we enjoyed in Guinea Bissau. We are going for something else, some meat stew that is usually accompanied with fufu, rice or plantains.

The recipe for today is really simple and the result fabulous:

300 g meat (I went for chicken)
1 onion, sliced
3 aubergines, chopped
20 g tomato puree
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 c water
salt
chili pepper
pepper

Start by cutting the meat into bite-sized cubes. In a pot, add the water and some salt and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and boil for about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables and let it simmer until the vegetables are tender. Now remove the vegetables and blend or mash them. Add the tomato puree and return the mixture to the pot. Add the spices and adjust with salt. Serve with rice, fufu, yams or potatoes.

Before starting this challenge, I did not know much about African cuisine, apart from the North African one. After these months, I must admit that I had missed out quite a bit and that this cuisine has so much to offer and so much to discover still. I think it should be more known, for most recipes are very easy to make and delicious.


Love,

Raffi

Day 156: Seychelles and smoked fish salad

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to the Seychelles and dreaming of sunny beaches and the smell of the ocean.
We are going to make Smoked fish salad. This is a really simple and quick dish, for those day when you want to have a cultural experience, but do not feel like standing in the kitchen for hours on end.

The recipe is incredibly easy:

250 g smoked marlin (any other smoked fish also works)
1/2 lemon, juice
salt
pepper
1/2 bell pepper, julienned
1 tomato, sliced
3 leaves of lettuce, julienned
2 tbsp olive oil

Slice the smoked fish. This works best if you have a really sharp knife and if the fish is cold.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve.

This salad was great, though simple. I myself love salads and this recipe is a really easy and quick solution for a light lunch.

Love,

Raffi

Day 155: Serbia and Pasulj

Good evening, Raffies!

We are back in the Netherlands and although the sun is shining, I already miss the heat and the air from Italy. Sometimes I wish things were easier..

Anyways, since we skipped lunch, we are enjoying this rich soup: Pasulj. We went to Serbia and made a delicious bean soup.

It is a traditional soup made out of beans. Ingredients and vegetables can vary greatly. You can also add some meat into your soup, if you like.

The recipe is simple:

200 g berlotti or white beans
1 large carrot, sliced
2 onions, chopped
1 stalk celery
1 bay leaf
1 chili, sliced
1 tbsp paprika powder
pepper
salt
3 tbsp oil
2 tbsp flour
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
parsley for garnish

Start by soaking your beans overnight, unless you are going to use canned ones. In the latter case, you can skip the long boiling part and add the ingredients immediately.
Otherwise, bring the beans to a boil in approximately 3 litres of water and let them simmer for 1.5 hours. Add half of the onions, carrot, bay leaf, celery and chili and paprika. Let it simmer until the carrots are soft.
In a separate pan, heat up the oil. Fry the remaining onion until soft. Stir in the flour until it gets dense. Now pour it into the bean mix and stir well. Simmer for a few minutes until it becomes dense and thick.
Now adjust with salt and pepper and garnish with some parsley. Serve with bread.

It was really good and flavourful. A great dish when you haven't been eating all day and are rather tired.

Love,

Raffi

Day 154: Senegal and bluefish with thiebou jen

Good evening, Raffies!

For our last dinner in sunny Italy we are going to Senegal and enjoying a great national dish: bluefish with Thiebou jen.
Traditional Senegalese cuisine involves many hands working together to prepare a dish and chanting and singing during the process. This starts by pounding the Fonio, a grain similar to millet. In the process you pound the grains in a pot with a long stick. It is a tedious job and several hands are involved in it.
Thiebou is Senegal's national dish. You can find it as Thiebou yapp, rice with lamb, Thiebou guinaar, rice with chicken, or with fish. In the past, people used broken rice, which is what is left of the rice at the bottom of the sacks of rice. This practice goes all the way back to the times when people did not have much to eat.

A good Thieb will form a crust of rice at the bottom of the pot, called khogn, that is considered to be the best part of the dish. This delicious treat is usually reserved for the cook, as a prize for the hard labour.

Thieb is a melting pot of different cuisines that influenced the Senegalese cuisine: the tomatoes from America, the carrots and cabbage from the French colonists.

Thiebou jen is no different. And we also worked together to prepare this dish. Both my mom and my husband helped in preparing today's dinner.

The recipe takes quite some time, but the result is delicious:

2 c basmati rice
1/2 c peanut oil
2 large onions, diced
1 tomato, chopped
1 c tomato paste
6 c water
1 pinch sugar
4 blue fish
salt
pepper
1 bay leaf
7 tbsp rof *
1/2 cabbage, cut into wedges
2 carrots, cut into 3 cm long pieces
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
250 g yuca, peeled and cut into chunks
12 okra pods
1 habanero
1 tbsp tamarind paste
4-5 tbsp fish sauce
2 limes for garnish

Start by washing the rice, in order to get it less sticky and more grainy. Heat the oil in a large pot and sauté the onions until soft. Add the tomato and the tomato paste with a little water to dilute the paste. Drizzle in the sugar and add the salt. Cover the pot and reduce the heat. Let it simmer until the oil rises above the tomato. Add some water if the tomato seems to stick to the bottom of the pan.
In the meantime, season the fish with salt and pepper and cut 2 cm long slits at a 1 cm distance on each side. Stuff the cuts with rof (the recipe will follow at the bottom).
Now uncover the tomato sauce and add the 5 cups of water and the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Now carefully place the fish into the sauce. Add the cabbage, yuca, butternut squash, okra and habanero. Bring to a boil and lower the heat. Now let it simmer uncovered for approximately one hour, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the fish after approximately 30 minutes.
Now add the tamarind paste and adjust with salt and pepper if needed. Let it simmer until oil rises to the surface. Now add the fish sauce and stir well. You can now remove the habanero, unless you like it hot.
Add the rice to the pot and let it cook until the rice is done. You can add some water if needed and remember to cover the pot, in order to get your crispy bottom.
Arrange the rice on a large serving plate and place the fish on top. Garnish with limes and serve.

* For the rof:

6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
5 scallions
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

Mix the ingredients to a paste in a mortar or, alternatively, blend it in a blender.

This dish was great! It was really worth waiting for.


Love,

Raffi

Day 153: Saudi Arabia and Al Kabsa

Good evening,  Raffies!

Today was a great day with a wonderful summery weather. Unfortunately, our holidays are slowly coming to an end..however, let's not dingle and dwell in sadness.

We are going to Saudi Arabia and we are going to enjoy some lovely traditional Kabsa.
The recipe is rich in flavours and spices that make you dream of Sheherazade and Thousand and One Nights.

It is a simple dish that is easy and quick to make:

1 chicken, cut into pieces
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
80 g butter
8 g tomato puree
350 g canned tomatoes, drained
3 carrots, grated
2 cloves
1 pinch grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
salt
black pepper
4 c hot water
1 chicken stock cube
2 1/4 c basmati rice
1/4 c raisins
1/4 c almonds, toasted

Kabsa Spice Mix

1/2 tsp saffron
1/4 tsp ground green cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1//2 ground allspice
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground dried limes

Start by melting butter in a big casserole or Dutch oven. Add the onions, garlic and the chicken pieces and sauté until the onions are soft. Stir in the tomato puree and leave it to simmer for a couple more minutes. Be careful not to burn it.
Now stir in the tomatoes, carrots, cloves, spices also the Kabsa spice mix, salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes. Add the water and the chicken stock cube. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and leave to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Now add the rice to the pot - it could be that you need to add some more water.
If you want your chicken to be brown and crispy, remove the chicken from the pot and cook it in the oven for 30 minutes at 180°C.
Cook the rice until tender. Add the raisins a few minutes before serving. Place the rice on a serving dish or a large plate. Top with the chicken and garnish with the almonds, some more raisins and some fresh coriander. In Saudi Arabia you serve it with some fresh salad and with the extremely hot sauce Shattah.

We shared this dish with some good friends of ours and it was delicious. Everyone appreciated it - even their baby.

Love,

Raffi

Day 152: São Tomé and Príncipe and Cod Fish Feijoada

Good evening, Raffies!

From all the plans I had for my holiday at my mom's, so far I have been laying by the pool, enjoying the sun and doing absolutely nothing. It feels great to have summer temperature and sun everyday. This is something I definitely miss in the Netherlands.

Today we are going to have a nice lunch and tonight we are going to enjoy some nice Greek cuisine at a restaurant not far from here.

Lunch is a jump to Africa. We are going to São Tomé and Príncipe and enjoying some delicious cod fish feiojada. This dish is originally from Portugal, but stranded on the island during the colonial period. At the beginning, the recipe used black beans, but the islanders preferred white beans for it.
The variety of herbs and spices is skipped too, on São Tomé and Príncipe. Carrots might also be skipped, whilst pork and cabbage added. Another striking sign is the red palm oil instead of olive oil, which gives this dish singular flavour.
The recipe is simple and rather quick to prepare:

1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 tbsp red palm oil + some to taste
2 c white beans, boiled
200 g tomato puree
200 g vegetable stock
salt
pepper
500 g cod fish fillets

If you are using dried beans, soak them in water over night. Boil them until soft before starting with this recipe. You can also use fresh white beans or the canned ones. In both cases, you can skip the boiling.
Start by frying the onion and the carrots in the palm oil for a few minutes. Add the beans, tomato puree and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Let it simmer until the carrots are soft - approximately 20 minutes.
Salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Now add the cod fillets on top and let it simmer for another 15 minutes, until the fish is done. When the fish falls apart when you poke it with a fork, it is done.
You can garnish with some fresh parsley and add a drizzle of red palm oil, if you want to be like a real Saotomean.

The flavour was great! The fish was tender and juicy, the beans soft and delicate and the palm oil gave this extra African feeling!

Love,

Raffi

Day 151: San Marino and Torta Tre Monti

Ciao, Raffies!

I admit that I am being very lazy these days..enjoying the sun and the free time.
Today we are going to San Marino, not that far from here, and we are going to enjoy a speciality of this country. As you might know, San Marino is a small Republic in Italy, nearby Bologna. It consists of a small city on a rock. Torta Tre Monti is a type of cake that is typical for the city.
This lovely cake was first made in 1942 and received the title of authenticity. It is a round waffle with a diametre of 2 cm covered in dark chocolate and hazel nuts and layered five times. The company Serenissima di Domagnano is the producer of this delicious cake, but you can make your own version at home.
Unfortunately, we were not able to find any big round waffle, nor any small round ones. However, we managed to find squares.

For the recipe, melt some dark chocolate and get some nuts ready. Start by layering waffle, chocolate and nuts and repeat. Now place your cake into the fridge to harden the chocolate. Enjoy!

The cake was a big success in my family. My husband was particulaly enthusiastic, for he adores chocolate and nuts.

Love,

Raffi

Day 150: Samoa and Oka I'A

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to Samoa and enjoying another salad for this warm weather.
On our menu we have Oka I'a, a traditional dish on the islands.

Although this is a basic recipe, you can add different vegetables and types of fresh and raw fish to your own version. Also adding some chili pepper for some extra kick or some cilantro or parsley is a great idea.

The recipe is really simple:

500 g fresh tuna
1/2 c lime juice
1/2 onion, thinly chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, diced
4 spring onions, sliced
1 c coconut milk
salt
pepper

Start by dicing your fish and covering it with the lime juice. Set it aside for approximately one hour. You can even skip this process if the fish is REALLY fresh. The longer you leave the fish in the lemon or lime juice, the more it gets "cooked".
Drain the fish and discard the lime juice. Add the vegetables to the fish and the coconut milk, too. Mix well and season with salt. Now refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the flavours develop. Serve as a starter or a light dish.

Up to now I had only eaten Japanese tuna salads, but this version with coconut was simply wonderful. The flavours were so perfect together. It was delightful!


 Love, Raffi

Day 149: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Conch Souse

Hello Raffies!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We are enjoying our holiday in Italy..enjoying the sun and the sweet chilling.
Today we are going to the Caribbean, again, with a lovely salad: Conch Souse. Conch is a big mussel that you cannot find in Europe, unfortunately, because of legal restrictions. So for this recipe I decided to use the biggest mussel I could find: scallops.

The recipe is really simple and the result is a delicious salad, perfect for the hot weather:

500 g conch (or any other big mussel)
1 onion, thinly chopped
1 cucumber, diced
2 limes
parsley
black pepper
chili powder
salt

Start by cleaning your conch or mussel and by boiling it in hot water for 1-2 minutes. Leave it to cool down and ideally chill it in the fridge.
Make the pickles by mixing together the cucumber, onion, juice of the limes, pepper, parsley, chili powder and salt. Chop the conch or your mussels and add to the pickle. Serve cold and garnish with parsley.

For those of you who do not know me, I am a big fan of seafood and especially mussels. In summer time, I really like to eat the Italian seafood salads. Therefore, I really enjoyed this simple, yet delicious dish.


Love,

Raffi

Day 148: Saint Lucia and Curried Chicken

Good evening, Raffies!

Today, on my birthday, we are going to Saint Lucia and enjoying some nice curried chicken!
Enjoying my short getaway in Italy, I am laying by the pool and writing this post.

When I was looking for the recipe for Saint Lucia, I came was wondering why most Caribbean countries were serving curry as one of their national dishes. As it seems, most islands have Indian immigrants or immigrants from African countries, where curry is a common dish. The foods they brought with them were adapted to the ingredients that could be found on the islands. Other ingredients, like cumin, coriander and several other spices, have now become local. What is to be regarded as Caribbean food is actually a mixture of the culinary traditions from the different nations that came to for the present population of the islands and local ingredients. This is why you find curries, pakoras, samosas, roti and different chutneys. You can also find pasta, Palau and stews from Africa. Obviously, there has been quite a bit of fusion from different cultures and culinary traditions. The result is a melting pot of Indian, American, African, European (British, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese..), Arab and Chinese cuisine.

This curried chicken is no exception, as you will find Indian spices and the American potato in this dish. The recipe is quite simple and the result is a delicious curry, for all the curry lovers out there:

500 g chicken breast
2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
1 c parsley, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
thyme
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp ketchup
salt
pepper

Start by cutting the chicken into pieces and seasoning it with salt, garlic, thyme, some of the parsley, onions and ketchup. Fry the chicken in a large pan with butter until golden.
Add the curry powder and some water and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Now add the potatoes and the celery and cook for about 15-20 minutes. It could be that you need to add some more water, in order not to burn it. Once the chicken is done and the vegetables are tender, serve it on rice. You can also add some boiled eggs to the curry and some green beans.

As a big fan of curries, I really enjoyed this dish. It was simple, but delicious. And I had added even some homemade mango chutney to it. Delicious!

 Love, Raffi

Day 147: Saint Kitts and Nevis

Hello, Raffies!

We made it to Italy safe and sound..it feels good to feel some summer on our skins.
Today our dinner is going to be late. We arrived home around 21:00h and still had to cook the dish. Thankfully, my mom had already chopped everything that had to be chopped. We are going to the Caribbean for the coming days! Let's start with the first in line: Saint Kitts and Nevis and a quite common dish, Rasta Pasta. This dish is to be found all over the Caribbean. It is a dish with countless variations. Often you can find versions with chicken and a creamy sauce. Its cheesiness is the trigger that makes you want to get more.

The recipe is quite simple:

3 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 onion, sliced
2 yellow or red bell peppers, julienned
500 g tagliatelle
2 c black beans, cooked and drained
2 c broccoli, boilt
¼ c basil, chopped
2 tsp oregano, chopped
Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Start by boiling the noodles in hot salty water. Drain and set aside. In a skillet, heat the olive oil and fry the onion, garlic, peppers and broccoli until soft. Add the black beans and cook until slightly creamy. Mix in the noodles and season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Add a generous amount of Parmesan cheese and serve. This can either be enjoyed warm or cold as a salad.

After a long day, this simple dish had a soothing effect to all of us. It was delicious!

Love,

Raffi

Love, Raffi

Day 146: Rwanda and Kachumbari

Good evening, Raffies!

Today is the last evening in the Netherlands. Tomorrow we are going to Italy for a week and continuing our challenge from there.
On the menu today we had something light: Kachumbari for Rwanda. When looking for a dish to make for Rwanda, I saw this salad with avocado and I thought it would be great. Especially because we are in July and it is summer..and it's warm..or, well it should be..we currently have 18°C and the weather is all but summery..

A few interesting facts about Rwanda: it is one of the only two countries in the world where a mountain gorillas population can be visited safely. It is also the first country to have banned plastic bags. Apart from its staple foods like beans, cassava, corn and greens, one interesting dish is Kachumbari, a light salad with tomatoes, onions, avocado and coriander. And who doesn't love avocados?

The recipe is really easy and really quick to make. It is a great starter or a light lunch:

1 tomato, thinly sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1-2 avocados, sliced or mashed
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 green chili, sliced
fresh coriander, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lime, juice
salt
black pepper

Combine the vegetables in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the ingredients for the dressing - lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and coriander and pour on the vegetables.

It was obviously a delicious salad.

 Love, Raffi

Day 145: Russia and Pelmeni

Привет, Raffies!

Today we are going to Russia and we are going to enjoy Pelmeni, because ever since I tried them for the first time, I crave for them.
These traditional dumplings are a big favourite all over Russia. You can have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. Most of the time, they are served with sour cream or in broth. However, ketchup and vinegar are also quite common.

The recipe is simple, it just takes a good deal of patience to shape and fold all your dumplings.

1/3 c buttermilk
1 tsp sour cream
1 egg
1 c warm water
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 c flour
flour to work the dough

for the filling:
250 g ground turkey
250 g ground pork
1 onion, finely chopped
pepper
salt
chili powder

Melted butter and sour cream for serving

Start by making the dough. Mix together the buttermilk, the sour cream, the warm water, the egg and the salt until well blended in. Add the flour gradually until the dough is not sticky anymore. When the dough is well mixed - this might take some time.
Move the dough to a well floured surface. And start making the filling.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until golden and soft. Now add the pork, turkey, salt, pepper and chili powder and mix well with the heat turned off.
Now you can make small pelmeni, with a size of 1-2 cm diametre, or you can make bigger balls and roll them thinly out to a size of a palm. Place a bit of the filling into the middle and fold in half and fold to a shape of a diaper. Now you can either freeze them and cook them later or proceed.
Bring enough salty water to a boil and boil the pelmeni a few at the time, otherwise they might stick together. Wait until they come to the surface and then boil for another 3 minutes.
Drain and serve either with broth, sour cream, melted butter, ketchup or vinegar. Pick your favourite!

Love,

Raffi

Day 144: Romania and Papanasi

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to enjoy a nice Romanian dessert: Papanasi.
This dessert is a popular treat in Romania. Usually fried, it resembles a doughnut with a hat. It is filled with liquid jam, mostly cherries or berries, and smetana, the Romanian crème fraîche.
Actually, there are two versions: the fried one and the boilt one. It is said that once you have tried them, you will be craving them.

The recipe is really easy and the result is delicious:

500 g cottage cheese
2 eggs
a few drops rum aroma
1 package vanilla sugar
75 g sugar
230 g flour
1 tsp baking soda
oil for frying
250 g smetana or crème fraîche
runny berry jam

Start by mixing the cottage cheese, eggs, rum aroma, sugar and vanilla sugar in a bowl. The cottage cheese should not get well blended. It should stay grumbled.
Now add the flour and baking soda to the cheese mixture. Stir it with a spoon, in order not to get a too smooth dough.
Flour a working surface and put the dough on it. Form a ball and add flour if the dough is very hard to work. Add flour if you really cannot form any ball and if the dough is too sticky.
Divide the dough into 9 balls. Roll 8 of these balls into thick sausages and join the ends to form a circle. Repeat with all balls but one. Form 8 small balls with the last ball. These will be the hats for our volcanoes.
If you want to make your own runny jam, join 200 g frozen cherries (I used cherries and a handful of blueberries) with a bit of water and 2 tbsp sugar in a pot and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Heat oil in a pot. It should be about 4-5 cm, in order to cover the whole papanasi. Fry the dough until golden brown. Place on some kitchen paper to drain the excess oil.
Serve immediately with smetana and your berry jam. Fill the hole with smetana and berries and cover with the hat of dough and top this with some smetana and jam too.

They were absolutely divine! I understand the craving now. The hot and crunchy dough with the creamy smetana and the juicy berries is just incredible!


 Love, Raffi

Day 143: Qatar and Machboos

Good evening, Raffies!

Today we are going to Qatar and we are going to make a dish we had already made Machboos for Bahrain. Today, however, we are going to try a different version of this dish.
This is a common dish in Qatar.

The recipe is easy and quick to make. Here is a video that will help you out.

1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp Baharat spice mix
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp oil
300 g chicken, pieces
1 green chile, sliced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 tomatoes, chopped
3 dried limes
1/4 tsp clovers, powdered
4 green cardamom pods
1 stick of cinnamon
1 c basmati rice
2 c chicken stock
rosewater for sprinkling

In a bowl, combine onion, garlic, ginger, preen pepper. In another bowl, mix tomatoes, limes (poke holes in them), cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Separately, mix Baharat and turmeric.
Now heat some oil in a large skillet and fry the chicken pieces until brown and crispy. Remove the chicken and set aside. Now add the ghee to the same skillet and fry the onion, ginger, chile and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, until slightly brown.
Add the Baharat and turmeric mix and cook for another minute. Now add the chicken and the ingredients in the second bowl - tomatoes and spices.
Pour the chicken stock into the skillet and bring to a boil. Cover and let it simmer for around 40 minutes.
Once the time has passed, add the rice. In case you need more water, add a cup or two of water. Cover and leave it simmer for another 15 minutes, until the rice is done. Now and then, stir the mixture. Now sprinkle the dish with some rosewater and serve.

The limes give a great fragrance to this dish. Personally, I decorated it with some pine nuts, raisins and coriander. It was delicious!

Love,

Raffi

Day 142: Portugal and Caldo Verde

Good evening, Raffies!

Sorry about yesterday..Sometimes I get these awful headaches and the only way to get rid of them is sleep..
After a good night's sleep I felt better. In the end, I did not even enjoy the cabbage rolls, due to my terrible headache. I only ate one and went to bed as soon as possible.
Today we are going to Portugal and after yesterday, a nice soothing soup was exactly what I needed. We are making Caldo Verde!

The recipe is really simple and the result is scrumptious:
2 tbsp olive ooil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 l water
150 g linguica sausage, sliced
salt
pepper
500 g kale, julienned

Start by frying the onion and the garlic in olive oil in a large pan.
Add the potatoes and cook for a few minutes. Now add the water and bring to a boil. Then leave on medium heat for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are mushy.
In the meantime, fry the sausage to drain most of the fat and set aside.
Now mach the potatoes and add salt and pepper. Add the sausage and simmer for about 5 minutes. In case you have a very dense soup, you can add more water.
Now it is time to stir in the kale and cook for another 5 minutes. The kale should be a bit crunchy still. Serve and enjoy.

I had decided to make this dish for Portugal, because my husband loves soups. In the end, I was the one that was positively surprised at how delicious this simple soup could be.

Love,

Raffi