Eating with Grandpa Apap
Around the World in fusion and confusion This is a sort of lighthearted culinary diary. The author says straight away that it is not a cookbook. It is more an account of enjoyable food shared with family and friends. The meals are cooked by Peter, who enjoys making lunch on a daily basis – he says it is because his wife Alaine likes her lunches – and the photographs are taken by him with his iPhone.
A typical example of Peter’s eclectic mode and his pleasure in ethnic cuisines which he loves to share with his family and friends is: Asian Feast
Friday 8 June 2018
From Tuesday 6 June until Saturday, we were delighted with a visit from Kate and Thomas. It was a wonderful week for Alaine and me. Thomas is now thirteen, nearly as tall as his father. We are very proud of him. And of course Kate was her usual loving and witty self. She is a great cook and we were treated to a splendid Asian feast of pearl balls, wontons/dumplings, and spring rolls, cooked by Kate and Thomas. Kate writes: “This is a variation of a recipe created by Shiu-min Block – hers are meaty. I made this alternative for my husband fishiterian Dominic”.
PEARL BALLS RECIPE
Ingredients
• 500g minced fish – anything will work
• pearl rice – short grained white
• garlic
• ginger
• chilli
• lemon grass
• coriander
• onion/scallion all the above finely minced
• egg
• sherry
• black vinegar
• soy/tamari
• thai sweet chilli sauce
METHOD
In a bowl, mix together the minced fish, and all of the finely minced fresh ingredients. Add the egg and then the sauces to taste. You can leave them to marinate for a while
With a fork, scoop up a bitesized amount of the mixture and shape it into a ball in your hand
Roll the ball lightly in the pearl rice (on a plate) so it clings to the outside
Place carefully in a steamer lined with lettuce leaves. Allow space around the balls
To cook, steam rapidly for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender and the fish cooked through
You can serve direct from steamer
Ingredients for dipping sauce
• fish sauce, soy sauce, honey, flattened clove of garlic mix together
Poussin and Vegetable Couscous
Couscous is made with hard wheat semolina and sometimes with barley or, in Tunisia, with green wheat. It is a traditional North African dish, which was discovered by the French in the reign of Charles X during the conquest of Algeria (1830-1847). Larousse describes its uses with fish, meat and vegetables. Poussin recipe Ingredients 2 small poussins
3 tbsps light olive oil 2 onions grated
2 garlic cloves squeezed 2 tsps cinnamon
¼ tsp ginger
½ tsp turmeric salt
2 tbsps honey Ingredients for the stuffing
• 500g fine couscous
• salt
• 3 tbsps light olive oil
• 1½ tsps cinnamon
• 2-3 tbsps ilma żahar
• 3 tbsps raisins soaked in
• warm water for 10 minutes
• 125g blanched split almonds
METHOD
Moisten the couscous with 600mls warm salted water, stir well so that it is evenly absorbed. Make sure that you break down any lumps that may form.
After 5 minutes stir in 3 tbsps of oil, the cinnamon, and the the ilma żahar
Drain the raisins, and add to the couscous
Fry the almonds in the remaining oil, and mix the into the couscous
The mixture is now ready to stuff into the birds. Do not overfill, if too tightly packed the poussin may burst. Use cocktail sticks to close the sides
In a wide and heavy saucepan put the 3 tablespoons of oil, the grated onions, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric or saffron, and salt
Add 300mls water, and the poussins. Simmer gently covered for about 40 minutes, until the birds are tender, adding more water if necessary
Turn the birds over at least once, ending up breast down, so that they are well-impregnated with the sauce and its flavours
Lift one out, and stir in the honey, then return the bird to the pan, and continue to cook until the flesh is at melting tenderness, and can be easily pulled off the bone
Prepare the remaining couscous by placing in a clean kitchen cloth, and place on a steamer to steam
VEGETABLE COUSCOUS RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
• large onion, roughly sliced
• 150g chickpeas
• 1 ġidra cubed
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1 red bell pepper sliced
• 1 fennel cut into 8
• 150g frozen ful, peeled
• 2 tomatoes peeled & quartered
• slice of pumpkin roughly cut
• 1 qarabala halved & roughly cut
• 3 frozen artichoke hearts quartered
• bunch parsley chopped
• bunch coriander chopped
• salt & pepper
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp allspice
• ½ ginger
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ¼ tsp chilli
• harissa for the sauce
METHOD
Drain the chickpeas, place in a pot, cover with clear water twice the level of the chickpeas, bring to the boil, simmer for half an hour, until soft, then add salt and drain, place in another level of the steamer
Place all the vegetables in a pot at the lower level of the steamer, cover with water and bring to the boil. Remove scum after boiling, reduce heat, add the spices, and the chopped parsley and coriander
Prepare the harissa sauce adding 6 tablespoons of the vegetable juice, and pour some of the remaining vegetable juice in another sauce boat to accompany
In a large earthenware casserole place all the ingredients, starting with the vegetables and placing the poussins on top
The couscous is served in a separate dish, using a fork to separate the grains, as well as the chickpeas The book is attractively designed and produced to a high standard by Gutenberg Press. The cover was specially painted by George Large. The price is €25, and the book is available at leading bookshops, BDL, and the Salesian Press.