Posts tagged as:

africa

Putting Berbere to Use: Ethiopian Trout Spaghetti

by Karen August 23, 2011
Thumbnail image for Putting Berbere to Use: Ethiopian Trout Spaghetti

Last week you all voted from three dishes featuring the popular Ethiopian spice mixture berbere and… trout spaghetti it is! Upon first glance, there is nothing that looks “Ethiopian” about this dish, which is basically a pasta.  But this trout spaghetti has a place in Ethiopian history from when Italy occupied the country during the [...]

[click to continue...]

Berbere: An Ethiopian Staple

by Karen August 17, 2011
Thumbnail image for Berbere: An Ethiopian Staple

Throughout the lifespan of this blog I’ve amassed an enormous collection of spices.  Name it and I probably have it.  This is unavoidable when you’re cooking dishes from around the world, but a luxury to have exotic aromas and flavors at your fingertips.  With this, however, comes the problem of using up these spices before [...]

[click to continue...]

Moroccan Chicken Tagine With Preserved Lemons

by Karen May 5, 2011
Thumbnail image for Moroccan Chicken Tagine With Preserved Lemons

There are few dishes as beautiful and unique as a Moroccan tagine.  It’s a mélange of seemingly disparate spices and ingredients like saffron, dried fruit, ginger, olives, and preserved lemons.  But these flavors blend harmoniously and reflect Morocco’s history as a crossroads between the Middle East, Africa and Europe.  Tagine is a method of slow-cooking [...]

[click to continue...]

Moroccan Preserved Lemons

by Karen May 3, 2011
Thumbnail image for Moroccan Preserved Lemons

I absolutely love lemons.  I find myself grating lemon zest into anything I can and even sucking on lemon wedges with a little salt.  Yes, I’m that crazy about lemons.  This versatile and beautiful fruit likely originated in northwestern India as a two-step hybrid fruit, first between a citron and lime.  Later this citron-lime fruit [...]

[click to continue...]

Koshary: An Inspired Egyptian Dish

by Karen February 15, 2011
Thumbnail image for Koshary: An Inspired Egyptian Dish

Last week’s events in Egypt had the world watching, waiting, analyzing, and on Friday celebrating. Egypt’s revolution deserves homage and our attention. And while it’s natural to ask “what’s next” or “how will this affect us,” I think we should be recognizing the historic nature of such an accomplishment. In a time when our advancing [...]

[click to continue...]

Malata: Eating Mozambique

by Karen November 5, 2010
Thumbnail image for Malata: Eating Mozambique

This week’s dish is as obscure as it gets.  I always love cooking dishes I’ve never had nor heard of, but the problem with some recipes is that it involves ingredients that aren’t local to me.  For malata, the ingredients are basic and of course squash you can get anywhere right now.  I know what [...]

[click to continue...]

Harira: Eating Morocco

by Karen October 1, 2010
Thumbnail image for Harira: Eating Morocco

One of the things I love about doing this blog is discovering new dishes.  And I’ll be honest, there are some dishes I know I’ll never make again.  Ever.   But, harira is definitely something I will add to my repertoire of repeat recipes.  Even with temperatures reaching the 80s, this soup was a joy to [...]

[click to continue...]

Yellow Rice: Eating Cape Town, South Africa

by Karen July 14, 2010
Thumbnail image for Yellow Rice: Eating Cape Town, South Africa

This bright and vibrant rice is served all over South Africa.  Turmeric is the spice that gives this rice its amazing color.  There are a lot of yellow rice recipes that call for different additions such as raisins or peppers, so you can add what you like.  Here I’ve kept with a simpler version, which [...]

[click to continue...]

Bobotie: Eating Cape Town, South Africa

by Karen July 14, 2010
Thumbnail image for Bobotie: Eating Cape Town, South Africa

We had been experiencing some unseasonably cold weather for July, so when I first had the idea for bobotie, it made perfect sense.  Of course today, the sun finally decided to show and it’s almost hitting 90 degrees.  Eating a spicy, minced meat casserole on a hot summer day isn’t what I’d typically go for, [...]

[click to continue...]