World Foods!!

Who loves food?  I do, I really, absolutely love and adore food.  I also love knowing what each herb does for you and your health. I love exploring and trying new food. I love seeing people enjoy the food that I have cooked.  I love cooking the food that I know someone/people that I care about would love (so in essence I love cooking for family and friends).  I believe overdoing anything is good for ‘nothing’, therefore everything is to be taken in moderation and not repeated over and over until your palette can no longer enjoy it.  I personally cannot eat left overs more than twice, after that my body starts rejecting it.  I befriended some gentlemen at an old job that loved trying new foods and through them I was able to sample foods of all different cultures and cuisines.  I have tried foods from Vietnam, India, Thailand, China, Japan, Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, Jamaica, Grenada, Panama, Haiti, Barbados, Curacao, Israel, Iran, Turkey, England, Italy, France, and I hope to try many more cuisines in this life.  

In no particular order here are some of my favorites.

The Vietnamese make some brilliantly spicy soups, so hot that your nose runs, you perspire and your tongue leaves this hemisphere. Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

Thailand makes a coconut infused soup like curry that is very tasty and it is served with pieces of roti, it is called ‘roti pani’.  They also use a red curry which makes a delicious paste when currying chicken, or any meat for that matter and typically is served with mixed vegetables which includes loads of bell peppers over steamed white or brown rice.  

Ethiopia introduced me to a type of lamb infused with rosemary and jalapeno peppers, stove top cooked and then baked to perfection.

The Indonesian ‘beef rendang’ is one of my favorites. The beef is soft and succulent, slow cooked until the meat absorbs all the coconut milk, shallots, garlic and a mixture of other spices, almost coming to a dry state in that there is no gravy left in the pot.  However, the meat is still moist.  If you’ve never had this I suggest you try it, it is also spicy. 

Jamaica, opens your appetite with ‘JERK’, jerk chicken, jerk pork and stewed oxtails.  My friend’s stewed oxtails is the best, she slow cooks it, she lets the meat cook down, adding a pot spoon of liquid at a time, until the oxtail is tender.  You will lick your fingers if you ever had the pleasure of trying hers, but you won’t because I will eat it all up before you can try J.  Their native breakfast dish ackee and salt fish is also delicious.  The ackee fruit is poisonous if eaten before it opens on the tree, when the fruit ripens it turns from green to a bright orange-ish, reddish hue.  Butterbeans, festival (a sweet fried flour batter) and Jamaican Patties are also favorites of mine.

Italian cuisine is one of my favorites.  Growing up, my first introduction to pizza was in a small bistro in Port of Spain, Trinidad.  My dad took me there and his face showed absolute delight when the pleasure of the taste of my first bite registered on my face.  As a teenager, I quickly learned how to make homemade pizzas and went on to be the person that would bring homemade pizza to every friend potluck or employee potluck function at work.  My mother made meatballs and spaghetti, and I loved those Sunday’s when that was on the lunch menu.  My introduction to lasagna came in New York at my great aunt’s house back in the 70’s and quickly became another favorite.  Her lasagna consisted of Italian sausages and ground beef with cubed chicken and my young ‘meat mouth’ was thrilled.  Grilled asparagus, heavenly, I discovered this trick one year whilst fasting, I looked up ways to prepare asparagus and came up with grilling, as an Italian way of preparing it.  I covered it with garlic powder and olive oil, and to my absolute delight, it came out splendidly.  The asparagus honed a nutty flavor and was still crunchy and fresh, you could sit and eat it as if it were a peanut instead of a vegetable.  I also credit the Italians with Meatloaf, another favorite that I have of my Mom’s cooking.  Her meatloaf was to die for.  Blend of delectable herbal treats from our garden, seasoned this ground meat to perfection, she loved mixing her ground specimens, so that you were in for a treat with a mixture of pork and beef, or chicken and pork, or chicken and beef, or turkey and pork (you get the drift), she often included grated carrots in hers.

Chinese food, now I literally have to laugh, because if you ask my family, they would probably list this as my favorite of all time.  They claim that anytime they ask me what we should get to eat, my answer is always Chinese.  Well undeniably I love something we call ‘pow’. When I say ‘we’, I am referring to the Trinidadians of Chinese descent.  A pow also known as ‘bao’ or ‘baozi’ is a steamed bun which is filled with savory, chicken, pork or vegetarian variations, sautéed in minced fresh ginger, chopped onions, garlic, sugar and soy sauce.  A cornstarch mixture comprising of sherry or rum, soy sauce, cornstarch and sugar is often used as a thickening agent.  Another Chinese dish that I love is ‘char siu pork’, this style of flavoring ‘char siu’ is a barbeque induced pork from the Cantonese cuisine.  Next is Szechuan Shrimp, this dish is nice and spicy, there is a tanginess to the sauce, which comes because of the particular mix of ketchup, green onions, ginger, soy, honey and minced garlic, absolutely delightful.  Fried wontons – oooooooh yummy, I especially like when the wontons are filled with shrimp!  Last but not least – Mongolian Beef, this beef adds the hoisin sauce flavor to your palette, coupled with chili peppers and scallions.  It is typically served over crispy fried cellophane noodles.

Israeli food!!  In my New York life, I worked for two Israeli gentlemen.  They introduced me to the language and the food.  My first introduction was ‘falafel’, this is a deep fried ball or patty which consists of ground chick peas (channa) and/or fava beans.  These balls are served in a pita, whose top has been cut off, thus creating a pocket.  Within this pocket along with the falafel balls you can add ‘baba ghanoush’ (which is a mashed eggplant, seasoned with olive oil and other seasonings), hummus (mashed chickpeas or channa, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and salt), cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and hot sauce.   Another choice that I loved is ‘shawarma’, which consists of meats placed on a spit that rotates and may be grilled for as long as a day, this meat is then shaved off the block and served in a pita along with the same types of trimmings as come with the falafel.  The meat can be lamb, chicken, turkey, Cornish hen, beef, veal or a combination or mixture of meats.  I loved combining my shawarma with the falafel and it was nicknamed ‘shawalafel’ at a local Jewish establishment that we frequented.

Nigerian food, was introduced to me by the many Nigerian friends that I have acquired along my life journey.  MoinMoin or Moyi-Moyi is definitely one of my favorites of this cuisine.  One particular Nigerian friend has made me acquire a taste for black eye peas (a type of peas I detested growing up).  The black eyed peas are soaked until the outer shell is soft enough to be removed, removing this outer shell, removes the black ‘eye’ seen on the bean, the now purely white bean is ground or blended into a fine paste and seasoned with dried crayfish, powdered seasoning,  an assortment of peppers (bell, chili and scotch bonnet), and onions. Boiled eggs and or corned beef (my girlfriend uses corned beef and it is the ‘bomb’) can be used.  Next is ‘suya’ meat, which is generally skewered beef that is rubbed in tankora (spice of Nigeria, groundnuts, onion powder, ginger, paprika, cayenne pepper) and barbequed.  I was told that this type of meat is available on the road sides when travelling from South of the country to the North. The same tankora is often served with the prepared suya along with sliced onions.  Their salads are also noteworthy, served with a creamy salad dressing and it includes boiled eggs, baked beans, lettuce, corn, carrots, and tomatoes.

Ghana, the home of the peanut soup also referred to as groundnut soup.  My Ghanian friends are also notorious for making sardine dishes which at times can include peanuts.

Some of the most delicious grilled fish and grilled pork I’ve had were prepared by my Liberian friends.  They also have a love for peanuts in many of their dishes.  Liberians love rice. They gave the true meaning to the word ‘staple’.  Rice is eaten with everything.  They even have a bread made out of rice.  

Home of the fish and chips and the rhubarb pies – England.  The fried fish here is usually Pollock, which is a very flaky fish, so therefore thick slices would need to be done and that is exactly what they do in England.  The fish occupies most of your plate and hence the reason it is called FISH and chips.  Lol!  In England I drank the most TEA that I have ever in my life.  I had more than two cups per day, which is a stretch for me.

Arepa, stuffed and fried ground corn dough, warmed my heart and belly on the streets of Margarita, Venezuela.  In the morning you can secure an egg or cheese or combination of both filled arepa and by the noon hour, meat filled arepa’s aroma is permeating every nose on the boardwalk.

Mexican food was different in each state that I had eaten it.  What I had in California was different from Texas and in turn different from Georgia.  All commercialized for the American public, because every Mexican that I have spoken too, said that you cannot find authentic Mexican cuisine state side.  However, for what I have had in its commercialized state was to me very good.  I am madam ‘burrito’ eater.  I love them in chicken or beef.  I love ‘queso’ (that melted chili cheese sauce), in my burrito, on my chips, with my Spanish rice and refried beans.  In Austin Texas I fell in love with ‘camarones la diabla’, hot and spicy shrimp served with rice and salad.  My children love ‘fajitas’ especially shrimp, or the combo meat fajita (this is essentially grilled bell peppers, onions and tomatoes served with the grilled meat, together with guacamole (avocado or zaboca), sour cream, rice and beans).  Tacos are another family favorite and fish tacos are delicious.

India was, I thought, not going to be anything new for me, having grown up in a country where there were as many people of African descent as there were of East Indian descent, however, that notion proved me wrong.  The Indian food of Trinidad and Tobago has taken on a life of its own, with different spices and names than those of their origin.  The ‘India’, that I was now introduced too, consisted of curry lamb, naan, tandoori chicken and fritters made of a variation of Indian spices.

America is where I discovered most of my foreign cuisines, but there are foods that although their origin is not America, they have come to be known as American.  Things like fish fry, steak, waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, fried chicken and barbeque.  Barbeque, this on its own is a category. Barbeque tastes different state to state, each having its own sauces and method of marinating and grilling.  Texas has to be my favorite place for steak, and it also has some darn good barbeque.

These are just a few of what I have experienced and loved, please take time to peruse the Iphone snapped pictures below that commemorate some of these delights.

Stay tuned for my next topic - The food and culture of Trinidad and Tobago.

 

Mexican - Tres Amigos

Mexican - GA; fajita

Mexican - GA; Fajita

Japanese - Hibachi chef doing his thing

Japanese Hibachi vegetables, mostly cabbage

Japanese - Hibachi fried rice

Japanese - Hibachi mixed vegetables

Japanese - Hibachi fried rice HDR

Mexican - shrimp Texas

Barbeque - GA - Jim and Nicks

Barbeque Rib Tips - GA

Fish Taco Tuna  - Austin TX

Close up of that Tuna (steak) Taco - TX

TX Steak, so good, I almost forgot to take a picture

Lamb Burger - TX, absolutely to die for

Mexican - TX - an appetizer made out of plantains

Mexican, TX - Camarones La Diabla - shrimp

American Breakfast, Omelet, and some sort of strudel

American - Scrambled eggs

American, TX - Creamed corn and Peach cobbler

Barbeque, TX - sloppy joe and italian sausage

Italian - Pizza (ok i took several bites before snapping) LOL!

American - Egg, hash browns, muffin, English muffin, sausage links

Thai, TX - Chicken Penang

Thai, TX - Red curry, steamed rice

Salad dressing used in Nigerian Salads

Meat Loaf

Italian - Fettucini with alfredo sauce

Jamaican - stewed oxtails

Pancakes with blueberries

Cinnamon pancakes

IHOP - eggs, sausage links and hash browns

Pancakes with bananas and strawberries

Jamaican - Festival

Jamaican - Jerk chicken

English - Nandos; grilled chicken, fried rice, cole slaw

English - Fish and chips

American TX, barbeque, ribs, macaroni and cheese, broccoli

TX Steak

Side dishes with steak - American

Delightful mango sweet tea - Thai

Red curry chicken penang - Thai

Mexican - shrimp

Me taking a bite out of my chips in England

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