Pintxos de Txampis

Basque cuisine gave us the "pintxos." Small plates adorned with tasty foods often served skewered with a toothpick, and served with bread, that could be found in most any tavern across northeastern Spain (also known as Basque country).

The history of these little dishes goes back more than 100 years, recounted well by Martin Buckley in a book called Basque Country and by a profile of the author and the book in the Independent. It was a time when food was scarce but comraderie was in abundant supply. Back in the 1920s, the social custom at the time was to drink outside of the house.  People would go from bar to bar,  socializing with their family and friends. By the 1940s, this practice of going from tavern to tavern with a group of friends, known as a kuadrilla, became well established. The kuadrilla is a closely-knit group formed of friends from early childhood. Its bonds are tightly formed over time, and often closed to outsiders, allowing those within the group to truly be themselves. 

Yet, as those kuadrillas moved from bar to bar, they did so during difficult times. With the Spanish Civil War, scarcity set in. While there was plenty to drink, food was scarce. As the kuadrillak drank glass after glass of wine (some of which was smuggled in from France), the tavern owners would place small plates of food on the bar. Those small plates are the origin of pintxos (which is Basque for "to pierce"), althought the name did not catch on until a couple of decades later. 

This particular pintxos is simple to make, although a little more difficult to plate. The combination of onions, shallots and garlic go well together (obviously), but they make a rather unstable base for the soft mushrooms. Fortunately, the toothpicks keep everything in place at least until they are eaten. As someone who enjoys Spanish tapas, as well as Basque pintxos generally, I think this is a start on a path to furhter exploration of these small plates.

PINTXOS DE TXAMPIS

Recipe from Sweet C

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion diced
• 1 shallot diced
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 cup dry white wine
• Flour
• 24 mushrooms, button or cremini, whole cap
• 1 baguette sliced into 12 slices

Directions: 

1.  Prepare the ingredients. Clean mushrooms by wipiong with a dry cloth or paper towel, discard stems. Dice onions, shallots, garlic. You can finely dice or rough chop.

2. Saute the onions, shallots and garlic. Add olive oil to a pan and heat on medium-high heat. Add onions and and shallots. Add onions and shallots to pan. Saute to soften, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and over browning. When onions and shallots are soft, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

3. Cook the mushrooms. Sprinkle flour over ingredents, stir to combine well. Place mushroom caps in pan, add wine, stir to combine well and place lid on pan. Reduce heat to simmer and reduce the sauce until thick and the mushrooms cook and reduce in size, about 10 minutes. Stir to prevent sticking or burning and rotate mushrooms a few time while cooking. The sauce should thicken and the mushrooms soften, but they should not brown too much. 

4. Finish the dish. While the mushrooms cook down, slice baguette and drizzle with olive oil. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until light lightly browned and crispy. When the mushrooms are softened and the sauce has thickened, use toothpick to skewer two mushroom caps onto the bread. Sppon sauce over the top. 

PEACE.

Sos ti-Malice

According to legend, there were two men -- Bouki and ti-Malice -- who were very good friends. Bouki has a kindhearted soul, but he was also gullible and, in some respects, a freeloader. Bouki would always show up at the house of ti-Malice around lunch time, hoping to get a free meal. As Haitians are hospitable and welcoming into their homes, ti-Malice always shared his meal with Bouki.

However, ti-Malice was also a bit of a trickster. He worked out a plan that would get Bouki to second-guess coming over for lunch every day. ti-Malice prepared a very hot sauce, which he covered the meat that would be his lunch. As expected, Bouki came over for lunch and ti-Malice offered some of his sauce-covered meat as a meal. 

The plan backfired. Bouki loved the hot sauce-covered meat. He then went out and told everyone in the town who delicious the sauce was and told them to visit ti-Malice's house to try it for themselves. 

There are seemingly as many variations on that Haitian legend, as there are recipes for the sauce. Generally speaking, the sauce consists of shallots, bell peppers, tomato paste, vinegar and, of course, scotch bonnet peppers for the heat. The ingredients are cooked together in a pot to produce the hot sauce. Some recipes suggest an additional step: blending the ingredients together to produce a smoother sauce. Whether one goes with a traditional sauce (keeping the ingredients whole, as pictured in this post) or blended, Sos ti-Malice is a great accompaniment for many traditional Haitian dishes, like Griot and Tassot.

For me, the most important thing about this recipe is its underlying lesson. Traditional Haitian hospitality is something that could make the world a better place. (If only Haitians currently had the space and the means to provide that hospitality, but that is another post, series of posts or even another blog entirely.) But, when we try to be anti-social, we could end up with more people at our door. So, perhaps, the better approach to life is to be more welcoming and more hospitable. We can expand our own communities at many different levels. And, we can start by welcoming Haitian immigrants and migrants (along with other immigrants and migrants) into our communities to live, and in our homes for a meal, rather than trying to get them to go away. 

SOS TI MALICE

Recipe from Kitchen Travels

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 shallots thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/2 green pepper sliced
• 2 Scotch Bonnet peppers, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves
• 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients:

1. Sauté the shallots and garlic. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the shallots and garlic. Saute until shallots are softened and translucent.

2. Continue preparing the sauce. Add tomato paste, vinegar and 2.5 cups of water. Whisk well to dissolve the tomato paste in the water and bring to a boil. Add the bell peppers, Scotch Bonnet peppers and cloves. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Finish the sauce. Add parsley and salt. Stir to combine. 

PEACE.

Goi Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Salad)

 Ăn uống hài hoà 

(Eat and drink harmoniously)

Balance is important in every aspect of one's life, including what one cooks and eats. As I continue to explore the cuisines of cultures around the world, I have noticed a current that runs through the recipes and dishes of many cultures, including, by way of example, Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Indian and even Native American. It is balance. This balance may take many forms, such as a balance of ingredients or a balance of cooking methods. Nevertheless, it is still there. 

More recently, I found this balance in Gỏi Gá, a chicken salad that is commonly prepared in Vietnam. From what I could find, the salad originated in the north of the country. However, it is dish that is popular throughout Vietnam. Goi Ga is often served at home for family gatherings; but, people can also find the salad being served at festivals and even as street food. When one peruses the ingredient list, they will find a recipe for a light salad that incorporates chicken, fresh vegetables, fresh herbs and a dressing that features one of my favorite ingredients, fish sauce. 

Yet, there is something more fundamental about Goi Ga. It represents balance, or as the Vietnamese would describe it, "Ngũ Hành" or "ngũ vi." I have previously explored the multiple levels of balance in Vietnamese cuisine. For example, there is the balance among the five tastes: spice, sour, bitter, salty and sweet. There is also a balance in texture: crispy crunchy, chewing, soft and silky. There are even further levels of balance, such as in cooking methods. 

Balancing "Ngũ Hành" or "ngũ vi" on multiple levels can seem somewhat like a culinary game of 3-D chess. Gỏi Gá achieves that balance. The ingredient list illustrates the balance across all five tastes: peppers (spice), lime juice and vinegar (bitter), sugar (sweet), and fish sauce (sour and salty). It similarly shows a balance with respect to texture, with crispy elements (fried shallots), crunchy (peanuts), silky (olive oil), soft and chewy (chicken). 

Each bite of the Gỏi Gá brings with it a sense of harmony, and, along with that, a sense of happiness. This recipe is a call to be mindful of ingredients and how they interact. It is a mindfulness that I lack and have struggled to develop, especially given the lack of balance elsewhere in life, such as the work-life balance.  Still, If I can make this dish every once in a while, it will serve as a necessary reminder to take a moment and think more about what I prepare, eat and serve to others.

This may be the reason why I subconsciously keep coming back to dishes from Vietnam or elsewhere, such as China's Sichuan province. It is my own little nudge to find my some balance, even if it is only of the culinary kind. 

GOI GA (VIETNAMESE CHICKEN SALAD)

Recipe from Food & Wine

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1.5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
• 1.5 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 serrano chile with seeds, minced
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt
• 4 cups green cabbage (from 1/2 small head), finely shredded
• 2 carrots, finely shredded 
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint
• 3 cups chicken (from 1/2 chicken), shredded
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. Prepare the dressing. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, vinegar, water, chile and garlic. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let the dressing stand for 5 minutes.

2. Fry the Shallots. In a small saucepan, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Add the shallots and cook over heat heat, stirring constantly, until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the shallots on paper towels. Reserve the oil for another use. Sprinkle the shallots with salt and let cool.

3. Finish the dish. In a large bowl, toss the cabbage, carrots, red onion, cilantro, mint and shredded chicken. Add the olive oil and the dressing and toss. Sprinkle with the peanuts and fried shallots and serve the chicken salad with lime wedges.

PEACE.

Lunu Miris

I love the cuisine of Sri Lanka, which is known to curry almost everything. One particular aspect of this cuisine has really gotten my attention: the sambols. A sambol is a freshly made condiment or relish that typically incorporates chiles to add not just spice, but other flavors to whatever one is eating.

The history of sambols takes us to Indonesia, where they are referred to as sambals. Indonesians prepared these condiments using cabya, also known as the Javanese long pepper, which is native to the island of Java. The earliest references to cabya go back to the 10th century C.E. Although not technically a chile, the cabya provided a spicy element to the dishes prepared by Indonesian cooks. However, by the 16th century C.E., Spanish and Portuguese explorers and colonizers brought the traditional chiles from the new world to the Indonesian islands. Soon, cooks started using chiles over cabya. From there, the Dutch colonizers exported sambals to other countries, including Sri Lanka. 

Sambols (or sambals) have chiles as the central ingredient, around which a range of secondary ingredients are added. For example, pol sambol includes green chiles combined with coconut, shallots, Maldive fish chips, and lime juice. Dried shrimp sambol uses red chiles combined with dried shrimp (obviously), dried coconut, onions, garlic and lime juice.  

Lunu miris translates into onion chile. However, there are no onions in this recipe, but there are three different chiles: long red chiles, chile flakes and chile power, as well as freshly ground black pepper. I found this recipe in O Tama Carey's Lanka Food, which describes the sambol as more of a paste. When I prepared it, the final product was more like a salsa, but a very thick and extremely fiery one. Carey advises that this sambol is "[n]ot for the faint hearted." That is definitely an understatement. This recipe should only be prepared by people who order their food at the highest level of spice for those who ordinarily prepare it.

LUNU MIRIS

Recipe from O Tama Carey, Lanka Food, pg. 222

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 7/8 ounces Maldive fish flakes
• 1/8 ounce chile flakes
• 1/8 ounce salt flakes
• 3 long red chiles, cut into thin rounds
• 2.5 ounces of shallots, finely sliced
• 1/8 ounce chile powder
• 1/10 ounces of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 limes juiced

Directions:

Using a mortar and pestle, or a food processor, pound (or process) the Maldive fish flakes, chile flakes and salt until the flakes are finely ground. Add the long red chiles and shallots and pound (or process) to a paste like consistence. It does not have to be super smooth. Mix through the pepper and chile powder and season to taste with lime juice. Service at room temperature. 

PEACE.

Pad Kaprow

My culinary journeys around the world have often led me to "national dishes." Generally speaking, these are meals that have a strong connection to a particular country. This connection may arise in one of several ways. It may involve an ingredient that is produced locally or prepared in way only done in that area. It may form part of a cultural tradition. Or, it may be actively promoted by a government as part of an effort to create a national identity. 

Take, for example, the country of Thailand. At one point in its history, roughly corresponding to the beginning of World War II, the military dictatorship of Thailand promoted a national Thai identity. Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkram issued twelve (12) cultural mandates from 1939 to 1941. Each mandate set forth objectives for the people. For instance, the third cultural mandate -- On referring to the Thai people -- prohibited Thais from referring to themselves inconsistently based upon preferred group, region or religion (for example, don't refer to oneself as a southern Muslim Thai). It also required the people to refer to themselves as the Thai people. The fifth mandate also had multiple requirements, including Thai people should make an effort to consume food made only from Thai products. Such an edict is often said to be the basis for some of Thailand's national dishes, such as Pad Thai and Pad Kaprow. 

Thai Basil

While Pad Thai is perhaps the most popular and well-known dish, Pad Kaprow comes in a close second. The name translates into basil stir fry. It is not just any basil, but Thai Basil (or Holy Basil) that makes this a Thai dish. 

The history of this dish is a little unclear. The main ingredient -- Thai Basil -- had been introduced into Thailand centuries ago (approximately around 2,450 B.C.E. or 2,500 B.C.E.). Yet, the dish of stir frying basil with chicken (or other protein), chiles and other ingredients goes back only a few or several decades. Indeed, I could not find anything in my research that would enable me to trace this dish back to the time when Field Marshal Phibunsongkram was issuing his edicts. Then again, while there are a lot of articles about the greatness of Pad Kaprow, few of those articles actually delve into how the dish came into existence or how it has evolved over the years. 

Nevertheless, the research does point out a couple of key things about Pad Kaprow. First, the dish represents a Thai version of the five tastes: salty, sweet, sour, hot (spice) and bitter. (I have talked about the five tastes before, check out this post and this post for more.) One Thai chef, Chakkrit Chuma, once said that Pad Kaprow or "Pad kaphrao has to be salty first, sweet after and then feeling hot and spicy in your mouth." Chef Chuma lamented that "sometimes people just make it too spicy and you don't taste anything else." (The Chef also acknowledges that he uses seven chiles in his recipe.)  Second, Pad Kaprow is flexible when it comes to the protein. It is most commonly made with chicken -- Pad Kaprow Gai -- but it can also be made with beef, pork, vegetables and seafood. For this dish, I made it with turkey, because that is the only meat that my beautiful Angel will eat. Also, while many recipes used ground meat, I used turkey thighs because I think that the bite-sized pieces are better. (Also, the use of ground meat reminds me too much of laab or larb, which is considered the national dish of neighboring Laos.) 

PAD KAPROW

Recipe from All Recipes

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or more as needed
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped
• 1/4 cup shallots, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Thai chiles, minced or sliced
• 1 cup basil, thinly sliced
• 2 cups rice, cooked

Directions:

1. Prepare the broth. Whisk the chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, white sugar and brown sugar together until well blended. 

2. Sauté the chicken. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Drizzle in oil. Add chicken and stir fry until it loses its raw color, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in shallots, garlic and chiles. Continue cooking on high heat until some of the juices start to caramelize in the bottom of the pan, about 2 to 3 more minutes. Add a tablespoon of the sauce mixture to the skillet; cook and stir until the sauce begins to caramelize, about 1 minute. 

3. Continue to cook the chicken. Pour in the rest of the sauce. Cook and stir until the sauce has deglazed the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until the sauce glazes onto the meat, about 1 to 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. 

4. Finish the dish. Stir in basil. Cook and stir until the basil is wilted, about 20 seconds. Serve with rice. 

PEACE.

Goan Clam Curry

Some say "Goa is where my heart belongs"; but, for me, the saying needs to be amended to read, "Goa is where my stomach belongs." There is something about the cuisine. Goa may be the smallest state in India, with the fourth smallest population of any Indian state. However, its cuisine punches way above its weight, both figuratively and (due to the abundant use of chiles) literally. It is that punch that appeals so much to my gut.

What drew my attention to this cuisine is perhaps one of the most well known of Goan dishes ... Vindaloo. The fiery curry -- in all of its forms (whether pork, lamb, beef of chicken) -- is one of my favorite dishes. Yet, while Vindaloo may be one of the most popular dishes, there is so much more to Goan cuisine. 

This small Indian state lies along the western coastline of India. Its 103 kilometers of coastline offer not only great beaches (from what I have read), but access to a steady source of seafood. This includes fish such as kingfish, mackerel, sardines and even sharks, as well as shellfish like crabs, prawns, lobsters, squid and mussels.

All of this seafood provides the basis for a range of different dishes. These dishes include, by way of example, Fish Curry (Xitti Kodi), Shark Ambot Tik, Samarachi Kodi, and Crab Xacuti. I would not have come across any of these dishes (at least not yet) if not for the fact that I found a recipe for a Goan clam curry. That recipe got me to look further into Goan cuisine, thereby opening the proverbial book on something that I had overlooked for the longest time. 

Source: Times of India

The summer months are often considered the shellfish months in Goa. The bays of Goa - such as Sancoale and Chicalim - are home to oysters, mussels and clams (known as tisreos) that are harvested by both locals and non-locals alike. The high demand for all of this shellfish has resulted in overfishing and degradation of the habitats. It has threatened the existence of clams in these bays, as more juvenile clams are harvested and their habitat is destroyed by the collection methods. 

The alarm bells have sounded in recent years, which has resulted in some responses to what has become a significant decline in the once abundant shellfish. A modest start involved a local biodiversity board's call for the use of handpicking as the only method to collect clams. This call joins other efforts to regulate the size of harvested clams, quotas on the amount to be harvested, and limiting harvests to locals only. 

All of these efforts are just guidelines, and, they will be effective only as long as people are willing to observe them. This requires people to move beyond the shortsightedness of making money now or enjoying these delicacies in the present, so that they will be around for a long time to come. 

GOAN CLAM CURRY

Recipe adapted from My Heart Beets

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ghee (or neutral oil)
• 2 large shallots or 4 small ones finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 inch ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Kashmiri chile powder (or more if you want it to be really spicy)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 pounds small clams, littlenecks
• 1 lime wedge, plus more for garnish
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions:

1.  Clean the clams. If necessary, soak in cold water for 20 minutes with a big pinch of salt. Lift each clam out of the bowl and rinse with water. (If you are using farmed clams, you can probably just rinse them.)

2. Sauté the aromatics. Melt the ghee in a Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat, then add shallots, garlic, ginger and sauté for 6 to 7 minutes. Add the spices then stir.

3. Cook the clams. Add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle boil. Add clams, cover and cook stirring occasionally until the clams are opened, 6 to 8 minutes. Discard any unopened clams. 

4. Finish the dish. Serve the clams in bowls with the cooking liquid and squeeze lime wedge overtop. Garnish with cilantro. 

ENJOY!

Ceylon Curry of Oysters

This recipe is a reminder that we have the British to blame for what is known as "curry." (I say that half-sarcastically, half-seriously.) The word "curry" is the anglicized version of kari, a word from the Tamil language for "sauce" or "relish for rice." The British used the word "curry" to describe basically every sauce and every relish for rice. They used the word not just for those dishes in India, but also for dishes made in a similar fashion across the British empire. 

The point is that, by lumping everything together as "curry," one takes away the individuality of the underlying dishes and the cuisines from which they originate. A "curry" from the subcontinent (such as from India or Sri Lanka) is different than a curry from Southeast Asia (such as from Thailand or Vietnam). Curries also differ significantly within countries, such as from Uttar Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in India or among the different ethnic minorities of Myanmar. 

Another aspect of westernization is apparent in the recipes themselves, in which the authors substitute more readily available ingredients for those used by the locals. This substitution was done perhaps out of necessity (as some ingredients were not available to western cooks) or a misunderstanding of the ingredients.

All of these thoughts are embodied in this recipe, Ceylon Curry of Oysters. The recipe originated with a person named Darmadasa, who worked at the East India Curry shop, which was located on East 57th Street in New York City. I used the past tense because both Darmadasa and the shop could be found on East 57th Street in the late 1930s, long before the emergence of Whole Foods, BLT Steak, or Mr. Chow. Darmadasa's recipe became public through a newspaper article written by Charlotte Hughes. Ms. Hughes declared that, "everybody in India, apparently, eats curry." She added that, while curries are difficult to make, "American cooks with pioneering spirits can master curry dishes." 

Hughes included some recipes with her article, including this oyster curry. Yet, as some have noted, her recipe had been Westernized, with substitutions of ingredients that would not have been used by Sri Lankan cooks. For instance, Hughes included "green pepper" in her recipe (most likely a reference to the bell pepper). However, the "green pepper" used by Sri Lankan cooks would have been more likely one of the more piquant varieties, such as a serrano pepper or a Thai (bird's eye) chile. She also called for the use of butter (in place of coconut oil), bay leaves (in place of curry leaves or pandan leaves) and "curry powder" (as opposed to identifying the various spices that would be included in making the masala).  

I made the Charlotte Hughes' Westernized version of Darmadasa's recipe. However, I added a few of my own changes to that recipe. The first change is a nod to the recipe's Sri Lankan roots. I substituted "curry powder" with roasted curry powder, which is, as far as I can tell, an ingredient that is unique to Sri Lankan curries. The second change goes to the method by which the oysters are "cooked" in the curry." The original recipe calls for the oysters to be placed in the curry and cooked for 3 to 4 minutes. That will cause the oysters to shrink and, depending upon the size of the oyster, may result in tough, chewy, little nuggets. I decided that I would add the oysters at the very end of the cooking process. By adding the oysters at this time, I rely upon the residual heat in the curry liquid. The oysters will not be completely raw, but they will also not be completely cooked. Such a result is fine given that oyster can be eaten raw.   

CEYLON CURRY OF OYSTERS

Recipe adapted from New York Times Cooking

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
• 4 small shallots, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 serrano chile or Thai chile, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon roasted curry powder
• 1 large pinch turmeric
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup coconut milk
• Salt
• 12 oysters, shucked, liquor reserved
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

1.  Saute the shallots, garlic and chiles. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the shallots, garlic and chiles, and saute until softened and starting to brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the curry powder, turmeric, cinnamon stick, cloves and bay leaf. Cook for 1 minute. 

2. Saute the oysters. Reduce the heat to low and add the coconut milk and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add the oyster and their liquor; simmer until the oysters are just firm, 3 to 4 minutes. Take the pan off heat and add the lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve over rice or on hoppers.

Catfish Curry with Lemongrass and Chiles

It has been a very long time since I have made a "Chef Bolek Original." There are a few reasons. I have not had a lot of time to cook recently, so that limited the opportunities to get creative. When I have been cooking, I have been trying to learn how to make certain types of dishes, whether it is exploring the curries of the subcontinent or southeast Asia or experimenting with different whole fish recipes. 

Nevertheless, the cooking that I have done has left me with a lot of leftover ingredients, such as long lemongrass stems and more habaneros than I know what to do with. Rather than let those ingredients sit around until they are ready to be composted (which, unfortunately, happens from time to time because of my busy schedule), I decided that I would take the ingredients that I had and make a dish just off the top of my head. It is a slightly different method than how I used to make Chef Bolek original recipes. (The old way was for me to wander the aisles of grocery stores and try to get "inspired" to make something - a process that often resulted in a lot of leftover ingredients destined for the compost pile.)

I did have some inspiration this time around, which I drew from a catfish curry that I had previously made. The difference is in the principal ingredients for this curry, which were lemongrass stalks and those habanero peppers. I also had some extra shallots and scallions lying around, so I incorporated those into the recipe as well.  As for the main ingredient - the centerpiece if you will - I went with catfish nuggets. The pieces left over after the filleting of catfish. It only seemed appropriate that those scraps be used in a recipe where I was basically throwing the "kitchen sink" into the bowl. 

In the end, this curry was something completely different and delicious than what I have previously made. The lemongrass, accentuated by the garlic and the fish sauce, was front and center, distracting one from the kick of the habanero chiles. Perhaps the lesson from this dish is to change how I make Chef Bolek originals. Only time will tell. Until next time ...

CATFISH CURRY WITH LEMONGRASS AND CHILES

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound of catfish nuggets or catfish fillet
• 1 tablespoon of fresh lemongrass, peeled to soft core and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 2 habanero chiles, deseeded and sliced
• 4 scallions, white parts only
• 2 tablespoons of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil, plus one tablespoon
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 lime, juiced

Directions:

1. Prepare the marinade.  Add the lemongrass, garlic, shallot, habanero chiles, scallions, ginger, fish sauce, rice vinegar, turmeric powder and oil to a food process and process until you have a relatively smooth sauce. 

2. Marinate the catfish. Place the catfish in a bowl, add the marinade and mix thoroughly. Let rest for 15 to 20 minutes or cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours. When you are ready to cook make sure to bring out the catfish at least 15 minutes before you start so that it can come to room temperature.

3. Prepare the curry. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the catfish and saute for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. As you stir, break larger pieces of catfish into smaller ones and continue to stir so that all pieces are coated by the sauce. 

4. Finish the dish. Remove the catfish from the heat. Sprinkle the lime juice over the catfish. Plate some rice and put the catfish on top. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Whole Roast Fish with Lemongrass and Ginger

There is something about a whole fish that is either roasted or grilled. The entire fish - head to tail (minus the innards), laying on the plate, inviting the diner to peek below the skin to see the flaky, flavored meat. Working one's way down the filet and then lifting the backbone to reach the other fillet resting on the plate. It is perhaps the best way to enjoy fish because the cooking process ensures the maximum amount of flavor, given the fish is cooked with the bones and the skin. 

As much as I love whole fish, it is a preparation that I have rarely done. There are quite a few reasons; however, the main one is that I had some difficulty in finding whole fish that I would want to cook in this manner. Most standard grocery stores don't carry a large selection of whole fish. Some higher end stores have the selection, but it comes with a rather hefty price. All of this changed when I started shopping at the local Asian markets. Those stores had a large selection of whole fish.

I recently decided to take advantage of that selection. I purchased four whole sea bass because I wanted to make a New York Times recipe for whole roast fish with lemongrass and ginger. This particular recipe reminded me of my recent forays through southeast Asian cuisine. The lemongrass and ginger reminded me of Burmese (or Myanmar) cuisine, which utilizes these ingredients provide freshness to their curry dishes. The use of habanero chiles evokes Laotian cuisine, which boasts of dishes that have a spicy kick. The coconut milk draws parallels to Thai curries. All of these ingredients come together for a completely unique dish, which is why the recipe caught my attention. 

This recipe worked very well with sea bass. It could also work well with any other mild white fish. Truth be told, that would most likely come in the form of whole Tilapia, but it might work well with speckled trout or rainbow trout. Other mild white fish, such as cod, grouper or halibut are rarely sold whole and, if so, are well beyond the budgets of most people (including me). 

WHOLE ROAST FISH WITH LEMONGRASS AND GINGER

Recipe from New York Times Cooking

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds of whole fish, scaled and cleaned (about 3 branzino)
• 6 tablespoons of neutral oil (such as grapeseed or canola oil)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 1 stalk lemongrass (about 2 1/4 ounces tougher outer part discarded, chopped)
• 1 (2-inch) piece of ginger, scrubbed and chopped
• 4 scallions, green parts sliced and white parts trimmed and left whole
• 1 scotch bonnet chile, with or without seeds, chopped
• 1 shallot, peeled and and chopped
• 2 lemons
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
• 10 cilantro sprigs, cut crosswise

Directions:

1. Prepare the fish. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Pat the body and inside of the fish dry, and space the fish evenly apart on an unlined sheet pan.  Using a sharp knife, cut two diagonal slits, 2 inches apart, into the skin of each fish, making sure not to cut through to the bone. Repeat the slits on the other side.  Drizzle both sides and the inside with 3 tablespoons of oil and season with 1 1/2 tablespoons salt. 

2. Prepare the marinade. Working in batches if necessary, transfer the lemongrass to the bowl of an asanka or a mortar.  Use the pestle to pound the lemongrass pieces until fragrant.  Move the crushed pieces to one side of the mortar bowl or the asanka.  Add the ginger pieces and repeat the process until they are crushed.  Combine the ginger and the lemongrass.  Add the scallion greens and the scotch bonnet chile.  Use the pestle to crush and combine these with the lemongrass mixture.  Add the shallot and the zest of 1 lemon, crush and combine with the paste.  Stir in the turmeric and coconut milk.  (Makes about 1 1/4 cup marinade.)  As an alternative, you can use a food processor, adding the ingredients in order and pulsing them together.  Stir in the turmeric and coconut milk.

3. Continue to prepare the fish. Slice the zested lemon into 3 or 4 rounds. Spread the marinade generously over both sides of each fish and about 2 tablespoons into each cavity.  Place a lemon slice, the white end of a scallion and some cilantro sprigs in each cavity.  (At this point, the fish can be left to marinate for up to 30 minutes or covered and refrigerated overnight.) Drizzle the tops of the fish with the remaining oil.

4.  Roast the fish. Roast the fish until firm and cooked through, rotating the sheet pan once halfway through the process, about 22 to 25 minutes.  Slice the remaining lemon into wedges.  Serve the fish over steamed rice or alongside a hearty salad with lemon wedges for squeezing.

ENJOY! 

Perfumed Coconut Rice

Certain foods seem to be everywhere. Coconut rice is one of those foods. It is a dish that transcends cultures and continents. One can find a recipe for coconut rice in South America, Africa, the subcontinent and east Asia.  The differences vary depending upon the rice used (for example, jasmine in East Asia, basmati on the subcontinent), whether it is coconut meat or coconut milk that is used, and the spices or herbs added during the cooking process. 

This particular recipe comes from Myanmar (Burma). In that country, htamin refers to cooked rice that is paired with with hin, which is any kind of meat or vegetable. It is a staple food on the Burmese table. Coconut rice is known as ohn htamin or အုန်းထမင်း. The rice is cooked in a base that includes coconut milk, fried shallots and salt. The recipe goes two steps further. First, it calls for turmeric, which gives the rice its nice bright color. Second, the recipe calls for the use of cloves and cinnamon, which provide the aromatics that gives this recipe its name.

Coconut rice is typically a ceremonial food that is served on special occasions. As noted above, a hin is served with htamin. In the case of coconut rice, that hin is usually a chicken curry. I prepared this performed coconut rice to accompany my Aromatic Chicken from the Shan Hills. The combination of this perfumed rice ad the aromatic chicken made my kitchen smell the best that it has in a while.

PERFUMED COCONUT RICE

Recipe from Naomi Daguid, Burma, at pg. 237

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 3 cups jasmine rice
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
• 3 or 4 small shallots, cut lengthwise in half or into quarters
• 1 clove
• 1 2-inch cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups canned or fresh coconut milk
• About 2 1/2 cups water 

Directions:

1. Prepare the rice. Wash the rice by immersing it in a bowl of cold water, swishing it around and draining; repeat two or three times. Set aside.

2. Continue preparing the rice. Place a pot with a tight fitting lid over medium heat. Add the oil (don't skip it or the coconut milk will make the rice stick to the bottom of the pot), then add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the rice, clove, cinnamon stick, turmeric, and salt and stir gently.  Add the coconut milk and 2 cups of water, then measure the depth of the liquid: place the tip of your index finger on the top of the surface of the rice, the liquid should come up to your first joint. Add water if needed.  Bring to a bowl, then cover, lower the heat to medium-low and then cook for 5 minutes. Lower the heat to the lowest setting and cook the rice for another 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes.

3. Finish the dish. Shake the pot gently, then remove the lid and use a wet rice paddle or flat wooden spoon to turn the rice: slide the paddle or spoon down the inside wall of the pot or cooker and turn the rice gently. Repeat all around the edges of the pot. Cover until ready to serve, hot or at room temperature. 

African Chicken (Galinha a Africana)

If one wanted African Chicken, the journey would take them to an unexpected place. It would not be a restaurant in Dakar or Kigali. It would not be to a home in Nairobi or Gabarone. Instead, that journey would transport the person to a small island off of a continent. The continent is Asia and that island is Macau.

The dish of African Chicken -- or, as it may appear on menus, Galinha a Africana -- embodies the essence of the cuisine of Macau. That essence is fusion. For more than 450 years, chefs and cooks on Macau have incorporated European, African and Asian ingredients, cooking methods and recipes to create the dishes that grace the tables of today.  So much so, that the cuisine of Macau has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO as the world's first fusion food. 

The story of Macanese food, as their people, begins with the colonization of the island by Portugal in the 16th century.  Portuguese sailors and merchants came to the island as part of their voyages across the world. The Portuguese who remained on Macau began to intermarry with the Chinese, which gave rise to the Macanese people. The Macanese even had their own language, Patua, which is a form of Portuguese Creole. However, when the Portuguese returned control of Macau to China, the Macanese people began to disperse. Presently, the Macanese constitute about 10% of the population of the island at best, and, their language is deemed critically endangered, with only about 50 speakers as of 2000 (and that was 20 years ago).  

Like the people, Macanese cuisine is basically a fusion of Portuguese and Chinese cuisines, but it incorporates ingredients, cooking processes, and recipes from around the world, including Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Goa and Timor. This is where African Chicken provides a perfect example of Macau's fusion cuisine because that fusion can be found on multiple levels. For example, the dish incorporates chiles, which were brought to Macau by the Portuguese from Angola and Mozambique. It also incorporates fish sauce, that wonderful umami flavor that can be found in southeastern Asian cuisine. The fusion involves more than just ingredients, it also includes cooking processes. The chicken is first grilled until the skin becomes crispy and brown, and then the chicken is braised in its marinade. The end result is everything that is best about each African, Asian and European cuisine, namely fiery piri chiles, the smell and taste of fish sauce and the juiciness of braised chicken.

The one other fascinating aspect about this dish is that, according to some, "you never know what you are going to get" when you order African Chicken in Macau. Sometimes the chicken is grilled and served without sauce. Other times it is presented as a stew. Some versions are fiery hot because of the chiles (as was the version I prepared), others have sweeter notes brought about by the coconut. The malleable nature of this dish may be just simply another level of fusion, enabling cooks and chefs to add their own personal touches to what is truly a global dish.

Finally, this post would not be complete without a mention of the Africans who were and are still present in Macau. During the colonial period, Africans served in the galleys of ships or as servants at the houses of the rich in Macau and southeastern China. After slavery was abolished, Portugal continued to bring Africans from Angola and Mozambique to serve as soldiers in Macau. After the 1974 Portuguese revolution, many of these African soldiers returned to their countries. Some remained, as well as others who came to the island and to China to study. They remain an important part of the community on the island.

AFRICAN CHICKEN

Recipe adapted from SCMP and Omnivore's Cookbook

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs or breasts
• 3 1/2 ounces shallots, peeled
• 1 3/4 ounce garlic, peeled
• 1 ounce ginger, peeled
• 1/2 to 3/4 ounce of red bird's eye chiles
• 3 1/2 ounces red banana chiles
• 7/8 ounce fresh cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons chile powder
• 3/4 teaspoons paprika
• 5 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 5 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 2/3 cup coconut milk

Directions:

1. Prepare the chicken. Dry the chicken with paper towels.  Sprinkle salt on both sides of the chicken and place it into a bowl.

2. Prepare the marinade. Roughly chop the shallots, garlic and ginger, placing them into a bowl for a food processor or blender. Mince the bird's eye chiles, shaking out as many seeds as possible. Roughly chop the banana chiles and cilantro. Add the chiles and cilantro to the blender or food processor. Add the peppercorns, sugar, chile powder, paprika and 10 grams of salt to the food processor or blender and process the ingredients to a coarse paste. Add the fish sauce, vinegar and lime juice. Process the ingredients to a rough puree. Stir in the coconut milk into the puree and then pour the marinade into the bowl holding the chicken. Mix well to ensure the pieces are coated with marinade and refrigerate for three to eight hours, mixing occasionally. Take the bowl from the fridge an hour before cooking the chicken. 

3. Cook the chicken. Preheat the oven broiler. Take the chicken out of the bowl and wipe off as much marinade as possible. Place the pieces skin side up in one layer on a baking tray. Grill the chicken on high until the skin is deep brown and slightly charred in spots, then turn the oven to 390 degrees Fahrenheit and continue baking for eight minutes for the breasts, 10 minutes for thighs. 

4.  Prepare the sauce. While the chicken is cooking, pour the marinade into a heatproof serving dish (such as enameled cast iron just large enough to fit the chicken pieces a little snugly in one layer. Place over a medium flame and bring to a bowl, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is a nice coating consistency. Taste the sauce and correct the seasonings, as necessary. If it is too spicy, add more sugar and/or coconut milk. 

5. Continue cooking the chicken. After baking the chicken, take the pan from the oven. Pour any chicken juices into the serving dish. Place the chicken in the dish and spoon the sauce over the pieces to lightly coat them. Place the dish in the oven and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes. 

6. Finish the dish. Place sprigs of fresh cilantro over the chicken. Serve immediately with rice or potatoes. 

ENJOY!

Gazpacho con Bogavante (Gazpacho with Lobster)

Recently, a certain extremist Republican member of the United States House of Representatives uttered the following words on television: 

"Not only do we have the DC jail which is the DC gulag, but now we have Nancy Pelosi's gazpacho police spying on members of Congress, spying on the legislative work we do, spying on our staff and spying on the American citizens."

This particular elected official, who represents the 14th district of the State of Georgia, tried to evoke many things with that statement. There is the reference to the gulag, which was the prison system of the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1955. This not a particularly apt comparison. While the D.C. jail definitely has its issues (by way of example, overflowing sewage, lack of adequate medical care, and a history of violence), an estimated 1.2 million to 1.7 million died in the Soviet gulags.

And then there is the Representative's reference to the Nazi gestapo, the Geheime Staatspolizei, or German Secret Police, which enforced the brutal and inhumane policies of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. Except, this particularly uninformed Republican Representative called referred to that organization as the gazpacho. Gazpacho is a cold soup from Andalusia, Spain. It is the furthest thing from Herman Goring's conception of a secret police force, or Reinhard Heydrich's utilization of that force to facilitate the Holocaust, murdering millions of Jews, Poles, and Soviets, along with hundreds of thousands of Roma (or Romany) and disabled people. (The estimates exceed 17 million being killed during the Holocaust). 

How does one respond to a statement of such stunningly stupid propaganda? To be sure, responses came flowing throughout social media. One such response caught my eye. It came from a true expert on the subject of gazpacho: Jose Ramon Andres Puerta. Most of us know this expert as Chef Jose Andres.  The Spanish born, now American citizen, chef is known for his cookbooks, such as Made in Spain, and his restaurants, such as Jaleo. More recently, he is known for his leadership with the World Central Kitchen (WCK), which has done outstanding work to help coordinate the food responses in response to catastrophes around the world, including in the United States. (If I ever looked up to someone I did not personally know, Chef Andres makes the very short list).)

Chef Jose Andres got wind of what the Representative said and responded by noting on Twitter, "the Gazpacho police was created by me in 1993 to make sure that no one will add Tabasco or jalapeno or strange things to my beloved soup!" Andres also invited the representative to "stop by for a glass," but to not forget her mask and vaccination card.

Chef Andres' offer got me to thinking about gazpacho. His beloved soup has graced this blog in the past. I then decided to look for a gazpacho recipe to make. More specifically, I was looking for a recipe that included lobster. I had a few lobster tails in the fridge that I needed to use. I searched the Internet and, quickly found a recipe for Gazpacho con Bogavante, or Gazpacho with Lobster. The recipe comes from none other than Chef Jose Andres.

I decided to make that recipe, but I had to improvise a little. Chef Andres' recipe calls for the use of whole lobster; however, I had only lobster tails. Without the entire lobster, I did not have to go through the process of straining and reserving the coral. That improvisation impacted the dressing the most, because the coral contributes additional flavoring to what otherwise be just oil and sherry vinegar. It also affected the presentation, as I did not have the claws to present with the final dish.

Despite these improvisations, the Gazpacho con Bogavante was an amazing dish. The smoothness of the bright, cold soup stood in contrast with the crunchy vegetable garnish and the croutons. The slight acidity of the tomatoes, warmed by the use of sherry vinegar, was a great complement to the sweetness of the lobster medallions. 

This little culinary experience proved two things: ignorance is definitely not bliss, but its maliciousness can lead to a counter-challenge that promotes learning, opens minds, and expands horizons. 

GAZPACHO CON BOGAVANTE

Recipe from Jose Andres, available at Food Network

Serves 6

Ingredients (for the gazpacho)

• 2 pounds of tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
• 1/2 green pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 cup of water
• 6 tablespoons of Spanish extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar
• 3 ounces of bread, torn into small pieces
• Kosher salt

Ingredients (for the lobster and dressing):

• 2 (1 1/4 pound lobsters)
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 10 tablespoons Spanish extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients (for the garnish):

• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 cucumber peeled
• Kosher salt, as needed
• 1 red pepper, seeded, cut into tiny dice
• 1 green pepper, seeded and cut into tiny dice
• 2 shallots, cut into tiny dice
• Olive oil, for frying
• 4 (1/2 thick) slices of bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• Spanish extra virgin olive oil to garnish
• Minced chives
• Fleur de sel, to garnish

Directions:

1. Make the gazpacho. In small batches, mix all of the ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Pay attention to the consistency. You my have to add more water, as the water content in the ingredients may vary. Strain and chill.

2. Make the lobster and dressing. Fill a large pot with water and add plenty of salt. Bring to a boil and add lobsters.  Cook for 1 minute. Remove from water, drain and chill. Once the lobsters are cool, take off the head and remove the coral and liquid.  Pass the coral through a chinois or fine-mesh sieve. Set aside the resulting liquid for use in the dressing. Peel lobster tails and cut each tail into 6 medallions.  Carefully crack the claws and remove the meat. The idea here is to keep the claw meat whole. Split the claw meat in half lengthwise. Refrigerate the lobster until needed. 

3. Prepare the dressing. In a bowl, whisk together the reserved coral, vinegar and oil until smooth and blended. Season with salt to taste. Set aside. 

4. Make the garnish. Cut the ends off the tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Peel back the skin and flesh to expose the seeds. Remove the seeds, taking care to keep the mass whole. The point here is to remove the tomato seeds and their surrounding gel intact. Set aside. (Reserve the tomato flesh for another use.)

5.  Continue to make the garnish. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Sprinkler the cucumber generously with salt and let sit for an hour in a colander in the sink. (The salt will cause the cucumber to release water.) Rinse the cucumber and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the cucumber into a tiny dice. In a bowl, combine the cucumber, peppers and shallot. set aside. 

6. Fry the bread. Pour the oil for frying into a large saucepan to a depth of 2 inches. Heat over medium heat until a deep fry thermometer inserted into the oil reads 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry the bread cubes until golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the croutons to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. 

7. Finish the dish. Pour the chilled gazpacho in a pitcher. In the center of each bowl, place 2 lobster medallions, 1 claw half and 1 tomato seed "fillet." Arrange some of the cucumber mixture around the edge of the blow, sprinkle with chives and top with 4 croutons. Drizzle the dressing around the lobster and drizzle the lobster with some of the extra-virgin olive oil. Finally sprinkle everything lightly with the fleur de sel. At the table, set the bowls in front of your guests and pour some of the gazpacho into each.

ENJOY!

West African-Style Broiled Lobster Tails

"The American relationship with shellfish would not be the same without the African and African-American presence."

Michael Twitty

The statement of culinary historian and chef, Michael Twitty, refers to the impact that Africans and African-Americans have had on the cuisine of this country, specifically with respect to shellfish, such as lobsters and crawfish. Before being brought to the New World, Africans had extensive experience catching, preparing and eating shellfish. Twitty recounts that experience along the African coast from Senegal to Benin. Whether it is lobster in spicy okra stews of Sierra Leone or the large shrimp thrown on red hot grills in Benin, it is well worth the read. 

Indeed, it was Twitty's words that drew me to this particular recipe for West African-style Broiled Lobster Tails. Twitty noted the red brick slipper lobsters or spiny lobsters that could be found in a Senegalese market, along with the local cooks who knew how to prepare the crustaceans with available ingredients, including tomatoes, ginger, garlic and habanero peppers.  Some of those ingredients - such as the garlic and the chiles - find their way into this recipe, as does the Maggi cube, which seem to find their way into many African recipes. 

The foregoing is not just African culinary history, it is also American culinary history. The Africans who were forcefully brought to the New World as slaves brought their knowledge of how to prepare foods. They incorporated that knowledge with the ingredients they found here, such as those lobsters or crawfish. Their work laid the foundation for many of the dishes that can be found on tables in restaurants and at home across our country. 

The late Cornelius White working on
an oyster skipjack on the Chesapeake
Bay (Source: Visit Annapolis)

There is so much more to the role that African-Americans have played in the culinary history of the United States. They have had a profound impact on what ends up on the plate. This aspect of our history includes the stories of African Americans who worked in every aspect of the seafood trade. It is the story of two African-American business partners, William Coulburne and Frederick Jewett, who opened the Coulbourne and Jewett Packing Company. This company began by processing fish, but it moved on to processing crab meat. Coulburne and Jewett introduced the method of sorting crab meat by backfin, lump, claw, special and regular. It is also the story of Downes Curtis, an African-American who lived in Oxford, Maryland. In the 1920s, he was a well known sailmaker, who produced sails by hand for vessels not only in the Chesapeake Bay area, but for famous people as well. The history of African Americans includes the story of every oysterperson along the Chesapeake Bay who plied the waters to harvest oysters. It also includes the story of every African-American fisherman or shrimper who brought his or her catch to the markets in New Orleans and across the Gulf of Mexico. That history began before the founding of our country (that is, in 1619) and it continues to the present day.

These stories are our history. They are important. They should not be reserved for one month in a year. They deserve to be told over and over again, because their contribution needs to be recognized, not forgotten. In the end, each of these stories is proof that there is so much more than what is simply on a plate.  That has become the purpose of my blog. Only time will tell if I can fulfill it. 

WEST AFRICAN-STYLE BROILED LOBSTER TAILS

Recipe by Michael Twitty, available at Luke's Lobster

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 inch piece of roughly chopped fresh turmeric or 2 teaspoons of powdered turmeric
• 1/2 bunch flat leaf or curly parsley, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, leaves and all, roughly chopped
• 3 green onions (scallions), sliced,
• 7 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 1 small Scotch Bonnet pepper (spicy) or 1 medium red bell pepper (not spicy), stem removed and chopped
• 1 crushed small Maggi cube
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Directions:

1.  Prepare the rub. Add all of the wet ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is fully pureed. Scrape down the sides and process again.  Repeat until the mixture is more or less smooth.

2. Prepare the tails.  Using a sharp knife, half each lobster tail lengthwise, cutting almost all the way through the soft side and use your hands to pull gently at each side to lay the lobster flat. Place split lobster tails on a flat surface and season with the wet rub. Place in a resealable plastic bag and close securely. Allow the lobster tails to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours.

3. Broil the tails. Pull the lobster out 30 minutes before broiling and allow to come to room temperature.  Heat your broiler to 450 to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place lobster tails seasoned side up.  Cook until the meat becomes opaque white and the shell turns bright red, or for about 8-10 minutes. 

4. Finish the dish. Remove from the broiler.  Brush the lobster tails with melted butter and serve immediately.

ENJOY!