A Culinary Recollection

asarazen29 — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 16:48:00 GMT

It is summer of 2012. From a tiny blue kayak, I reach my hand through the crystal clear surface of crisp ocean water, elbow-deep and digging down into the sand. Smiling and laughing as we lift up our hands and open our palms to show the ocean-fruits of our efforts, we wash down the sweet and sea-salty taste of fresh, raw bay clams and mussels with a local, light beer, reveling in the afternoon sun of New Zealand, not minding the crunch of the sand we know we cannot escape when eating straight out of the sea. Thankful to the plentiful shoreline for our catch, we bring whatever we don’t eat on the island back to a beach home perched atop a hill as the setting sun’s pink reflection summons the evening. The taste of beurre blanc with a kiwi-land twist stays vividly on my tongue, even 2 years later. The velvet textures of the fresh white fish & clams atop fettuccine reminds me of a giant trout I feasted upon after a kayak across Lake Titicaca in Peru in 2008, cooked to perfection, seasoned frugally with a mere dash of salt and a lemon wedge. That meal in New Zealand will live forever in my mind as a “spectacular feed”, as my friend Garret says.

Fast forward to 2013. I listen to the incessant pressure of the monsoon rains on a tin roof in Pharping, Nepal as I contemplate the curried green beans, cauliflower and carrots that adorn my plastic dinner plate. They taste almost exactly like those meals I ate in the village of Olokii in 2009 while on a service trip to Tanzania. This Nepalese dish serves as a fragrant reminder of the similarities of cuisine across the globe, subsequently highlighting the commonality of humanity that continues to prove itself to me the more and more that I am fortunate enough to explore the world.

A few months later, I find myself in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the neighborhood of Chabbahil, practicing my Nepali and experiencing my first tongba with a new friend from France who speaks the native language fluently. I take my queues from the others in the restaurant, laughing with the group and basking in the spirit of their presence and the scents wafting in from the outdoor kitchen. We surpass the language barrier through the mutual savoring of beaten rice and chana masala. This meal was precluded not far from here by a small snack of artisan cheese that my friend makes in the countryside of Nepal, the first of its kind popular amongst travelers and locals alike, known as “Himalayan French Cheese”.

About a month prior to this I was in Dharmsala, India, walking alone through the steep, winding streets near the happy home of my host family. A sharply dressed man who is clearly Tibetan walks up to me with purpose and says “You look like an Avelino Girl” in a distinct Italian accent. I am almost speechless. I tell him my Nona is indeed from Avelino, the countryside of Italy. He tells me he taught Philosophy of Dante at a university in Milano for over 20 years; he is a Tibetan refugee and claims his son was the first Tibetan ever born in Italy. What follows is a lopsided dance shared between my broken Italian and his graceful fluency. He is suave, at least 30 years my senior. He flirts with me. With an exaggerated sigh he jokes “I could have married an Italian girl”. I ask him why he didn’t and he retorts with a wink “I was already married to a Tibetan one!”. The conversation ends with a friendly embrace and a kiss on the cheek. The Tibetan man from Italy and the second-generation American girl with Avelino-roots are off and on their way through the crooked streets of the Dalai Lama’s home-in-exile. i stop in to a café, Rogpa, to enjoy a cup of tea and a slice (or two) of chocolate cake, my first taste of real chocolate in months.

Passport & Plate - Medaloo Shouka Masala

asarazen29 — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 16:21:46 GMT

Ingredients
Note: I am usually only cooking for 1, so multiply the ingredients exponentially depending on how many people will be enjoying this feast.

Ingredients (in the order you will use them):

2 tablespoon Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
.5 garlic clove, finely diced
¼ cup chopped red onion (I love red when I have it, but white or gold will do as well!)
1 medium sweet potato
1 medium carrot
1 ripe roma tomato, sliced
.5 teaspoon turmeric
.5 teaspoon chili powder
A dash of Piri Piri (<.5 tablespoons)
.5 teaspoon cumin
a dash of salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
A dash of curry powder (<.5 tablespoons)
2 lemon wedges
a handful of spinach (I usually use about .5 cup; if I don’t have spinach I chop up a handful of broccoli florets as a replacement.)
1 egg
1 tablespoon chopped feta
3 sliced olives

Cooking Utensils Needed:

A cheese grater, medium sized grooves
(NOTE: you could also use a hand held peeler, or if you have none of that on hand just use a very sharp knife – I want this recipe to be accessible to everyone and I’ve cooked it successfully it with all of the above mentioned methods)

A large, wide pan with a lid that completely fits to cover what’s inside (this will be important for the final stages of the recipe)

A wide, flat spatula

A Stove/fire

Adventurous tastebuds!

How to prepare this recipe
-Scrub the outside of the sweet potato&carrot to get the dirt off. Grate the sweet potato & carrot (skins included) over a large bowl (this is quite an arm workout).
NOTE: If you don’t have the cheese grater as mentioned above, slice the sweet potato thinly width-wise, then slice those cross-sections into thin strips.

-Turn the stove to medium heat. Place the pan over the heat and dab on coconut or olive oil.As it begins to warm, drop in the onions and garlic. Let these hang for about 2 minutes so the heat can pull out their delicious flavors!
-Drop the sweet potatoes&carrot onto the oil, savoring that distinct simmer sound that tells your belly you’re about to feast! Mix around in the pan, coating them with the warm oil, onions and garlic.
-This is where you toss in all the spices–mix in the cumin, piri piri, turmeric, chili powder, ETC&sliced tomato
-Cover and let cook for about 10-12 minutes, stirring around occasionally and turning down the heat if the contents of the pan begin to burn.
NOTE: You should certainly keep your eye on it while the potatoes are cooking.I’ve learned from moving around to many different homes (and kitchens) in my life, a stove is not a stove is not a stove.You know yours better than I do, so please adjust the heat power so it’s enough to cook the potatoes through but does not begin to char.
-After the contents of the pan become cooked through and begins to turn golden, squeeze in the lemon juice from the two wedges and plop on the handful of spinach (or broccoli if that’s what you’re using), covering again so the newly added veg begins to turn deep, beautiful mouth wateringly green.
-After about 2 minutes, delicately crack the egg atop of the potatoes(don't break the yolk!).Put stove on low-medium heat, covering the pan and letting the egg slowly cook through into the rest of the veg.
-When the white is cooked through,top with olives&feta and cover again until the yolk is less watery and the cheese begins to melt. Bon Appétit!

The story behind this recipe
I would love to launch into a story about how I learned to make French tomme cheese in the dark, damp caves of Nepal’s hillsides (but you’d need a couple weeks of down time, a bunch of cows and a plane ticket to test out that recipe). Or I could give you the recipe for the incredible beurre blanc with mussels and clams that I ate at least 4 servings of that time I up and went to New Zealand to backpack for 8 weeks with absolutely zero plan what so ever. But to be honest, what I truly want to teach you how to make is a meal that graces my plate almost every day. It is a meal I was never taught by someone but rather by experiences – of being broke but still wanting a meal worth celebrating on my plate, resourcefully utilizing whatever food I can afford; or the experience of winning a scholarship to study abroad in Asia. These flavors do not take you to one place but rather to many. The savory tang of the lemon, feta and olives bring your mind to Mediterranean sunshine. The egg-cooked-atop the veg is an homage to Tunisian culinary roots of “shakshouka”. The spicy masala is a nod to the flavors of India and the ‘aloo’ is a friendly wave to the potato vendor that would bike through the streets with his wagon of russet potatoes below my bedroom in Kathmandu each morning with the sunrise. This recipe is sentimental, practical, original and imaginative. I am not merely selling you a recipe here, but I am selling you a method with the sweet potatoes as a canvas upon which to explore new textures and combinations. This recipe is versatile and it exemplifies my passion for the adventure that is cuisine. It has been inspired by culinary experiences of my past and translated through to my own lifestyle and kitchen journeys here in America. Hopefully it will help to move me through to a future of culinary exploration in Italy with you!

5 Countries, One Plate

A Culinary Recollection

Passport & Plate - Medaloo Shouka Masala