Food is an artform that cannot simply be limited by geography. It is scattered all across the globe and everyone deserves a chance to explore the treats that the world has to offer. With September being our travel issue, no occasion is as appropriate as this one to take our readers on a culinary journey across the globe. In order to make that happen, we have paired up with food bloggers, chefs and authors across the globe. So strap on your seatbelts and just enjoy the ride.
Sri Lanka
First off, we have Noor Shams better known as noorieboorie on social media. Noor has been creating magic over Instagram for a while now and she will be taking us to our first destination, through these two dishes.
Pineapple Curry
Photo and Recipe Credit: Noor Shams
Ingredients
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp mustard seed
10-12 pcs curry leaves
2-3 pcs rampe leaves
2-3 pcs cinnamon
Chopped onion
½ tsp garlic paste
½ tsp ginger paste
½ tsp roasted curry powder
½ tsp unroasted curry powder
1/3 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 pineapple
Salt (to taste)
Sugar (to taste)
2-3 pcs green chilies
1 cup coconut milk
Preparation
Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, rampe leaves and cinnamon sticks and fry for about a minute. Add the onions, ginger and garlic and cook for a several minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the curry powders, red chili and turmeric and cook for a few more minutes, incorporating small splashes of water as needed to keep things from drying out.Mix in pineapple, salt and green chilies with the onions and spices. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until the pineapples begin to soften.Add coconut milk to the curry, cover the pot and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the pineapples have cooked through completely. You should be able to pierce it easily with a fork when it has cooked completely.Taste and adjust salt and any seasonings as needed. Simmer on low heat for a few more minutes without the lid, to slightly thicken the gravy to a desired consistency, before removing from heat. Serve hot, with rice and accompaniments.
Wattalapam inspired Pots de crème
Photo and Recipe Credit: Noor Shams
Ingredients
½ cup melted jaggery
Water (as needed)
1 cup coconut milk
1 tsp cardamom powder
½ tsp Vanilla extract
Nutmeg (pinch)
Salt (pinch)
2 egg yolks
1 egg whole
Cashews (optional)
Preparation
Melt jaggery in a pan over medium heat, until it is completely liquefied into a thick syrup. Pass the liquid jaggery through a sieve. Mix 1/3rd cup of the hot, liquefied jaggery with all of the coconut milk in a bowl. Add cardamom powder, vanilla, nutmeg and a pinch of salt to the coconut & jaggery mixture.
Combine the mixture well with a whisk/fork or using a hand mixer and let it come to room temperature. Once the mixture has cooled, beat in the egg yolks and whites.Pour the mixture into a pyrex dish or into six individual ramekins, filling up to 3/4th of the way up to the top of the dish or ramekin. Cover the dish or ramekins tightly with foil.Prepare a pot that is large enough to contain your pyrex dish/ramekins inside and fill it with several cups of boiling water.Place the pyrex dish/ramekins containing wattalapam mixture inside the bigger pot with hot water. Cover the pot and set it over low-medium heat to steam cook the wattalapam slowly for 45-60 minutes, or until it is set firmly. Once it has finished cooking, let the wattalapam come to room temperature and then chill completely in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, or preferably overnight.Serve chilled, garnished with cashews if desired.
England
Our next stop is over to a country in our neighbouring continent in the form of England and the person taking us there is Dina Begum who is not only a passionate cook but also the author of The Brick Lane Cookbook.
Jaggery, Ginger and Chilli Lamb Chops
Recipe Credit: Dina Begum
Photo Credit: Peter Watson
Ingredients
1000 g lamb chops
1½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
Juice of 1 lime
6 tspjaggery/gur
Ginger (peeled and chopped)
5 large dried red chillies
2 tbspvegetable oil
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
Preparation
Mix the lamb in a bowl with the salt, pepper and lime juice and set aside. Put the jaggery in a blender with the ginger, chillies, vegetable oil and mustard and blitz to a coarse paste, you could also use a pestle and mortar. Scrape the paste onto the lamb chops and mix thoroughly, ensuring all the meat is evenly covered. Cover the bowl with cling film or transfer to a container with a lid and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least three hours, preferably overnight, to give the flavours time to develop. When you are ready to cook the chops, preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Spread out the chops on a baking tray and put them on the highest shelf in the oven. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, turning two or three times and basting with the excess marinade. Serve hot.
Chai Malai Cake
Recipe Credit: Dina Begum
Photo Credit: Peter Watson
For the cake
2 tea bags
½ tsp ground cardamom
100ml whole milk
½ tsp distilled white vinegar
175g unsalted butter, at room temperature
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
225g self-raising flour
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 medium egg whites
For the frosting
100g unsalted butter at room temperature
½ tsp ground cardamom
180g full-fat cream cheese
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp rosewater
250g icing sugar
For Decoration
1 tbsp dried rose petals
1 tbsp crushed pistachios
2 x 20cm springform cake tins
Preparation
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and grease and line the cake tins.Steep the tea bags in 100ml boiling water, stirring for a minute to extract as much of the flavour as possible. Discard the teabags. Add the ground cardamom to the tea and stir thoroughly, then set aside to let it infuse. Make your buttermilk next: pour the milk into a glass and stir in the vinegar. Let this sit while you start on the cake batter.In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla with a handheld mixer. Add the cinnamon, ginger and yoghurt and beat for a further minute, then slowly beat in the tea and buttermilk.Put the flour in a separate bowl with the baking powder and salt and quickly mix with a whisk. Add the flour to the buttermilk, butter and sugar mixture in two or three additions, then whisk for about 30 seconds until everything is well combined. Make sure not to overmix at this point or you’ll lose the lightness in the cake.Put the egg whites into a clean mixing bowl. Beat with a clean whisk until they form stiff peaks – five minutes or so (longer, if non-electric).Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter until evenly combined and pour it into the prepared tins. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick poked into the middle comes out clean.Cool completely in the tins on a wire rack.When you are ready to make the frosting, beat the butter with the ground cardamom until pale and fluffy.Mix in the cream cheese, vanilla extract and rosewater, then slowly add the icing sugar and whisk together until you have a smooth, glossy frosting.Put one of the cake layers on a large, pretty plate. Using a palette knife, spread with a third of the frosting, then turn the second cake layer upside down and place on top, very gently pressing together to sandwich.Then, take the remaining frosting and pile it on top of the second layer.Gently coax some of the frosting down to cover the sides, turning as you go, and smooth the rest in a good thick layer over the top.Finish the cake with two concentric circles of vibrant pink dried rose petals and crushed pistachios and dot a couple of rose petals in the centre.
Greece
The final stop of our journey is perhaps one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. However, Greece is not only known for its beauty but it also has plenty of palatable dishes to offer. To give us a little glimpse of that, we have Angelina Papanikolaou who is a pastry chef and nutritionist.
Koulourakia (Greek Butter Cookies)
Photo and Recipe Credit: Angelina Papanikolaou
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg for egg wash
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
Preparation
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, in the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment.Add 2 eggs, orange juice,vanilla, and zest. Beat until well incorporated, scraping down sides as needed.In a separate bowl, whisk flour and baking powder. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, a cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat on medium speed, about 1 minute, until a dough forms.Break off a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into a long rope-like shape, fold in half and twist. Place the cookies on prepared baking sheet.Once all of the cookies have been shaped, beat the egg in a small bowl and lightly brush on top of the cookies. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.Store cookies in an air tight container.
Spanakopita (Greek spinach and Feta pie)
Photo and Recipe Credit: Angelina Papanikolaou
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion (diced)
900 g spinach
⅓ chopped bunch dill
230 g crumbled feta, crumbled
2 eggs
Salt and pepper
1 package dough (thawed)
1 cup olive oil
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-inch round baking pan with olive oil and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook onion 4-5 minutes or until soft. Add spinach and cook until wilted (you may need to add the spinach in batches). Once the spinach has cooked down, remove from heat and allow to cool.Once the spinach/onion has cooled, squeeze out as much water as you can. Place in a large mixing bowl and add the dill, feta, and beaten eggs. Stir gently to combine.To assemble pie lay one sheet of dough (keep the longer side in front of you) on your work surface and lightly brush with olive oil. Lay another sheet on top of the first sheet and brush with oil. Add enough filling to cover the width of the sheet and start by rolling the sheet away from you, lightly pressing, so that the filling is packed. Then, roll it into a spiral and place it in the center of your prepared baking pan. Continue, using 2 sheets at a time, brushed with olive oil, until you have used up all of the filling. Roll each one around the previous one, to make the spiral larger.Once you have used up all of the filling, brush the top with olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if using). Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until light golden brown.
Show some love to these beautiful people on social media and allow them to fill your news feed up with magic.
Noor Shams: noorieboorie
Dina Begum: dinasfoodstory
Angelina Papanikolaou: bakedambrosia