Friday Fun: The Best Foods/Recipes to Eat in your Country?
Food has a huge place in every culture and region of the world. No matter where you come from, sharing a meal with family, friends, strangers and travelers is a social experience that goes beyond mere survival. Being invited to share a meal means sharing a moment of altruism, intimacy, friendship that allows you to get closer to each other.
Given that, if you wanted to invite a guest to have a taste the culture of your country, which dish/food/recipe would you propose to share together?
As I'm from Montreal, Canada, I will skip the easy answer of Poutine and go with something a little less obvious!
Mmmmhhmmm.... Sweet sweet maple syrup! You don't get any more Canadian than maple syrup! Bacon with maple syrup... Ice Cream with maple syrup... Ham... Pie... you name it, we tried it with maple syrup! Now, Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloins... that's a meal that I really enjoy sharing in good company on a cold winter evening with a nice, dark, cold stout!
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Maple-Glazed Pork Tenderloins
Ingredients
Flour
2 pork tenderloins, about 1 lb (454 g) each
1 tablespoon (15 ml) butter
1 tablespoon (15 ml) vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
4 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon (15 ml) Dijon mustard
1/2 cup (125 ml) maple syrup
Preparation
1. With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
2. Dust the tenderloins with flour. In an ovenproof skillet, brown the meat in
the butter and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the skillet.
Set aside.
3. Add a little butter in the skillet, if necessary, and soften the shallots.
Add the mustard and maple syrup and simmer for about 1 minute, until it thickens.
Return the pork to the skillet and coat with the sauce.
4. Bake for 16 to 17 minutes for medium rare doneness.
5. Remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil.
Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Garnish with fresh thyme.
6. Serve with barley pilaf with bacon and/or mashed acorn squash with maple syrup.
Your turn..!!
What dish from your country would you share with us to experience a taste of your culture?
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Bonus Fun : I got married on October 5th, 2018!! :) A wonderful Jira Wedding that will be engraved in memories for a lifetime!
4 comments
I love to cook....pies, cheesecakes, pastries, home baked bread (I have a sourdough starter that I've been "feeding" since high school back in the late '80's) and a bunch more. But to pick a recipe that is distinctly "Cleveland" I'd have to go with the Cleveland Clam Bake.
From Today.com: The Cleveland clam bake is a tradition that dates back to the Revolutionary War, and the lands that were given to that war’s veterans; this land is now better known as The Western Reserve. The Cleveland clam bake combines the the Northeasterner’s penchant for coastal clams and red-skinned potatoes with the Germanic Ohioans’ love affair with sausage-making and corn from the Great Lakes Native Americans. Additionally, Cleveland is the natural stopping point between the East Coast and Chicago to refresh the ice for all seafood ice (as this was before the refrigerated train car) and so the locals got to enjoy the bounty. In the fall months, Ohio consumes more clams per capita (not including tourists) than the populations of most East Coast cities!"
This is A LOT of food...the best clambakes are done over a camp fire with friends and family. It's a fall tradition here, you can pretty much always find one any time between September 1st and mid-October. Sometimes the party will have a walleye fish fry or Polish Boys.
This is a general recipe, everyone has a variation; some with lobster, some with crayfish, etc.
Ingredients
2 pounds clams, scrubbed clean
2 pounds cockles (can omit)
1 pound garlic bratwurst, sliced into bite sized pieces (although I prefer Hungarian Kielbasa from Czuchraj Meats.)
2 pounds chicken, sliced into bite sized pieces
12 small new potatoes
2 ears local corn, each cut into 4 pieces
1 head garlic, halved
1 bay leaf
1 bottle dry white wine
1 stick butter
10 cups broth of choice
Grilled bread
1 cup freshly chopped parsley (garnish)
Preparation
1. In the bottom of a dutch oven with a tight lid, melt butter, adding bay leaf and salt. Add potatoes and warm over low heat 2-3 minutes.
2. Add white wine and simmer until reduces to half.
3. Layer in the sausage, chicken and corn in that order.
4. Add broth and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce to simmer until chicken, sausage and corn are cooked through. Approximately 20 minutes on low.
6. Add clams and cockles, add lid, steam for an additional five minutes or until clams are opened. Discard bay leaf and any unopened clams, garnish with parsley and serve.
