Olympic Food Challenge: Pakistan - Tamarind Puy Dhal and Poppy Seed Puris

My final stop in the Olympic Food Challenge is Pakistan.  I had a feeling that I would have to research this one to death to make sure that I was being authentic.  My first stop was twitter.  I asked the known universe if anybody had any truly authentic Pakistani recipes that they would share and the response I got was superb.

I was immediately introduced to Sumayya whose blog is packed with authentic Pakistani food, and some great stories to boot.  I had decided before I had even set eyes on her site that I wanted to cook Dhal and make my own bread as my tribute to Pakistan.  I chose Tamarind Puy Dhal and Poppy Seed Puris and set about cooking.

Both the dhal and the puri were simple and delicious.  We have only just started making dhal at home and we're still learning the way of the lentil.  Puy lentils hold their texture when cooked so there was no sloppy sauce to contend with.  The tempur mixture, including fresh coconut, really lifted the dish, as did the addition of some of the lemon pickle I had made for the Indian Olympic food Challenge meal. Of course I made too much bread but I thought we would need nibbles for the closing ceremony of the Paralympics.

Olympic Food Challenge: Kyrgyzstan - Beshbarmak

Where do you start with Kyrgyzstan?  Before doing the research for the Olympic Food Challenge I would like to think that I'd have been able to find it on a map, but beyond that I knew nothing of the country, their culture or their cuisine.

I'm still not altogether genned up on the country's history, but I do know that Beshbarmak is one of those meals that are reserved for high-days, holidays and celebrations.  We are celebrating the food of Kyrgyzstan and that is enough for me.

The Kyrgyz were a nomadic people until around 100 years ago and their food is still entrenched in those traditions.  Simple food with few ingredients is the way forward and Beshbarmak is no exception.  The recipe I found called for lamb or beef and as Z is not a lover of lamb we opted for beef.  We got a wonderful piece of shin from B & J Callards and began the slow cooking process.

There are definitely two stages to Beshbarmak.  Firstly you cook your meat with some onion for a couple of hours and then you make a basic dough that you simmer in the meat stock.  I'll admit to being a little underwhelmed at the thought of this dish.  In fact, if it wasn't for the Olympic Food Challenge, I wouldn't have bothered cooking it at all.

But then I would have missed out on a fantastically wonderful dish.  We added half a green pepper to the finished dish, but other than that we were true to the recipe.  The noodles were a cross between pasta and udon noodles.  The shin beef was perfectly cooked and the broth, oh the broth.  I won't go as far as suggesting that you drink it out of tea cups*, but it is delicious.  I suggest you try this for yourself.  If you are interested you can find the recipe I used here.

*which is the Kyrgyz way

Olympic Food Challenge: Cayman Islands - Almond Tree Snapper with Lemon Herbed Butter

We are fast approaching the end of the Olympic Food Challenge.  After tonight I only have two meals to cook and then I'll have researched, cooked and written about the cuisine of twenty nine countries since the start of the Olympic Games.  Tonight's second to last nation is the Cayman Islands.

Before I get onto the meal, I need to tell you about one of the recipes that I found.  Even if I could have sourced the ingredients there is no way that I am willing to cook Turtle Cordon Bleu.  I know that I profess to be willing to eat anything, but when a meal consists of the young of an endangered species, wrapped in ham and cheese and deep fried, I'm out.

From the same site that brought you Turtle Cordon Bleu I also found Almond Tree Snapper.  We had snapper for the first time earlier this week and it was so good we were really looking forward to having it again.  Sadly, for the first time since the start of the Olympic Food Challenge, we were let down by the fishmongers of Leeds Kirkgate Market.  Snapper was off the menu.  Luckily the stall holders are not just sellers of fish, they also really know their product.

After a good chat with our fishmonger of choice, Z returned home with some hake fillets.  Not necessarily a Caribbean fish, but far and away the highest selling fish to R Bethell's Caribbean customers.

The only difference between this recipe and one for bread crumbed cod*, is the addition of salted almonds in the breadcrumbs.  I found salted almonds in Sainsbury's, but I'm sure they are widely available.  We served the fish with roasted peppers, courgettes and sweet potatoes**.  It's a shame that we couldn't get snapper but that can wait for another day.  Adding almonds to bread crumbs is a good idea and one we'll definitely be using again.

*apart from the fish.
**fish and chips on a Friday?

Olympic Food Challenge: Iraq - Chicken in Fig Sauce

After our non-country specific burger and chips last night, tonight we are back on track with the Olympic Food Challenge.  Tonight's member of the National Olympic Committee is Iraq, a country sadly best known to us as a battle ground, rather than the cradle of creation*.  It is possibly thanks to the country's recent history that its culture and food is not very well documented but one author, Nawal Nasralla, decided that we ought to know about her country.  It was on her website that I found the recipe for tonight's meal.

Afkhadh al-Dijaj bil-Teen, or Chicken in Fig Sauce, struck me as a simple and yet authentic recipe so we set about finding the ingredients.  To be honest there wasn't much to source but finding dried figs in Leeds could have been simpler.  In the end I turned to twitter and asked the good people at Millies who, it turns out, sell dried almost everything, including figs.

The recipe states that dates could have been substituted for the figs but I'm glad we persisted.  The sweetness of the figs along with coriander in the sauce created an almost festive flavour and the chicken was fall off the bone tender.  I served the chicken with bulgar wheat**, which I cooked in vegetable stock, and garnished the entire plate with fresh parsley and pomegranate seeds. 

This really was a great dish, one of the standout meals for the Olympic Food Challenge.  I have already planned it into our Christmas meal planner as it is so simple and yet so full of flavour.

*I know which I'd rather be remembered as.
**a grain we really should eat more of, it's as easy to cook as rice and has a better texture than couscous.

Olympic Food Challenge: Armenia - Garlic and Lemon Baked Chicken

Having baked fish with some lemon and orange last night for the Olympic Food Challenge, tonight I'm upping the citrus steaks with Chicken Cooked with Garlic and Lemon in the Oven from Armenia.  I was tempted by a couple of the dishes on the Armenian Cuisine website, but having stuffed vine leaves for Lebanon and not knowing where to get soujouk, I decided on chicken.

I actually felt like a contestant on The Great British Bake Off.  I had a list of ingredients but it felt like half of the cooking instructions were missing.  I did what all of the best contestants do and made it up as I went along. 

The juice of three lemons, three large garlic cloves, allspice, salt and some harissa as a pepper paste substitute, were all blended together with olive oil and poured over the chicken.  This was then baked for half an hour covered and half an hour more uncovered, basting all the while.  The finished result was some of the juiciest chicken I have eaten in a long time.  We served it with crushed new potatoes with olives and green beans.

Armenia won a silver and two bronze medals in the Olympics but neither of their Paralympians have picked up a win. This baked chicken dish was well worth a gold medal though.  We will be cooking it again but possibly with a whole spatchcocked chicken.

Olympic Food Challenge: Vanuatu - Citrus baked fish in coconut cream

A couple of thousand kilometres off the Queensland coast of Australia lies the island group of Vanuatu.  The South Pacific islanders sent a team of five athletes to the Olympic games and one athelete to the Paralympic games but so far they have failed to pick up any medals.  I could really have done with bumping into one of them at some point as finding out about their food has proven to be tricky.

After what felt like an aeon I found a list of recipes on Travel Blog, a site I had never discovered before.  My eye was drawn to recipe twenty one of twenty nine, which is a Green PoPo Curry.  I then spent another lifetime trying to decipher what PoPo was* before deciding that a different recipe was perhaps the best way forward.  Citrus baked fish in coconut cream was the recipe that I settled on.

 
Apart from that fact that we have never cooked snapper before tonight, I really liked the idea of baking fish in coconut cream.  I failed to buy any banana leaves for authenticity, so I used tinfoil to wrap the snapper in.  I don't know if the leaves would have imparted any flavour but the fish was very tasty without it.  As the recipe asked for half a tin of coconut cream I used the other half to cook wild rice in as an accompaniment.  The rice was finished with lime zest, coriander and a couple of chillies.

If you can cope with a whole fish on your plate this is a dish well worth trying.  We'll be having snapper again in a couple of days, I hope it's as good as this.  Even if it's close I'll be happy.

*papaya, if you are interested.

Olympic Food Challenge: Qatar - Shakshooka

Finding a recipe that summed up Qatar for the Olympic Food Challenge proved to be tricky.  I thought I was onto a winner when I discovered that the Qatari Embassy website has a food section.  Sadly the Embassy's website is a poor indictment of Qatar's athletes who picked up two bronze medals* during the Olympic games.

Every link on the site led to a broken page and every google result took me back to the same home page via a different route.  I was ready to throw in the towel when I came across this You Tube recipe for Shakshooka.  Until that point I had never come across shakshooka but it turns out that it is not all that uncommon a dish.  It seems to stem out of North Africa and has moved from country to country with every nation taking on their own twist.

With that in mind I decided to stray away from the video and come up with my own variation based on the many recipes that I found and what I happened to have in the house.  I started as per the video instructions with sliced onion and immediately veered off course with half a chopped pepper.  I was back on track with some fresh chopped plum tomatoes**.  The vegetables bubbled away, softened and collapsed into a sauce over a low heat. 

According to the You Tube recipe the eggs are mixed into the cooked sauce to create a tomatoey scrambled egg mixture.  Again, I decided to ignore the recipe.  I added a handful of spinach to the sauce to wilt and then broke a couple of eggs into wells in the mixture to cook.  The only addition was some salt and pepper and a nice breakfast/lunch dish was born.

*Mutaz Essa Barshim in the men's high jump and Nasser Al-attiyah in the men's skeet.
**I have no problem with tinned tomatoes but while they are in season I love fresh tomatoes.

Olympic Food Challenge: Palestine - Okra Stew

Having survived my first attempt at cooking okra, a vegetable that up until that point I found abhorrent, I decided to keep going with my new discovery.  I had always found okra to be a slimy, slug-like vegetable and couldn't understand its appeal.  It turned out that if you look after it, it is really nice.

Tonight's recipe for the Olympic Food Challenge is called Bamee, an Okra Stew from Palestine.  Although if you take the time to read the recipe I hope you'll agree that it is a lamb stew with okra.  Lamb means that it is not just me being challenged tonight as lamb is Z's final hangover from her vegetarian past.

This is a very simple recipe and because of that the finished dish does have that authentic feel to it.  The lamb (we had some neck) was browned with an onion, some garlic and allspice, covered in water and left to cook for a couple of hours.  Sautéed okra, a tin of tomatoes and a bunch of coriander are then added for a further half an hours cooking.

I was wary as some of the okra tales I had received said that stewing was one of the reasons that it went slimy.  However, some of my advice on cooking okra paid off as there was no slime in sight.  We had the stew with some flatbreads to mop up the juices.  Palestine's two Paralympians will be hoping to mop up their opposition on Saturday as they take to the Olympic Stadium in the long jump and shot put.  I wish them good luck with their endeavours.  I can't see us cooking this again as the lamb was still too lamby and fiddly for Z.  If gold medals were awarded for effort alone she would have been top of the podium tonight.

Olympic Food Challenge: Dominica - Caribbean Reef Chicken

Researching a meal for tonight's Olympic Food Challenge proved to be quite tricky.  Almost all of the recipes from Dominica that I found were in fact from the Dominican Republic and not Dominica.  They are not a million miles away from each other in the Caribbean, but there are always regional variations.

The Dominican recipe that I settled on was Caribbean Reef Chicken.  The chicken is baked with a marinade of brown sugar, dark rum, lime juice and spices.  The smells coming out of the kitchen were reminiscent of Christmas, but that could have been the cloves in the sauce.  After forty five minutes the chicken is coated in a mixture of mango chutney and more rum creating an even stickier glaze delicious on the chicken skin.

We served the chicken legs with Caribbean spinach and rice which, although not necessarily from Dominica, was a really nice, fresh accompaniment to the sweet chicken.  Z had a little moment when she had a nice chew on one of the whole chillis that were cooked with the rice but other than that the meal was a success. 

Dominica's Olympic team of two athletes failed to take home any medals and they have no athletes taking part in the Paralympics, so for them London 2012 is over.  Caribbean Reef Chicken lives on however.  We will be using this recipe again but not for roast chicken portions.  We both decided that the marinade and glaze would make great finger licking chicken wings.  All we need now is the excuse to cook some.

Olympic Food Challenge: Papua New Guinea - Curried fish

So far for the Olympic Food Challenge we have; eaten Pigs Trotters, toyed with the idea of goats head soup, eaten breadfruit (an ingredient that I was assured was disgusting) and tucked into and enjoyed okra*.  Tonight we are venturing into the very belly of the beast and I'm cooking something that ticks all of my "do not eat this" boxes.

What can be so bad?  It's curried fish!  I love fish and I'm rather partial to a good curry.  What I really don't like is cooked pineapple in any form.  I do like pineapple, don't get me wrong.  I don't have a phobia for the fruit itself.  I just don't like it in a savoury setting.

Having braved pigs feet however, I feel that I needed to give this a try.  The fish curry recipe from Papua New Guinea is a simple enough recipe to follow** and also had the added fun factor of being quite vague.  Not only were the quantities a guide but there was also no specific fish specified.  We had cod cheeks in the freezer so that is what we used.  The finished dish was really good, even the pineapple worked, but I can't claim that it was a true Papuan classic.

*up until that point I had only found okra to be slimy and disgusting, I really enjoyed it home cooked so somebody must be cooking it wrong.
**even though it is written in white on a black page which is a pet peeve of mine.

Olympic Food Challenge: Libya - Herbed Rice with Cumin Marinated Fish

After yesterday's hangover induced comfort food, I am back in the saddle and raring to crack on with the Olympic Food Challenge.  I was surprised when researching my previous nineteen countries that I hadn't found more fish dishes.  This time around my countries seem to be more interested in their fishing grounds, which suits me fine.

The first fish dish is actually billed as the accompaniment to a traditional Libyan rice dish of Ruz Hoot bil Kusbur or Herbed Rice with Cumin Marinated Fish.  The fact that this is a fish dish is not the only reason that I picked it.  It was the main factor but not the only one; the flavours in the rice were really tempting.  The deciding factor was the marinade for the fish.  I don't think I have ever used a tablespoon of cumin in anything.  It is a spice that can overpower other flavours if not used judiciously, but I went along with the recipe

I am very glad that I trusted Libyan Food because the finished dish was superb.  The cumin, garlic and lemon juice in the marinade combined really well to flavour the fish*.  I don't know if the breadcrumbs tempered the flavours but the result was great.  The rice was also really good.  I didn't have any fish stock so used vegetable stock instead but again the combination of flavours and the addition of whole roasted corriander seeds gave the dish an extra bite.

This is without a doubt one of the best meals we have cooked during the Olympic Food Challenge.  I would go as far as saying it warrants a gold medal.  Libya didn't get any medals during the Olympics and they only have a team of two entered in the Paralympics.  I hope they do well, I'll certainly be cheering them on after this dish.

*I chose coley, you can choose what you want.

Olympic Food Challenge: Belarus - Draniki

I've not really been on top of Tonight's Menu since the end of the Olympic Food Challenge.  I put that down to a number of factors.  Firstly, no sooner had the challenge ended than we went on holiday.  I try not to blog on holiday, it's hardly social and possibly rude to lock myself away and type whilst visiting family.  Secondly, since returning to Leeds, we have mostly been eating leftovers and not cooking.  This does not make for good reading.

Thirdly and the saddest reason of them all, the Olympic Food Challenge remains unfinished.  The other bloggers involved and I all cooked like demons, but real life got in the way and so around forty countries remain uncooked.  In the last week I have reallocated the outstanding nations and the challenge is now back on.  We are now aiming to complete the set by the end of the Paralympics.

To get the ball rolling I discovered a Belarusian potato pancake that just had "eat me when hungover" written all over it.  Draniki is made with a mixture of seasoned grated potato and egg which is then fried and served.  Sounds great.  It wasn't.  Either my potatoes were the wrong type or I'm just not keen on draniki.  The grating, using the small side of the grater as shown on the instructions, left me with what can best be described as potato slurry.  Adding an egg didn't help matters nor did the instruction to drain the potato water which came after the instruction to add the egg.

The resulting batter did fry well.  As with all pancakes, the first few were not quite right and the last ones were a little burnt due to the variances in pan heat.  Unlike normal pancakes these were not yummy.  The potato didn't cook through and they remained watery.  Grating an onion didn't help my hangover either.  Luckily, a couple of sausages and a cracking slice of bacon, all from B&J Callard's on Kirkgate Market, came to the rescue.

It was the Belarusian pair of Azarenka and Mirnyi that beat Andy Murray and Laura Robson to the Olympic Gold medal in the Tennis Mixed Doubles.  I can only imagine that they didn't start that day with a plate of draniki.  If they did then they are better athletes than I give them credit for.

Olympic Food Challenge: Lebanon - Dolmas

A long time ago, in a kitchen far far away...

It's hard for me to remember a time before the Olympic Food Challenge started.  All of the researching and cooking new food with new ingredients is starting to feel normal, but that could just be culinary Stockholm Syndrome* setting in.  But there was a time before the Olympics started.  A happy carefree time, when I could cook what I wanted without having to source Fufu.

That said, there was always a part of me that was determined to discover new things.  There had to be or the Challenge would never have been born.  Back in June I had planned to make my own stuffed vine leaves as part of a Mezze that I was cooking for some guests.  By the time I had managed to find some vine leaves in Leeds I didn't have enough time to fill and cook them, so I opened a jar of ready made Dolmas.

Having drawn Lebanon as my penultimate Olympic Food Challenge country I knew I had to finally have a go at Dolmas.  I know that stuffed vine leaves are common throughout the Middle East but I first encountered them in a Lebanese restaurant, so to me they will always represent Lebanon.

Rather than trusting the internet I turned to my bookshelf as I knew there was a Stuffed Vine Leaves recipe in Sarah Maxwell's Meze Cooking.  On paper it didn't take too long, a couple of hours, but that didn't take into consideration the hour it took me to separate and rinse the packet of brined vine leaves.  This put us back a while and we had already been delayed by having a little too much fun at the Huddersfield Food and Drink Festival.

Once we finally sat down to eat the Dolmas they were just as tasty as any that I have eaten from delis or restaurants.  To me the mixture was a little light on rice and heavy on pine nuts and raisins but I can always change the quantities next time we cook them.  Who am I kidding?  Unless I was cooking a feast and feeling time rich and wallet poor, I will be going back to shop-bought Dolmas.  As nice as the were, they can be added to the list of things which life is too short to do; making puff pastry from scratch, boning an ox tail etc.

*Stockpot Syndrome perhaps.

Olympic Food Challenge: Mongolia - Buuz

Without a doubt Mongolia has been the hardest of my Olympic Food Challenge countries to research.  For some reason all of the websites I discovered had the same dishes, the same measurements and exactly the same spelling mistakes.  If I had been marking essays on Mongolian Food, I would have been calling the entire class in for plagiarism.

There was the odd recipe that made me think twice.  An American family tried to recreate Khorkhog by cooking rocks on their barbecue before adding them to a wok along with some mutton.  I have neither a barbecue, or a handy supply of culinary rocks so that was off the menu.  The next recipe to take my eye was Boodog.  Boodog is not the latest IPA from those crazy scamps at BrewDog: it is cooked marmot. 

The first time I came across a marmot was in The Big Lebowski when a group of Nihilists threw their pet marmot into The Dude's bath.  What I knew from my limited marmot exposure, was that they resembled large ferrets or ground hogs and I was certain that even Leeds Market would let me down on that front*.  I was almost ready to throw in the towel when Z told me that she wanted to try making Buuz.  I was over the moon but mainly because I had heard "I'm going to make some booze!"

Buuz are a staple of Mongolian cooking, consisting of minced meat and onions wrapped in a simple dough to form dumplings.  These come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be either steamed, fried or boiled.  Our buuz were steamed, delicious and served with a bitter green salad.  The technique is daunting but quite simple and we'll be trying our arm at something similar in the future, possibly with some western flavours in the filling.

Mongolia have managed to medal** four times so far during London 2012.  Boxing, Judo and Wrestling are their events du jour.  Even if they'd won gold in kitten wrangling I would have told you that buuz are tasty.  If you can mentally cross pierogi and dim sum you'll understand the texture.  If you can't grasp that concept then give the buuz recipe a try, play with your own flavours and enjoy.

*Ferrets are available on Leeds Market but not for consumption.
**hate self

Olympic Food Challenge: Togo - Crevettes aux Poivrons

Researching recipes for the Olympic Food Challenge has been equally interesting and frustrating.  For some countries, recipes have fallen out of the internet and begged me to cook them.  Togo was not one of those countries.  Due to the unique way that Google searches the internet, I had page after page of food to-go!

I had all but given up when Z found a recipe for Crevettes aux Poivrons.  It is such a simple recipe that I was worried that it would be bland, but I shouldn't have.  The combination of ginger, garlic, peppers and prawns worked really well.  The recipe suggested that we serve the prawns with sweet potato chips.  I made some wedges but they were kind of surplus to requirements with the amount of prawns that I cooked.

Togo are yet to win a medal in the London Olympics.  They won a bronze in Beijing but with only a few days left I can't see them matching it this time around.  The team of six athletes can hold their heads up high however* as this dish was superb and we'll definitely be cooking prawns like this again.

*not that they'll be reading this, but you never know.

Crevettes aux Poivrons

Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-togo-crevettes-aux-poivrons
Copyright © celtnet

Crevettes aux Poivrons

Read more at Celtnet: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-togo-crevettes-aux-poivrons
Copyright © celtnet

Olympic Food Challenge: Uzbekistan - Kovurma Palov (mutton pilaf)

Tonight's instalment of the Olympic food Challenge comes from Uzbekistan.  The Uzbek team is 32 strong and they have medalled*, with a bronze in Judo.  That said, it's quite a poor show from their athletes, as they have walked away with a good handful of medals in the last two Olympics.

When faced with the issue of what to eat from Uzbekistan I seemed to have little choice.  The food of Uzbekistan is varied but the pilaf rules the roost.  I decided upon Kovurma Palov (mutton pilaf) for tonight's meal, mainly because we haven't had any mutton for a long time and I really like mutton.

I used the recipe as a guide but changed the quantities dramatically, there are only two of us after all.  However, I should have made a better stab at the spice quantities.  The finished pilaf was great but could have taken a bit more punch from the seasoning.  Will we be returning to Uzbekistan in the future?  Yes, I think we will.  This slow cook method for a rice dish was good, especially if you are feeding a large crowd.

*For the record, I am one of those people that can't stand medal or podium being used as a verb!

Olympic Food Challenge: Sudan - Maschi

We are back to Africa for tonight's Olympic Food Challenge, Sudan to be precise.  I'll admit that I didn't do much research into the cuisine of Sudan.  This because the first site that appeared after my google search had a full three course meal, serving suggestions and a potted history of Sudan.

I decided not to go the whole hog and cook all three courses.  We try not to eat too much during the week.  Instead we focussed on the main course Maschi, or Tomatoes Stuffed with Beef.  Unlike the stuffed tomatoes of the 70's these required a little bit of patience as they need to remain intact so hacking the top off was not an option.  I cut a slit in the side wall of each tomato and, using a grapefruit spoon*, I scooped out the contents.  The toms were then filled with a mixture of minced beef, rice and fresh dill.

The stuffed tomatoes were then baked with a tomato and cinnamon sauce.  I was unsure of the dill and cinnamon combination but I'm happy to report that it works.  The Sudanese meal planner suggested a carrot and cabbage salad with parmesan cheese as the side dish.  After fourteen days of quite rich and heavy food, I was more than happy with a salad.  We went for a green salad, including yet more tomatoes and some bread.

Sudan managed to win a silver medal in Men's 800m at the last Olympics in Beijing.  So far they have not managed to repeat their success.  We will be repeating the Maschi in the future, so I hope they can take solace in that.

*what else would you use?

Olympic Food Challenge: Philippines - Chicken Adobo

After last night's horror show of pigs trotters, I needed something a little less interesting for tonight's Olympic Food Challenge meal.  The first thing I noticed when researching Filipino food was that every list of food contained Chicken Adobo.  As it topped the list of their national dishes and didn't contain pigs trotters, I decided to give it a go.

Chicken is marinated in vinegar and soy sauce for a couple of hours and then poached in the marinade.  Once the chicken is cooked, it is removed and the remaining liquid is reduced to leave an intense sauce.  I served the Adobo with stir fried noodles and vegetables because I have started to crave light and healthy food.

The Filipino team only consists of a handful of people for the Olympics this year.  Even though they have been competing since 1924 they have only won nine medals, but they can go home safe in the knowledge that they have left a firm favourite behind in Chicken Adobo.  The sauce is so intense, salty and sharp.  After the heavy food we have eaten recently it was like manna from Manila.

Olympic Food Challenge: Lithuania - Braised Pigs Trotters with Sauerkraut

So far the Olympic Food Challenge has been kind to us.  We've eaten and cooked new ingredients and recipes and I've made my own cheese!  Although we have had misgivings about our ingredients, nothing so far has phased us quite the same way as tonight's meal from Lithuania, Kiaulës kojos troðkintos su kopûstais or Braised pigs trotters in sauerkraut.

I like offal generally and I firmly believe in nose to tail eating but this was a hard sell for Z.  I have been taunting her with some of the more squeamish recipes that I have found over the last week or two* but in the interest of continuing my food adventure I insisted that we gave trotters a try.

The recipe I found was simple but vague, so I looked around for more information on trotter cooking.  It seems to me that they require two hours no matter how you cook them so that was the time that I allowed.  The trotters were braised under a blanket of sauerkraut** and served with boiled potatoes.

Plantains were either bland and granular or slimy and mushy.  Breadfruit was quite palatable.  Okra is not as awful as I used to think it was.  Trotters were not great.  They where OK.  The vinegar from the sauerkraut cut through the skin and gristle.  The flesh, what there was of it, was delicious and tender as it should have been after two and a half hours cooking.  I understand why these cuts of meat are eaten, they are abundant and cheap*** and in cold climates they really would provide a lot of your calorific intake for the day.  I just can't see them slipping back into our repertoire.

Thank you Lithuania for broadening my horizons and giving me an excuse to try something new.  Please excuse me if I don't make this a family favourite meal.

*sheep's head soup anybody?
** a family favourite.
***I paid 40p for two trotters!

Olympic Food Challenge: India - Paneer and Okra

I am not going to pretend.  I'm not to pull any punches.  When I drew India for the Olympic Food Challenge I was over the moon.  An other person may have taken this to be a day off, a banker, a chance to relax and just knock up the same old curry that they make week in week out.  I'm not that person.  I saw the chance to push myself and potentially pull off some kitchen wheelies at the same time.

Rather than one Indian dish, I decided to make a few and invite some friends over for a meal*.  First on the list was paneer.  Z and I both love paneer and we're lucky enough to be able to buy it locally, but where is the challenge in that.  I wanted to make my own.  Having looked it up, paneer is supposed to be the easiest cheese in the world to make.  All it takes is milk and acid (lemon juice or yogurt).  The acid is added to boiling milk which separates the curds from the whey and the cheese is rinsed under running water.  All that is left is to press the cheese so that you can cut it and cook with it later.

It was a huge success.  The cheese held its shape and was firm enough to cut into cubes before making Spiced Paneer, a recipe by Atul Kochar, one of my favourite chefs.  I had been looking for a simple recipe that wouldn't mask the freshness of my paneer and this combination of spices worked really well.

The second dish is another personal challenge, okra.  Having eaten okra a couple of times I am certain that I don't like it.  This is possibly due to the "ladies fingers" being poorly cooked, but slimy is never high on my list of properties food should have.  I was sure that cooked properly okra would be at least palatable and possibly really nice.  I found this recipe and bit the bullet. I had made the massala earlier in the day so that when it came to cooking all I had to do was fry the okra and add the spices.

The final part of the main meal, apart from a huge mound of pilau rice, was home made lemon pickle.  I had been talking about the Olympic Food Challenge at work** and a colleague told me about the amazing pickles and chutneys that his mum makes.  He rushed home to try to get her secret recipe for me but the translation of measures and ingredients from Hindi into English proved problematic.  Last Monday I was presented with a zip lock bag full of her pickle mix.  I could identify 99% of the spice mix but there was one seed that I couldn't put my finger on.  Ten lemons have been pickling on the kitchen windowsill for a week and tonight it provided a sharp point to a sweet and light meal.

Normally the meal would have ended there but Twitter intervened.  Back in April when I announced the Olympic Food Challenge, Mike from Indie Ices offered me some of his home made kulfi to celebrate India.  Of course I said yes and the months passed.  Yesterday, good to his word Mike delivered two pots of Mango and two pots of Almond & Pistachio kulfi.  I love kulfi but had never had any of Mike's award winning desserts.  They really are good, I had the mango but Z was in raptures about the almond.

Back to the challenges.  First, okra, my least favourite vegetable in the world.  It is definitely back on the menu.  It looks like the secret is cooking it fast and not letting it stew.  Second, paneer.  Wow, what can I say.  Paneer used to be a bit of a treat as it's quite an expensive ingredient but it is so easy and cheap to make at home I doubt I will ever buy it in a shop again.  Please try to make your own paneer, you wont regret it!

*if you're going to show off you may as well have an audience.
** I think about very little else at the moment.