Italian Flavours in Venice

Credit photos: Andra Dănilă

Pizza

Italian pasta

Prosciuto con melone - a traditional Italian anti-pasti  (an appetiser before the main course)

And, of course, gelato (ice cream)! The word gelato is derived from the Latin word "gelātus" (which means frozen). Gelato is made with milk, cream, sugar, and flavoring such as fresh fruit, chocolate, nut purees. In ancient Rome, in Egypt or in Sicily, people made frozen desserts from the snow and ice brought down from mountaintops. The first ice cream machine was perfected in 1686 by a Sicilian fisherman, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli. But the popularity of gelato among larger shares of population only increased in 1920s - 1930s in Varese, a city from Northern Italy, where the first gelato cart was developed.

Indonesian Cuisine

Credit photos Andra Dănilă

Indonesia is an archipelago comprising more than 13,000 islands. 6,000 islands are populated by 238 million people, making it the world's fourth most populous country. It is the largest archipelagic state in the world, by area and population. Indonesia consists of hundreds of distinct ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest ethnic group are the Javanese. 

Indonesian cuisine varies by region and is based on Chinese, Spanish, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian precedents. The main Indonesian cooking methods are frying, grilling, stir frying, boiling and steaming.

Main ingredients for Indonesian dishes are:

Rice holds the central place in Indonesian culture. Rice is often eaten as plain rice with just a few protein and vegetable dishes as side dishes. Rice can be served cooked in coconut milk, sometimes with turmeric, steamed in woven packets of coconut fronds or in banana leaves, as rice crackers, desserts, noodles, rice wine, fried rice (nasi goreng, considered the national dish of Indonesia).

Indonesian traditional meals usually consist of nasi (steamed rice) as staple, surrounded by sayur-mayur (vegetables and soup) and lauk-pauk (meat or fish side dishes). Each dishes are placed in piring saji or separate communal large plates or bowls.

Wheat is not a native plant to Indonesia, Indonesians began to use it for wheat-based foods, Chinese noodles, Indian roti, and Dutch bread. Indonesia is one of the world's major producer and consumer of instant noodle, and instant noodle has become a staple in Indonesian households for quick hot meal.

Vegetables are widely used in Indonesian cuisine: spinach, water spinach, genjer (yellow lettuce), melinjo, papaya, beans, eggplants, cassava leaves, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers.  They are eaten raw, in salads, in soups, sautted with garlic, in stir fries, curries or boiled.

Meat: poultry (mostly chicken and duck), beef, water buffalo, goat and mutton. The meat can be fried, grilled, cooked as soup, cooked in coconut milk or can be processed to be thinly-sliced and dried, or made into abon (meat floss).

Seafood, a lot of seafood (it is quite normal for an archipelagic country): tuna, milkfish, mackerel, anchovy, swordfish, shark, shrimp, crab, mussel, and so on. Seafood are usually being grilled, boiled, fried or in a soup.

Peanuts are widely used in many Indonesian dishes to garnish many dishes, in marinades and dipping sauces. Peanut oil is one of the most commonly used cooking oils in Indonesia.  Coconut milk is used in many recipes from savoury dihes to desserts. There are two types of coconut milk, thin coconut milk and thick coconut milk. The difference depends on the water and oil content. Thin coconut milk is usually used for soups, while the thicker variety is used for desserts.

Spices and other flavorings are often used for Indonesian dishes: nutmeg or clove (native spices to Indonesia), black pepper, turmeric, lemongrass, shallot, cinnamon, coriander, tamarind (from India), ginger, and garlic (from China).

Here are some dishes my daughter, Andra, tasted during her journey to Indonesia:

Java

Bali

Martinique - sun, sea and good food

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, an overseas region of France. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus.  He sighted the island in 1493 and finally landed on 15 June 1502.

Martinique's cuisine reflects its many cultures. Creole and French cuisine dominate Martinique's culinary landscape (the island had been under French possession since 1635). Other influences are from African, East Indian and Southeast Asian cookery.

Many dishes rely on seafood (after all, Martinique is an island): fresh seafood, smoked fish, shellfish, stuffed crabs, salted cod, conch, octopus, blaff (boiled fish with chives). The national dish is court-bouillon (fish in a spicy tomato sauce)

There is a great variety of locally grown fruits (bananas, coconuts, guava, love apples, passion fruit, pineapples, mangoes) and vegetables (breadfruit, gumbo, manioc, chinese cabbage, yams, yellow squash).

The most important local drink is rum which often precede a meal.You can drink rum in different combinations: 'Ti punch (white rum with a twist of lemon sweetened with cane sugar), planteur (fruit juice and rum) or shrubb (rum with marinated orange or tangerine rinds). Other drinks are French wines and beer.

Here are some local dishes my friend, Oana Maria, choose during her summer holiday in Martinique:

Assiette du Cocotier -raw fish with coconut milk and onions, shrimp croquettes, banana puree and grilled salads:

\

Assiette Langustine - grilled lobster, stuffed crabs (crabmeat mixed together with herbs and spices, stuffed within the shell of a crab), clams, shrimp, rice and salad:

Grilled Dorada, chief tells shrimp, salad, fried vegetables;

Grilled tuna, mashed sweet fried vegetables and then sauce:

Shrimp with creole sauce, rice and vegetables:

The lobster from Ti Sable restaurant:

The best meal was a DIY one: Dorada fish, St Jaques scallops and calf meat grilled on a piece of volcanic rock.

As for dessert:

Caramelized bananas with rum and brown sugar:

Flan Coco - creme brûlée with coconut milk:

And for drink, sometimes beer with lime:

Bon appetit!

Food in Daily Lif

Argentinian Drinks: Mate

Mate, also known as yerba mate, chimarrão or cimarrón, is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, particularly in Argentina (where it is considered as the "national infusion"), Uruguay, Paraguay and Southern Brazil and less in southern Chile, Bolivia, Syria and Lebanon.

Mate is made from yerba mate (llex paraguariensis) leaves, similar to tea, steeped in hot water and drunk through a metal straw.

Mate is like an herb tea, and everywhere friends slow down and share mate. This is as much a social experience as it is a way to quench a thirst.   

Mate tastes like a very bitter Asian green tea.  The traditional mate is consumed without sugar, but some drinkers (especially the younger generation) like to add sugar or honey, creating mate doce (sweet mate), instead of mate amargo (sugarless, bitter mate).  
Mate was first consumed by the Guaraní people and also spread by the Tupí people who lived in that part of southern Brazil which was Paraguayan territory before the Paraguayan War. The Guaraní have a legend that says the Goddesses of the Moon and the Cloud came to the Earth one day to visit it, but they instead found a yaguareté (jaguar) that was going to attack them. An old man saved them, and, in compensation, the goddesses gave the old man a new kind of plant, from which he could prepare a "drink of friendship".

In Buenos Aires, people drink mate every day, alone or with friends. They drink it in winter as a hot drink and in summer as a cold drink made with iced water or with fruit juice (sometimes called tereré).

If a person offers you their mate, it is a sign of respect. Mate is shared from the same cup, using the same straw, person to person. Sharing mate with another person is all about friendships. And there is an etiquette to the sharing of the mate.

Mate is traditionally drunk in a particular social setting, such as family gatherings or with friends. The same gourd (cuia) and straw (bomba/bombilla) are used by everyone drinking. One person (cebador) assumes the task of server. Typically, the cebador fills the gourd and drinks the mate completely to ensure that it has a good quality. In some places, passing the first brew of mate to another drinker is considered bad manners, as it may be too cold or too strong; for this reason, the first brew is often called mate del zonzo (mate of the fool). The cebador refills the gourd and passes it to the drinker to the right, who likewise drinks it all (there is not much; the mate is full of yerba, with room for little water), without thanking the server. When one has had one's fill of mate, he politely thanks the cebador, passing the mate back at the same time. The cebador possibly drinks the second filling, as well, if he or she deems it too cold or bitter. The loud sucking noise made by the straw when no more tea remains is not considered rude. The ritual proceeds around the circle in this fashion until the mate becomes lavado, typically after the gourd has been filled about 10 times or more, depending on the yerba used and the ability of the cebador. No one has to  take too long, others in the roda (round) will likely politely warn him by saying "bring the talking gourd" (cuia de conversar).

Traditionally, natural gourds are used, though wood vessels, bamboo tubes and gourd-shaped mates, made of ceramic or metal (stainless steel or even silver) are also common. The gourd is traditionally made out of the porongo or cabaça fruit shell. Gourds are commonly decorated with silver, sporting decorative or heraldic designs with floral motifs.

Food from Argentina: Empanadas

An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried filled with a variety of fillings. The stuffing usually consists of a variety of meat, cheese, huitlacoche, vegetables or fruits, among others.

There are different national variants in many countries in Southern Europe, Latin America, the Southwestern United States and parts of Southeast Asia. Empanadas trace their origins to Galicia (Spain) and Portugal. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread.

They first appeared in medieval Iberia during the time of the Moorish invasions. Empanadas filled with seafood are mentioned in a cookbook  published in Catalan in 1520 among the recipes of Catalan, Italian, French, and Arabian food. Empanadas are believed to be derived from the Indian meat-filled pies, samosas. All these pastries have common origins in India and the Middle East.

Empanadas are very popular and consumed throughout Argentina, often served at parties as a starter or main course. They arrived in Argentina some centuries ago and today they can be easily found in little pizzerías as well as in many restaurants.

The dough is usually of wheat flour and beef drippings with fillings differing from province to province. It is chicken, ground or cubed beef, perhaps spiced with cumin, paprika or pepper; others including onion, boiled egg, olives or raisins. They may also contain ham, fish, humita (sweetcorn withwhite sauce) or spinach. Empanadas can be baked (Salta-style) or fried (Tucuman-style). The  dessert empanada has a fruit filling.

In big cities, empanadas are more commonly eaten as take-away food, sourced from restaurants specializing in this dish. They usually carry dozens of different varieties, which is not the case in northern provinces, where empanadas are usually made at home, with more traditional recipes.

During Lent and Easter, empanadas de Cuaresma filled with fish (usually dogfish or tuna) are popular. Also popular are the so-called Arabian empanadas, filled with beef, tomatoes, onion, and lemon juice, similar to the fatayer made in the Levant.

Every region in Argentina has its own style:

The Tucuman Province is home to the National Empanada Festival, held each September. They have three traditional varieties: beef, mondongo (tripe), and chicken, although mondongo and chicken are the most traditional. Spring onions, pimento, and vinegar are often added to the meat, while potatoes, peas, and olives are used only rarely. The dough is a simple mixture of flour, water, and lard.

The Salta Province produces empanadas salteñas, tend to be smaller than the Tucuman variety and are prepared without the addition of fats or oils. In addition to the usual flavors, they also have spicy beef. Fillings often include potato, egg, red pepper, and green onion.

Jujuy offers beef, chicken, goat, and even llamas. They put chili, onion, and peas in their empanadas.

The empanadas from Córdoba are sweet and made white sugar, beef, raisins, potatoes, and olives.

Catamarca and La Rioja, provinces in western Argentina, are often made with garlic, potatoes, ground beef, onions, and olives.

Entre Rios has a special empanada that is stuffed with milk-soaked rice.

In Corrientes, Misiones and Formosa, the empanadas are sometimes made with mandioc flour.

La Pampa has empanadas that reflect the tastes of its neighbors (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Patagonia); fillings commonly include red peppers, carrots, hard-boiled egg, and currants.

In Patagonia, the most common filling is lamb. On the coast, seafood empanadas are also quite common.