The Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. Tradition claims that the remains of the saints are buried there. But what does this all have to do with the Spanish Tortilla?
I was flicking through one of my favorite Asian cookbooks the other day and came across a recipe I hadn’t tried before – Hong Kong Lamb with Green Onions Cong Bao Yang Roll. It is a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s Far Eastern Cookery. Seeing that I wrote a recent blog about why Americans should eat more lamb, I decided to try it this evening and it was so good that I wanted to share.
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When I was little my mother would occasionally refer to someone ‘making a hash of a situation’. It was a British colloquialism meaning ‘to make a mess’ or generally be clumsy in dealing with something. It was only later in life that I made the connection with the culinary term ‘hash’ which broadly speaking is a muddle of skillet-fried chopped meat, potatoes and vegetables. This collision of thrown-together ingredients may be haphazard and unmeasured but rest assured the end result is a deliberate and wholly satisfying all-in-one meal.
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“Only the pure in heart can make a good soup” according to famous composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. As outlandish as this statement appears at first sight, maybe there’s a grain of truth. Because I think what he was trying to say is that anyone can make a good soup if they try hard enough. A good soup doesn’t depend on precise measurement and exact timings. It just needs a large pot, a handful of ingredients and a little devotion to the cause.
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Corned beef and cabbage has become known as the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal, at least on the American side of the Atlantic. Like many aspects of St. Patrick’s Day, the dish came about when Irish-Americans transformed and reinterpreted a tradition imported from the Emerald Isle. According to the Smithsonian, more Irish people ate bacon as a traditional meal than beef, partly because cows were considered symbols of wealth in Gaelic Ireland and were not usually killed for their meat.
This weekend we are expecting some of the coldest weather in Houston since 1989. When temperatures drop, the fire is lit in our house and the blankets come out. So do winter casseroles. What is a ‘casserole’? There is little difference between a casserole and a stew. A purist would say that a casserole goes in the oven, heating the dish from all directions, while a stew goes on the stovetop and is heated from the bottom. Another point of difference is a casserole is the name of the pot used for cooking. One of my favorite casseroles is a hearty sausage and lentil version, simmered with chopped tomatoes and flavored with garlic and rosemary.
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I have been one of the lucky few. However, not so much for others this week finding themselves without power, water and safe drinking water in perishingly cold weather for several days. Eating becomes a survival imperative rather than a culinary experience under such testing circumstances. Shopping for food – whether it involves selecting ingredients or dining out – is a factor of what you can find rather than what you set out to get. And what you cook is limited to what’s in the pantry and what you manage to lay your hands on in the grocery store. Even with the experience and lessons learned from seasonal hurricanes I don’t think any of us anticipated how challenging this week would be. But with the benefit of hindsight here are some healthy no-cook meals I may try to plan in advance next time.
Any Texas pit master will tell you that there isn’t one single style of Texas barbecue. Texans from all over the state have their own distinctive preferences, from the dry rub variety of central Texas to the sweet, tomato based marinades of the east. But barbecue isn’t unique to Texas, nor even to the US in general. Asia has its own special version of this well loved global flavor: Introducing Char Siu.
The new meal on Flavorly’s menu this week is Pistachio Roasted Rack of Lamb and I for one couldn’t be happier. For some reason lamb seems harder to find in grocery stores than other meat and is infrequently on the restaurant menu – at least where I live here in Texas. I miss it. Sundays roasts were always something I would look forward to growing up; a kind of a British institution. I have often wondered why lamb is so elusive in the US and have read numerous theories. But it’s time to set the record straight. I can think of at least five reasons why we should be eating more lamb and here they are.
Food tourism (or “culinary tourism”) is simply a matter of traveling beyond your immediate neighborhood to find great food. Of course, the further you are willing to travel, the broader your range of culinary experiences will be. For those unable to travel, Healthy Gourmet brings a world of global flavors to your table and can satisfy your sense of adventure and curiosity as well as your taste buds. But for those who decide to wander further afield, let us share some insights into food tourism as well as some tips to help you make the most of your culinary adventures.
