The 'How Your Food Obsession Began' Tasting Menu

We came, we talked, we ate= in summary, it was a success!! It was a great feeling cooking a small dish and knowing that it was a part of a much bigger and better meal. I love talking about food, not just how it tastes, but the personal, cultural and historical past of food traditions.

The 'How Your Food Obsession Began' Tasting Menu

Appetizer
Stuffed chicken wings (China-Thailand- Kelly) recipe

De-boned chicken wings stuffed with vermicelli, carrots, spring onion and pork mince. Steamed then lightly battered and deep-fried. Served with a cucumber sweet chilli sauce- a nice contrast with crunch! Stuffing things with this kind of filling is common in chinese food, adding the vermicelli and the cucumber dipping sauce is a Thai thing. Deboning chicken wings is fun to do once in a while, about every 4 years I get the urge to do this recipe again!

Mum used to eat out and then would mull over it for days until she could actually try and recreate the dish.

Starters
Australian Pumpkin Soup (Alison- recipe)

A myriad of pumpkin soup variations have been invented- but the Australian classic is my favourite. The browned Bacon and onion base gives a richness and heartiness that is so full of flavour. This is Alison's mum's 'cooks this when the kids are home to visit' dish. All mums have those dishes and no one cooks it better than mum does... what will be your dish?

Mains
Steamed egg & rice (Malaysia- Kelly) recipe
(no picture taken) Oops, but perhaps it's better this way. This is one of those dishes that is not so photogenic and one of those dishes that you don't cook for 'company'. Silky smooth steam egg with a filling of marinated minced pork with white rice that tickles your tongue in contrast. This is a dish my mother made often as one of 3-4 dishes for dinner. Dinner was always a mini buffet, a variety of textures and flavours.

Palate Refresher
Blood Orange Basil Granita recipe

Something tangy to refreshen and ready the taste buds for the coming onslaught...

Mains Continued
Stovers (Belgian brown beer-beef Stew-Nicky) recipe

An old-time Belgian classic that originated as 'poor people's food' but now (as many of these things are) served in commonly restaurants. This is an amazing stew that is punchy and definitely a masculine character (as I was typing this I had to warm up the leftovers for a nibble :) The dishes which require long, slow cooking used to be reserved for the cheapest cuts of meat, but now represent the opposite: if you've got the time to do it, that's a luxury.

Pap en Sous (South Africa- Monique)

Continuing in the tradition of dishes that are not cooked for 'company' Pap en Sous was served. A humble dish with African origins with a sauce with a chutney base. We should share these dishes more often as it's not so much the taste (although the tangy stewed tomatoes and onions were a perfect foil for the smooth pap) but the memories that are embedded in them: we return home for just a bit when eating :)

Stoofperen & Rabbit Stew (Netherlands- Mascha)

Sweet Stoofperen/Stoofpeertjes are a beautiful accompaniment to hearty stews, and they brought along gorgeous rabbit slowly stewed in white wine and and mixed mushrooms (kind of a Jennifer Aniston-Brad Pitt pearing :Pun intended: she's lovely and multifaceted but he's a Star). The pears turn a beautiful pinky red as they are cooked (pigments in the pear turn red in acidic conditions) and were beautifully fragrant with vanilla. This recipe is from Mascha's granddad and he always cooked it for special and festive occasions. Unfortunately, he passed away last year but thankfully passed the recipe in time to his granddaughter. To continue the tradition at Christmas, Mascha went shopping and dutifully picked up a box of potato starch, as Granddad had instructed....what should be on the back of the potato starch box, was Grandad's traditional Stoofperen recipe!

*must try the witches soup recipe with my kids too!*

Sweets/Desserts

Pavlova (England- Clare) recipe

This pavlova was reminiscent of the first pavlova I ever tasted. I don't really remember that pavlova, but I do recall that pavlovas eaten in recent years never lived up to the image of that pavlova that I held on a pedastal. This was 'my' perfect (and I know there are different versions of perfect) enough crispy-shell-to-marshmallow-innards-ratio, magically chewy base, no smelly egg smell, loads of fresh fruit to relieve from the sweetness every now and then, fresh white pristine cream. Pavlova is one of those simple recipes that often stymie the most hardened of cooks. Some 'traditional cooks' don't really experiment with the new-fashioned sushi/stir-fry/rosé lamb trends but who needs to when you can perform alchemy and make pavlova. This is Clare's mum's recipe and was the beginning of further food adventures for Clare.

Dangerous Chocolate Fudge (South Africa/England - Colleen; Recipe)

The nail in the coffin for the evening; a wicked chocolate fudge- that magical crumbly, melty, almost brittle texture and sweetness and caramel flavour that coats your tongue. This is not just any fudge, but one that burned 6 year old Colleen and left a scar for a lifetime on her hand. Scar? More like a Love bite!

Next month's evening has already been planned: Colleen's Night of the Lemons (title to be revised!). Stay tuned!!!