Tag Archives: World food

New Zealand Cuisine

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New Zealand is one of the few countries that I’ve actually been to. We spent a memorable week in Dunedin, a city on the southeast of the South Island. In terms of food I think it is pretty similar to a European country. I haven’t noticed anything exotic but of course my experience was limited. I remember that we ate a lot of fresh seafood and drank a lot of cappuccino. Coffee shops were basically at every corner and coffee was exceptional (so much better than Starbucks).

Even though we tried a lot of different foods, we didn’t try the one dish that is considered New Zealand’s contribution to the world cuisine, the pavlova. So, this week I baked a pavlova myself. It turned out to be pretty easy (well, not really easy, but easier than I thought), and of course as light as the famous Russian ballerina whose name it bears.

Pavlova cake.

I found tons of pavlova recipes on the web but I tried this one first and the next day I tried again (with better results) using this recipe.

Bolivian Christmas Punch

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I found this recipe on a Bolivian website. As is, it would yield about 1 serving, so it must be adjusted depending on the size of the party and its drinking capacity.

Ingredients

  • 150 ml (2/3 of a cup) of red wine
  • 60 ml (1/4 of a cup) of orange juice
  • 45 ml (3 tbsp) of rum
  • 45 ml (3 tbsp) of Grand Marnier
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 cloves

Combine all ingredients in a heavy pot. Bring it to boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Bolivian Christmas Punch

“Mangal” Salad

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This is traditional Azerbaijani salad. I made it during the Azerbaijani food week.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3-4 small eggplants (or 1-2 large eggplants)
  • 5 tomatoes
  • 2 red bell peppers
  • 1/2 hot pepper
  • 1/2 red onion
  • fresh basil to taste
  • fresh cilantro to taste
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
 “Mangal” Salad

Wash and fully dry eggplants, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Grill them until tender. Ideally, the vegetables for this salad have to be cooked on a grill (or a mangal, which is a Caucasian type of grill) but home oven will do too. I baked them for 30 min in an oven preheated to 375F (tomatoes might be done faster so keep a watch on them). Let them cool. Peel skins and cut the vegetables into small cubes. Put them in a strainer and squeeze to remove excess of juices. Transfer them to a bowl.

Wash, dry and finely chop basil and cilantro. Also finely chop onion, garlic and hot pepper. Add everything to the roasted vegetables, add vinegar, olive oil, and salt (to taste). Mix and transfer to a serving bowl. Let stay in a fridge for 30 min. and enjoy.

Pomegranate Juice from Azerbaijan

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Last week I bought a bottle of pomegranate juice that was made in Azerbaijan (from this Russian store in Philly). I knew there would be a difference between pomegranate juices from there and from the US, but I did not think it would be as big. It immediately reminded me what real pomegranate juice should taste like because I have already forgotten. When I was little, my mom used to squeeze pomegranate juice herself and it tasted like the one I bought, tart and sour with just a little hint of sweetness and incredible aroma. I mean, the US pomegranate juice tastes OK, but only when you try the real thing you do start to realize the difference.

Pomegranate Juice from Azerbaijan