Antigua and Barbuda

I boarded the plane for a long haul over the Atlantic and arrived at the Antiguan capital of St John's. What I was served didn't set my taste buds tingling. A dish called Fungee(FOON-gee) and Pepperpot



Fungee & Pepperpot

Ingredients

For Corn Meal Fungee

4 cups water
2 cups corn meal
1 tsp salt to taste
6 okras, cut into small pieces

For Pepper Pot

2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Vegetable oil
4 cloves, cut
2 medium onions, chopped
4 tbsp tomato sauce
4 tbsp margarine
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch chive
450g spinach, chopped
2 cups fresh green peas
4 fresh Chinese cabbage leaves
450g eggplant, peeled & cut
450g okras, chopped
225g pumpkin,peeled & cut
450g green papaw, cut
3 small squash, cut
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper

Corn Meal Fungee Preparation

Place water, okra and salt in a pan. Bring to boil until okras are cooked. Remove half the liquid. Stir with a wooden spoon. The corn meal is mixed to a pasty batter by adding cold water then stirring & mixing this.
Add wet corn meal. Reduce the heat, stir continuously with a wooden spoon until mixture becomes fairly stiff.
When the mixture breaks away cleanly from the pan (IE it does not stick), the fungee is ready. Butter a bowl, turn the mixture into the bowl, shaking it into the shape of the bowl, then turn it out into a serving dish.

Pepper Pot Preparation

Wash all leaves and vegetables in salted water. Place cut vegetables; eggplant, squash and leaves to soak in fresh water. Heat vegetable cooking oil. Add onions. Fry for 5 minutes.
Add all vegetables, except peas. Stir. Add just enough water to cover and cook the vegetables till tender. When the vegetables are cooked, add the peas along with all seasonings.
Allow all ingredients to simmer under low fire for approximately 15 minutes or until thick. Serve with okra fungee rolled in butter or margarine.

I have a severe aversion to peas and the fungee tasted like extremely bland porridge, but my brother wolfed the dish down so it must appeal to some people.

Angola - Muamba De Galinha

I headed south again and arrived in Luanda, Angola. I was served up a dish called Muamba De Galinha.




MUAMBA DE GALINHA



INGREDIENTS:

• 1 chicken, cut into serving-sized pieces
• 1 cup Red Palm Oil
• 2-3 Onions, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 hot chili pepper, left whole and removed after cooking
• 3 tomatoes peeled, and cut into quarters
• 1 eggplant, peeled, cut into pieces, soaked in salted water, rinsed, ,and drained
• 18 small, tender okra; washed, ends removed
• salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• If desired: Squeeze lemon juice over the chicken. The chicken can also be rubbed with a mixture of lemon juice, minced garlic, chopped chili pepper, and salt. Let it marinate for fifteen minutes to an hour.
• Over high heat, bring the oil to cooking temperature in a deep skillet or a dutch oven. Add the chicken and cook it on all sides until it is slightly browned, but not done.
• Add the onion, garlic, chili pepper, and tomato. Stirring occasionally, cook over medium heat for about half an hour, until the chicken is nearly done.
• Add the squash or eggplant and cook for an additional ten to fifteen minutes. Then add the okra. Gently simmer for a few minutes -- until the okra is tender.
• Salt to taste. Serve with Rice.

It was quite sweet and very tasty.

Andorra - Escudella

I headed back north over the Mediterranean to the little principality of Andorra. I arrived in the capital of Andorra la Vella and was served a hearty dish called Escudella.




Escudella


Ingredients
2 litres water
4 veal bones
1 ham bone
3 tablespoons olive oil
100g bacon, diced
100g onions peeled & chopped
1/2 chicken for stewing
450g veal chopped into chunks
450g potatoes
1 medium leek
140g carrots
100g green cabbage
100g cannellini beans
140g pasta: try to get big shells, the bigger the better.

Put the water and meat bones in a large pot and slowly simmer to make a broth. Add seasoning to taste as you go, adding a pinch of saffron.
While the broth is simmering, blanch the bacon in a separate pan and then chop into cubes. Put the oil into a large frying pan then add the bacon and onions. Just when they are starting to brown add the remaining meat and let it cook slowly.
In the meantime, prepare the vegetables (not beans) by peeling and chopping them quite finely then adding to the pan of meat.
When the broth has been simmering a while and has developed a good flavour (taste to check) add in the contents of the frying pan and leave to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pasta shells and beans and simmer gently until they are cooked, this should take about a further 10 minutes.
This dish can then be served in different ways. Sometimes it is served as a hearty stew, with everything in one bowl. Or, you can separate out the meat and vegetables again and serve the soup as a starter and the meat and vegetables on a separate tray afterwards.

It was as good as any stew I'd had before. Next week back to Africa.

Algerian Couscous

Across the Mediterranean to Algiers. Where i was served some Algerian Couscous.


Algerian Couscous

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small can tomato paste
4 whole cloves
3 medium zucchini
4 small yellow squash
3/4 large carrots
4 medium yellow or red potatoes, skins on
1 red or green bell pepper
1 425g can chick peas

Directions:
Sauté onion in vegetable stock over med. low heat until translucent. Add all spices and cook for a few more minutes, stirring as needed. Add tomato paste, stir and simmer 2 minutes. Cut the vegetables in large chunks and add all (not the chick peas) and a dash of cinnamon; add water to cover. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for an hour or so. (This can cook slowly for 2-3 hours, if desired.) Add the drained chick peas about 5 minutes before you take the vegetables off the heat. Put couscous in a bowl. Pour boiling water over couscous and wait about 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. (Ratio of about 1 1/2:1 of water to couscous.) For added flavour, add some of the liquid from the vegetable stew to the couscous in place of some of the water. Serve the stew over the couscous.

A tasty meal, I can't wait to visit Algeria again.

Albania - Byrek Shqipëtar me perime

After a long flight I landed in Tirana. I was presented with the national dish of Albania, Byrek Shqipëtar me perime.



Albanian vegetable pie, Byrek Shqipëtar me perime, is an Albanian recipe for cooking pies. Albanian pies are generally made of thin pastry leaves which can be rolled out at home or bought as filo dough at a supermarket. Most of the pies prepared by Albanian cooks are not sweet; instead, pie fillings are almost always salty. Thus, a piece of such a pie may well serve as the main dish of a meal.
Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
30 pastry leaves
680 g spinach, chopped
1 cup diced feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2-3 eggs
1½ t salt
Directions
1.A medium-sized, round baking pan is recommended because it's more authentic but any medium-sized baking pan will do.
2.Brush the baking pan with some of the oil, and start laying the pastry leaves inside.
3.First, lay two leaves, sprinkle or brush with oil, then lay two other leaves, and repeat the procedure until half of the leaves are laid.
4.Make sure that they cover the pan by hanging them about one inch over the edges of the pan.
5.Sprinkle spinach with salt, and then mix well by hand.
6.Add the feta cheese, oil, onions, eggs and salt, and spread this mixture over the already laid pastry leaves.
7.Finish by covering the spinach with the rest of the pastry leaves repeating the first-half procedure and then roll the hanging edges of the bottom leaves over the pie (think of a pizza crust), sprinkle top with oil and bake moderately at (175°C) for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

It was a tasty result for my first attempt at a pie.