All posts filed under: Learn

Sumakh (Sumac) for Salt in Armenia (POLLS)

There are weeks I spend 10 hours grocery shopping. Take week 5, for example. Angola. I ran around to the fish market, the latino market, the african market, the health food store… and, just when I thought I was done, I realized I forgot something on the list and I had to head out again. With a baby, no less. A baby with needs. For example, Ava likes to eat once in a while. And sleep. And poop. She’s like a ticking time bomb; do too many errands, and she goes off. Well, this week I did not have to make ANY special trips. Hurrah! Thank goodness because it was raining cats and dogs when I got up the gumption to go. I’ll admit, I am pleasantly surprised at how simple Armenian food is. It turns out Armenians love hungarian paprika and parsley. They use lemon juice, yogurt, and honey. And they like stuffed vegetables. Incidentally, this is exactly how my mom cooks. Which is weird. But also, very comforting. Ground Sumac/Sumakh The “strangest” ingredient on my shopping list was ground sumac. I’ll be …

More on Argentinian Empanadas and Dulce de Leche (poll)

Uggg. Empanadas are hard to make. Well, to be specific, they’re hard to “repulgue.” Watching the videos in yesterday’s post made me think “Wow, this is going to be a breeze.” So naive. So VERY naive. The videos made it look easy breezy because those people had probably repulgued (can you say that?) thousands of empanadas. When you have made zero, repulging (probably can’t say that) is not easy at all. So, I hope you’ll cut me some slack when you see what I made for this weekend. At least I didn’t resort to the fork (although I thought about it). Although the empanadas look like the product of a kindergarten craft project, lots of love and effort went into their making. My friend and I spent the better part of the day making dough, cooking the filling, cooling the filling, filling the filling into the filling… huh? what? Sorry, I had some sangria in there somewhere, too. Now that you’ve been updated, let’s talk dulce de leche. Dulce de leche is made by cooking sweetened condensed milk for several hours until …

The National Weed of Antigua & Barbuda (poll)

Although I could not find a lot of information on Antigua and Barbuda, I still learned many interesting things this week (and had particular fun learning about Rodonda). 1. The National Fruit is the black pineapple, a small sweet pineapple that is grown on the main island. 2. The National Weed is the “widdy widdy.” The widdy widdy was eaten by slaves in a dish called Popololo. The high protein weed becomes slimy when cooked and is a known laxative. 3. Antigua was used for sugar cane cultivation, while soil impoverished Barbuda was used for cattle rearing. 4. The two main islands are a few hours apart by boat. 5. Theycall bananas… figs 6. Food related sayings from Antigua Museums: Back can wait, but not belly. Bellyful bruk pot. Bellyful man tell hungry man ‘Keep heart buddy’ Better man belly bus’ than good food waste. Buy you’ own n’yam (food), n’yam according to you’ pocket. Every day a fishing day,but no other day a catching day(Tings not always bright) Every good fungi no meet good pepperpot (Not every person meets a …

Red Palm Oil

I first heard about Red Palm Oil on Tuesday, when I was digging around for Angolan recipes. I am cooking with it this weekend so time to get educated! Turns out there’s been a lot of hype about Red Palm Oil in the natural foods/health food world. With good reason. Red Palm Oil … – is popular in parts of Asia, Africa, and Latin America – has been consumed for thousands of years – has a high smoke point (437F) – is red because its high in beta carotene and lycopene. – is a rich source of vitamin A (15 times more than carrots and 300 times more than tomatoes) – is an extremely high antioxidant – has been shown to help prevent cancer as well as slow tumor growth – great for lowering cholesterol and seems to reduce the formation of blood clots – is finding its way into many commercial foods as producers struggle to replace unwanted hydrogenated oils This last bullet point cracks me up. Leave it to modern man to dig himself into a hole by making unhealthy manufactured commercial products that slowly kill us, only …

Would you dare? (Video & Poll included)

Trout is a favorite in Andorra. They serve the fish whole, either grilled or pan-fried. I found this video to show you just how easy it is to prepare fish this way. I have a few friends that will not touch a whole fish. They say the eyes bug them out. Even knowing that this is the tastiest way to eat a fish does not convince them. So what about you? Would you dare?

Going shopping at the Middle East Market

“Dang it.” I muttered. After driving across Tulsa, fighting construction and traffic, I was staring at the dark “open” sign of Middle East Market (5459 S Mingo Rd, Tulsa, OK 74146). I looked at the hours of operation; they were supposed to be open another four hours! Squinting my eyes, I peered through the tinted windows. Were those lights on? Holding my breath, I pulled on the door handle. The door opened and a cheerful bell announced my entrance. “I thought you were closed,” I said. “We get that alot,” the young man behind the counter nodded, “Several times a day, actually.” But I was already looking around, taking inventory. A case of Middle Eastern cheeses, drinks in arabic, beautiful persian teapots, glass teacups, spices, teas, syrups, pickled vegetables, several kinds of couscous. There was even a small rack of clothing. The whole place smelled like toasted spices. I walked in circles for a while, eying everything. “I could use those glass tea cups and that giant tea pot for my Global Table dinners,” I thought, knowing full well that I …

Tidbits about Albania

1. Businesses shut down around noon for a few hours to enjoy the main meal of the day. I could get behind this. Really, I could. 2. Dessert is not common, but oranges, apples, nuts, and berries are. The question is not if, but how my husband would murder me if I removed sweets from our home. 3. Men and women traditionally eat at separate tables. I was always a fan of the children’s table, but not so much this. Afterall, I have opinions and they need to be heard by as many people as possible! 4. Albanians eat dinner around 8pm. I’m already in my pyjamas at 8pm. This would never work in our home. 5. Heart disease and obesity are rare due to low consumption of meat and high consumption of vegetables. Yum, vegetables! Eat more vegetables! 6. Heart disease and obesity are due to low consumption of meat and high consumption of vegetables. Repeated for my husband’s benefit. Source: Albania, Enchantment of the World, by David K. Wright Lifestyle influences diet: Historically, rural Albanians spent most of their time outdoors …