We bought an Ottolenghi meal makings from Riverford a while back, the Portobello mushrooms with butter bean mash and some greens, which was amazing and why I'm working my way through Flavour, the book. The recipes are vegetarian or vegan, but delicious. That recipe I have most of the ingredients as standard.
Before now I've looked at his recipes in his Guardian column and the number of ingredients I would have to buy in and given up.
We tried a Leon recipe for bean burgers earlier this week, served with oven potato and sweet potato wedges and cole slaw.
That is now on the useful recipe list as an alternarive using broad instead of red kidney beans. I put a fried egg on top of the offspring's.
My first Ottolenghi cookbook was Plenty . I have made some of the recipes, but there are so many ingredients that I didn't have.
I bought Simple a couple of years ago, and the recipes in that are more - well, simple, with fewer ingredients, and I have used that much more. Not having a particularly sensitive palate I do not miss the subtleties of the more complicated dishes.
I am very tempted by Flavour - but I think those recipes are a return to his complex spicing.
Nowadays I have most of the spices he uses, but when I fancy trying a new dish it so often has yet another ingredient I can't readily get hold of and, frankly, I don't have storage for more, especially as these days I rarely cook his dishes - they were the ones I prepared for visitors (remember them?).
Hmm. I do have some lamb mince in the freezer, that probably wants eating. His 'Spiced Shepherds Pie with Butterbean Crust' might appear on the menu soon.
There is one feature of the recipe - that of putting the raw veg, garlic and herbs through a food processor so that they are minced but not puréed - that I might carry into other recipes. Cooked up with the mince and spices it produces quite a savoury mix. I can see it making a good pasty/pie filling.
Quick question: Looking at @Firenze 's minced lamb and macaroni recipe, does UK "cornflour" mean NA "corn starch"? To me, Corn flour and corn starch are two different things, in two different containers, in one cupboard. (BTW, the recipe looks very good.)
I think it equates to corn starch - a very fine white powder used in small quantities for thickening, rather than anything in the cornmeal or polenta line.
Ah. Thank you. That's what I suspected. To clarify about my cupboard. There's corn starch (as you describe - a thickening agent); corn meal (for my beloved polenta); and corn flour (which is like wheat flour, but, you know, from corn). I've never tried, but I strongly suspect that corn flour such as I have would not make a good polenta - glue, perhaps.
I use that type of cornflour, labelled corn meal, to make gluten free tortillas - mixed with commercial GF flour. I also have all three in my ingredient collection. Polenta meal is called polenta. (And I have whole corn kernels to make popped corn.)
In Canada, in my experience, the corn meal for polenta isn't labelled "polenta" (though that would be helpful). Usually, you have to know what it looks like and the granularity that you prefer. There may be upscale brands labelled "polenta", but not in the shops I visit. This makes sense, as the granularity of the meal for polenta can also be used in sweet cakes.
Those recipes here are called polenta cakes, and are often the GF cakes offered in cafés.
Cake I made this week was a rhubarb cake. Rhubarb (found yellow stickered) cut up into smaller chunks and left covered with a few tablespoons of brown sugar in the fridge overnight. Drained the liquid off and saved it, made a 2 egg cake mix without sugar (marge/butter, eggs, SR flour with ginger to taste) and mixed in the rhubarb. Baked at Gas mark 5 until skewer came out clean. In the meantime, cooked the drained liquid down to a thick syrup. Poked the skewer in all over the cake and poured over the syrup. It took us a few days to eat and I kept it in the fridge. Custard would have been a nice addition.
Now, you see, here's the problem, Ck: I quite love rhubarb. And ginger. Now you have added to my "to do" list. Please give us the precise quantities. And what is SR flour? Ginger: fresh or ground?
Ground ginger, SR = self-raising flour, which I don't use, I use GF plain flour and add baking powder at roughly a teaspoon per 125g/4oz or half cup of flour.
I didn't really measure, I sort of used cups and mixed by eye. If I was weighing I'd have weighed the eggs and used the same weight of sugar, marge/butter and SR flour as a fairly standard cake mix.
Love rhubarb cake @Curiosity killed. There is an artisan bakery in country NSW which makes a superb version, along with an equally good pear and ginger cake.
A slightly experimental dessert tonight. The last three fresh figs from a batch acquired last weekend, quartered, drizzled with honey, a splash of Topaque wine [a fortified Muscadelle from NE Victoria] warmed for 30 seconds in the microwave, then dolloped with two spoonsful of coconut yoghurt [homemade from a NZ EasiYo sachet]. As a quick variation on my usual baked figs with honey and soft cheese, it worked well.
Since I moved back to Scotland I haven't been able to find what Canadians call "corn meal" - it's what you sprinkle on your baking sheet to give the underside of French sticks that sort of mottled texture.
@A Feminine Force I don't have the exact recipe for the pork shoulder à la Mme Benoît. As I said on the Canadian thread, it's years since I've made it. Treat it as a pot roast, in a way. He'e what I'll be doing on Sunday. Season the roast with salt, pepper and caraway seed. I give the caraway a rough, uneven cracking with a mortar and pestle first. In a large pot or Dutch oven, sear the roast on all side in a bit of oil over medium to medium high heat. Once browned on all sides, add the juice of two lemons and a cup or so of liquid (Mme B used water, I'll be using riesling), and lower the flame. Turn occasionally, checking the level of the liquid to make sure that the pot never goes dry. Cooking time will vary by weight and whether or not it's bone-in. My mother did this stove top, but I think that I'll be doing it in a 300F oven, which strikes me as the better route for bone-in, and requiring less turning, just checking for liquid. And then, of course, make a gravy from the drippings. I'm going full-on 1968 - mashed potatoes, peas, and carrots.
Caraway is an interesting thought - unlikely to be doing a pork roast soon, but shall give it a go with chops or fillets on the bbq. Our usual for pork is to combine salt, pepper and ground allspice with chopped thyme and leave 24 hours if possible. Longer for a roast.
If so, it's via Beck, Bertholle and Child (from memory, we've been doing it for 40 plus years). There's an Elizabeth David inspired variation using a spice mix she gives, having picked it up in Italy. Must dig out the recipe and make up a batch.
@Pangolin Guerre that sounds deeelicious! And so traditional! Let us know how it went? I can see it now in the le Creuset dutch oven all golden and surrounded by happy carrots.
Since I moved back to Scotland I haven't been able to find what Canadians call "corn meal" - it's what you sprinkle on your baking sheet to give the underside of French sticks that sort of mottled texture.
Would it be labelled "polenta" over here?
I think so because one needs cornmeal to make polenta with. In Canada cornmeal is usually yellow but I've seen the white version as well when I lived North Carolina. Hm. Now I'm thinking about shrimp and grits.
Thanks for the cornmeal/polenta advice - I shall hie me to the International Food aisle forthwith.
I understand grits are (is?) a kind of porridge-type thing but made with cornmeal instead of oats.
Am I right in thinking they're served with savoury things as you might have rice or pasta?
Yes.
Traditionally in the South they are served with savoury things or plain with butter. But I love them with brown sugar and cinnamon as well (heresy!). They are like a perfect vehicle for whatever flavor you want to put with them.
When I make shrimp and grits I add Zatarain's crawfish boil to the water. Rib sticking, spicy and hearty.
Though Zatarain's is not available here. I'm thinking of using Inproba's nasi goreng seasoning instead. That would be radical - Indonesian shrimp and grits.
Is this the right place to ask what shrimp and grits is...?
You rang?
Let’s see. To start with grits are similar to polenta. They are a staple of Southern American cuisine—indeed, some would call them the quintessential Southern food—and can be eaten a variety of ways. They’re a common breakfast food, often served with country ham (a smoked and cured ham that is very salty) and red-eye gravy, made from drippings from the ham and coffee. Or they might have cheese, or a variety of other flavorings.
Grits, which are indeed our local porridge, can be made with just water, but I always either use a water-milk mixture or stock or broth. Properly cooked, grits are very creamy, despite the name.
As for shrimp and grits, a pretty standard, and very good recipe (with a picture) can be found here. This is the recipe we always use, such as when our daughter requested shrimp and grits for her birthday dinner in December.
Rossweisse would remind us that in Charleston, grits traditionally were called “hominy”; in the rest of the South, hominy is the term used for corn that’s been treated with alkali (from which grits are often made). She would also remind us that in Charleston, hominy and grits were traditionally a breakfast food, and she would lament that chefs from “away” had come into Charleston and “fancied up” the dish up almost beyond recognition. I recall discussing this with her; I think she found the recipe I linked to above to be similar to what she was used to rather than a fancied up version.
Glad to be of service. Though I have to admit, I realized I didn’t read the recipe I linked to carefully. While it is a representative recipe, and one often used around here, it isn’t actually the one we use. The one we use (and that I discussed with Ross) is a bit simpler.
But mentioning that we had it for my daughter’s birthday reminded me that I posted this earlier in the year:
@Hedgehog, just wanted to let you know that with my birthday approaching, I’ve decided that what I want for my birthday supper is Sauerbraten, so I’ll be using the recipe you passed along in last year’s thread. I am very much looking forward to it!
I should report that sadly the Sauerbraten never happened. Just as we were to get the roast and start marinating, some Life Events occurred that were too much of a distraction to get going on the Sauerbraten. All is well, but it just wasn’t the time for that, so we went with simpler, but still tasty, comfort food on my birthday.
But I have the recipe handy, so am looking to try the Sauerbraten soon.
Is this the right place to ask what shrimp and grits is...?
Off topic: Years ago, a weekend humorous radio show was hosted by Michael Feldman, usually based in Wisconsin (unless he was doing a road show). Part of the show involves callers who can call in to play a quiz or answer a poll or whatever. Anyway, one day the caller was a young man from down south who worked as a chef in a restaurant. Feldman asked what his specialty was.
Man: Shrimp & Grits.
Feldman (who clearly had never heard of the combination before): I'm sorry. Did you say shrimp & grits?
Man: Yes. Do you know what grits are?
Feldman: Yes, I know what grits are. Did you say shrimp & grits?
Man: Yes, shrimp. They are, like, crustaceans...
Feldman: I KNOW WHAT SHRIMP ARE!
Thanks for the cornmeal/polenta advice - I shall hie me to the International Food aisle forthwith.
I understand grits are (is?) a kind of porridge-type thing but made with cornmeal instead of oats.
Am I right in thinking they're served with savoury things as you might have rice or pasta?
Yes.
Traditionally in the South they are served with savoury things or plain with butter. But I love them with brown sugar and cinnamon as well (heresy!). They are like a perfect vehicle for whatever flavor you want to put with them.
When I make shrimp and grits I add Zatarain's crawfish boil to the water. Rib sticking, spicy and hearty.
Though Zatarain's is not available here. I'm thinking of using Inproba's nasi goreng seasoning instead. That would be radical - Indonesian shrimp and grits.
AFF
I suspect that the South Carolina GOP might want a word with you...
Missed the edit window. I had heard of but had no clue what grits were until I started making an annual trip down to the North Carolina, since discontinued. As a breakfast accompaniment with ham and eggs, grits were a bit odd to my taste (and I love polenta), but I grew to quite enjoy grits. BTW, The Outer Banks might be where God goes on vacation.
As a side note, @Nick Tamen mentioned red eye gravy, the defining ingredient of which is black coffee. It occurs in a Finnish recipe for roast lamb (mummon lampaanpaisti=grandma's lamb roast - and, no, no dots over any vowels in this instance).
In my southern family, nobody ever asked if you wanted grits with your breakfast it was a given, just like toast and coffee. They were always severed with butter, never milk or sugar. Grits and shrimp was about as fancy as anyone wanted to get. Cheese grits were just plain a sin on humanity.
Thanks for the cornmeal/polenta advice - I shall hie me to the International Food aisle forthwith.
I understand grits are (is?) a kind of porridge-type thing but made with cornmeal instead of oats.
Am I right in thinking they're served with savoury things as you might have rice or pasta?
Yes.
Traditionally in the South they are served with savoury things or plain with butter. But I love them with brown sugar and cinnamon as well (heresy!). They are like a perfect vehicle for whatever flavor you want to put with them.
When I make shrimp and grits I add Zatarain's crawfish boil to the water. Rib sticking, spicy and hearty.
Though Zatarain's is not available here. I'm thinking of using Inproba's nasi goreng seasoning instead. That would be radical - Indonesian shrimp and grits.
AFF
I suspect that the South Carolina GOP might want a word with you...
I feel as though I should point out that Republican Nikki Haley, born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa, is a child of Indian immigrant parents and was the first female Governor of South Carolina and the second governor of Indian descent in the US (after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana).
More seriously, I will say that the South is actually seeing quite a bit of culinary fusion, as different immigrant groups make their homes here and as they bring their own takes and tastes on Southern food. It really is a thing. Not that the traditional has gone away by any means, but if you know where to look, you can find all kinds of new influences happening.
As for cheese grits being a sin on humanity, @Graven Image, that’s where I’m proud to follow Luther and sin boldly.
@Nick Tamen My only defence is that it has now been (God forgive me) 25 years since my last visit. I'm sure grits masala would be delicious. (Though, politically, neither Jindal nor Haley are to my taste.)
Grits are (grits is?) a favorite dish in the jedi family. Daughter-Unit's first actual food was grits. She grabbed the spoon as I was feeding her. She still loves them!
I have a friend from Michigan who puts milk and sugar on her grits when she orders them at a restaurant. I can't even look at that *mess* without feeling like I'm going to be sick!
@Nick Tamen My only defence is that it has now been (God forgive me) 25 years since my last visit. I'm sure grits masala would be delicious. (Though, politically, neither Jindal nor Haley are to my taste.)
Nor mine, @Pangolin Guerre, nor mine. But please come back to the Outer Banks!
Grits are (grits is?) a favorite dish in the jedi family. Daughter-Unit's first actual food was grits. She grabbed the spoon as I was feeding her. She still loves them!
Sausages and grits have become our default Sunday night supper. Occasionally we’ll do something different, but not too often. Okra or butter beans (lima beans) are a common accompaniment.
We get our grits from a nearby mill that’s been in operation for 260+ years. Course, stoneground organic yellow corn. Absolutely delicious! In fact, given COVID and the sense that we really didn’t need to be taking neighbors anything homemade like we usually do, this past Christmas we gave all the neighbors bags of grits from that mill.
All this talk of sweet grits is interesting. I was going to say that the Elmet household has only ever had the similar savoury polenta often with cheese and nutmeg, served with stew or sausages. I wouldn't have thought of trying it sweetened. But. One of my Mauritian aunts used to make corn cake, thick sweetened cornmeal with sugar and vanilla, cooled and set and cut into squares. You could also buy it at Port Louis market from a man on a bike so it must be A Known Thing not just a family recipe.
When our family used to go camping, at breakfast we always stuffed our selves with grits and scrambled eggs. Two hours later we would begin to climb a mountain. During the hike I ate nothing but apples; I still had food in my stomach from breakfast.
Caraway is an interesting thought - unlikely to be doing a pork roast soon, but shall give it a go with chops or fillets on the bbq. Our usual for pork is to combine salt, pepper and ground allspice with chopped thyme and leave 24 hours if possible. Longer for a roast.
I've tracked down the recipe for a spice mix from Elizabeth David. It's in her book Is There a Nutmeg in the House? at p.95. 3 teaspoons white peppercorns, half a small nutmeg, a teaspoon of juniper berries and a quarter teaspoon of cloves. Grind them to a powder in a coffee mill. Like all of her recipes, it is spot on. We like it with pork, chicken, fish and seafood. It's not our first choice for beef, lamb or duck.
All this talk of sweet grits is interesting. I was going to say that the Elmet household has only ever had the similar savoury polenta often with cheese and nutmeg, served with stew or sausages. I wouldn't have thought of trying it sweetened. But. One of my Mauritian aunts used to make corn cake, thick sweetened cornmeal with sugar and vanilla, cooled and set and cut into squares. You could also buy it at Port Louis market from a man on a bike so it must be A Known Thing not just a family recipe.
My late Uncle Charles was from an old Mauritian family and we would all eat Poudine Maïs on his birthday each year -- it is also popular in Durban restaurants for those who have been to Mauritius on holiday. A sweet pudding or cake made with maize meal, coconut cream, cardamom and fresh vanilla.
Across East Africa and southern Africa we eat a white (not yellow) maize meal that is smoother and more highly refined, as I understand it, than grits. The whole seed is milled, not just the kernel. In Kenya this is called ugali, in Zimbabwe sadza, in Malawi and Zambia nshima and in South Africa, uPhuthu or pap (stywepap or krummelpap is closer to the texture of grits). It is sometimes mixed with millet or cassava.
Oh, @MaryLouise , I love your posts. I know it as "mealie pap". I had forgot that! Served with a bit of nyama choma.* That and a Black Label can be a bit of heaven.
For the other shipmates, for MaryLouise knows this territory better than do I, *nyama choma = roast meat. "Roast" and "meat" are both very broad. I think that the best that I've had was a slightly acidic curry of goat made by a Tanzanian woman. It was grilled, then simmered in a sauce. She allowed that she used limes, but otherwise was not forthcoming on the secrets of her recipe (I suspect kalonji/nigella was also in there as the secret ingredient, certainly ginger root, garlic, onion, tomato, fresh chilis). It's not for nothing that one can say in Swahili, "Ninakupenda kama nyama choma", I love you like roast meat.
...One of my Mauritian aunts used to make corn cake, thick sweetened cornmeal with sugar and vanilla, cooled and set and cut into squares. You could also buy it at Port Louis market from a man on a bike so it must be A Known Thing not just a family recipe.
My late Uncle Charles was from an old Mauritian family and we would all eat Poudine Maïs on his birthday each year -- it is also popular in Durban restaurants for those who have been to Mauritius on holiday. A sweet pudding or cake made with maize meal, coconut cream, cardamom and fresh vanilla...
Ooh, interesting. I haven't had it in years, but then I haven't been through the market for a long time. I may have to attempt making it. Coconut cream and cardamom sound like tasty additions.
@ArachnidinElmet the Poudine Maïs we would buy fresh at the bazaar or market in Port Louis was simpler, with sultanas and dessicated coconut. At home we had it with freshly grated coconut and fresh vanilla (bourbon vanilla pods are harvested in August). This recipe is closer to what I recall. It cooled us down after fiery fish vandaye!
Thanks for that link, @MaryLouise There is some vindaye spice mix in my cupboard at the moment (a different aunt makes a good one with octopus). I can feel a meal coming on.
Vanilla pods (and pale rum) tends to come across to the UK in a suitcase so will have to wait.
My favourite thing about Port Louis Bazaar is people selling food from glass 'fish tanks' mounted on top of push bikes. No need to set up or clean away; just ride up, sell your poudine maïs or Chinese guava or daal puri (gram stuffed flatbread) with butterbean stew, and pedal home.
I've never visited Mauritius, but it figured prominently in my stepfather's memory - he said that it was a paradise for him, and some of his happiest memories before arriving in Canada at the age of 18. His father was an official in the British colonial service, and to avoid any whiff of favouritism for his eldest son, always had him schooled outside his jurisdiction. Mauritius was the exception (sadly, my stepfather spent more time away from the family than with), so to keep my stepfather away from any taint of favouritism, he was sent to a Jesuit school. My stepfather, by his own admission, was no scholar. One day in history class, while they were studying the Reformation, the priest asked something (I forget what, specifically) the answer to which was "the Catholics". My stepfather shot up us hand, confident that he knew the answer. "Yes, Michael," said the kind priest (a very encouraging guy, I was told). Proudly Michael stood and said, "The papists, Father!"
My second experience of Mauritius was in a hotel dining room in Johannesburg. I had arrived at the hotel late on a Sunday evening, and was warned that if I wanted dinner, the kitchen was closing in 15 minutes. I asked that they notify the kitchen that I would be down from my room as soon as possible, and that I'd order quickly. They were very accommodating, I held up my end of the bargain, and I had a very nice meal. It was a large dining room, probably 100 seats. There were maybe a dozen of us sprinkled through the dining room. This was in 2001, and the dining room was an artefact from the Apartheid era, and still laboured under the fashion deprivation of apartheid and sanctions - burgundy carpet, heavy dark wood furniture and panelling, etc. At its centre there was a multiracial table of six. I was having my coffee and brandy at around 10.30, and a woman at the table of six stood, and started singing. It was a beautiful, languid melody, about lying on the beach, under the moon, accompanied by the memory of her lover, as memory lapped ashore. She swayed slightly, like a rhythmic accompaniment. Red gown, matching earrings, the most beautiful skin. When I screwed up the guts to approach her table, she received me graciously, and had the most beautiful accent in French. The table invited me to join them at a jazz club, and would have gone, but I was leaving the following morning.
Since this is about food, I had a grilled squid appetiser, a veal paillard with capers, garlic, white wine, lemon, chillis (sort of a piccata), a bottle of Stellenbosch Sauvignon Blanc (Buitenverwachting?), and coffee and brandy.
@Pangolin Guerre love your JHB experience! My Uncle Charles was from a French Malagasy family and studied for the Catholic priesthood -- he earned extra cash by coaching tennis and fell in love with my aunt when he lent her a copy of Bernardin St-Pierre's 1788 novel Paul et Virginie, star-crossed lovers shipwrecked on Mauritius, then Ile de France. There is a statue of the famous castaways in the Blue Penny Museum on Mauritius. In later years Uncle Charles had a great devotion to the Polish mystic Faustina and would send me letters with recipes for mango fool interspersed with St Faustina's bleak exhortations on the End Times.
I was lucky to be able to spend time on the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Madagascar, the Seychelles and Réunion before they became too expensive as a luxury destination -- each has a specific history and culture with many food traditions in fusion.
Last year our daughter pointed us to the Dishoom cook book, filled with great Indian food recipes. We really love it. This morning we had a particular favourite for breakfast - Masala Beans on toast. It's so simple. Take a can of baked beans, drain off most of the tomato sauce, add some masala sauce (there is a recipe for making bulk quantities of this in the book) and then add some garam masala and half a green chili (chopped). Warm up and serve on toast. Once you've had this, you'll never go back to baked beans on toast again.
Comments
Meanwhile, the Ottolenghi thing turned out rather well - practically the first time I've been really happy with one of his recipes.
Before now I've looked at his recipes in his Guardian column and the number of ingredients I would have to buy in and given up.
We tried a Leon recipe for bean burgers earlier this week, served with oven potato and sweet potato wedges and cole slaw.
That is now on the useful recipe list as an alternarive using broad instead of red kidney beans. I put a fried egg on top of the offspring's.
I bought Simple a couple of years ago, and the recipes in that are more - well, simple, with fewer ingredients, and I have used that much more. Not having a particularly sensitive palate I do not miss the subtleties of the more complicated dishes.
I am very tempted by Flavour - but I think those recipes are a return to his complex spicing.
Nowadays I have most of the spices he uses, but when I fancy trying a new dish it so often has yet another ingredient I can't readily get hold of and, frankly, I don't have storage for more, especially as these days I rarely cook his dishes - they were the ones I prepared for visitors (remember them?).
Hmm. I do have some lamb mince in the freezer, that probably wants eating. His 'Spiced Shepherds Pie with Butterbean Crust' might appear on the menu soon.
Cake I made this week was a rhubarb cake. Rhubarb (found yellow stickered) cut up into smaller chunks and left covered with a few tablespoons of brown sugar in the fridge overnight. Drained the liquid off and saved it, made a 2 egg cake mix without sugar (marge/butter, eggs, SR flour with ginger to taste) and mixed in the rhubarb. Baked at Gas mark 5 until skewer came out clean. In the meantime, cooked the drained liquid down to a thick syrup. Poked the skewer in all over the cake and poured over the syrup. It took us a few days to eat and I kept it in the fridge. Custard would have been a nice addition.
I didn't really measure, I sort of used cups and mixed by eye. If I was weighing I'd have weighed the eggs and used the same weight of sugar, marge/butter and SR flour as a fairly standard cake mix.
A slightly experimental dessert tonight. The last three fresh figs from a batch acquired last weekend, quartered, drizzled with honey, a splash of Topaque wine [a fortified Muscadelle from NE Victoria] warmed for 30 seconds in the microwave, then dolloped with two spoonsful of coconut yoghurt [homemade from a NZ EasiYo sachet]. As a quick variation on my usual baked figs with honey and soft cheese, it worked well.
Would it be labelled "polenta" over here?
AFF
I think so because one needs cornmeal to make polenta with. In Canada cornmeal is usually yellow but I've seen the white version as well when I lived North Carolina. Hm. Now I'm thinking about shrimp and grits.
AFF
White stone-ground cornmeal is used to make spoonbread, a Southern specialty.
I understand grits are (is?) a kind of porridge-type thing but made with cornmeal instead of oats.
Am I right in thinking they're served with savoury things as you might have rice or pasta?
Yes.
Traditionally in the South they are served with savoury things or plain with butter. But I love them with brown sugar and cinnamon as well (heresy!). They are like a perfect vehicle for whatever flavor you want to put with them.
When I make shrimp and grits I add Zatarain's crawfish boil to the water. Rib sticking, spicy and hearty.
Though Zatarain's is not available here. I'm thinking of using Inproba's nasi goreng seasoning instead. That would be radical - Indonesian shrimp and grits.
AFF
Let’s see. To start with grits are similar to polenta. They are a staple of Southern American cuisine—indeed, some would call them the quintessential Southern food—and can be eaten a variety of ways. They’re a common breakfast food, often served with country ham (a smoked and cured ham that is very salty) and red-eye gravy, made from drippings from the ham and coffee. Or they might have cheese, or a variety of other flavorings.
Grits, which are indeed our local porridge, can be made with just water, but I always either use a water-milk mixture or stock or broth. Properly cooked, grits are very creamy, despite the name.
As for shrimp and grits, a pretty standard, and very good recipe (with a picture) can be found here. This is the recipe we always use, such as when our daughter requested shrimp and grits for her birthday dinner in December.
Rossweisse would remind us that in Charleston, grits traditionally were called “hominy”; in the rest of the South, hominy is the term used for corn that’s been treated with alkali (from which grits are often made). She would also remind us that in Charleston, hominy and grits were traditionally a breakfast food, and she would lament that chefs from “away” had come into Charleston and “fancied up” the dish up almost beyond recognition. I recall discussing this with her; I think she found the recipe I linked to above to be similar to what she was used to rather than a fancied up version.
But mentioning that we had it for my daughter’s birthday reminded me that I posted this earlier in the year: I should report that sadly the Sauerbraten never happened. Just as we were to get the roast and start marinating, some Life Events occurred that were too much of a distraction to get going on the Sauerbraten. All is well, but it just wasn’t the time for that, so we went with simpler, but still tasty, comfort food on my birthday.
But I have the recipe handy, so am looking to try the Sauerbraten soon.
Man: Shrimp & Grits.
Feldman (who clearly had never heard of the combination before): I'm sorry. Did you say shrimp & grits?
Man: Yes. Do you know what grits are?
Feldman: Yes, I know what grits are. Did you say shrimp & grits?
Man: Yes, shrimp. They are, like, crustaceans...
Feldman: I KNOW WHAT SHRIMP ARE!
I suspect that the South Carolina GOP might want a word with you...
As a side note, @Nick Tamen mentioned red eye gravy, the defining ingredient of which is black coffee. It occurs in a Finnish recipe for roast lamb (mummon lampaanpaisti=grandma's lamb roast - and, no, no dots over any vowels in this instance).
More seriously, I will say that the South is actually seeing quite a bit of culinary fusion, as different immigrant groups make their homes here and as they bring their own takes and tastes on Southern food. It really is a thing. Not that the traditional has gone away by any means, but if you know where to look, you can find all kinds of new influences happening.
As for cheese grits being a sin on humanity, @Graven Image, that’s where I’m proud to follow Luther and sin boldly.
I have a friend from Michigan who puts milk and sugar on her grits when she orders them at a restaurant. I can't even look at that *mess* without feeling like I'm going to be sick!
Sausages and grits have become our default Sunday night supper. Occasionally we’ll do something different, but not too often. Okra or butter beans (lima beans) are a common accompaniment.
We get our grits from a nearby mill that’s been in operation for 260+ years. Course, stoneground organic yellow corn. Absolutely delicious! In fact, given COVID and the sense that we really didn’t need to be taking neighbors anything homemade like we usually do, this past Christmas we gave all the neighbors bags of grits from that mill.
I've tracked down the recipe for a spice mix from Elizabeth David. It's in her book Is There a Nutmeg in the House? at p.95. 3 teaspoons white peppercorns, half a small nutmeg, a teaspoon of juniper berries and a quarter teaspoon of cloves. Grind them to a powder in a coffee mill. Like all of her recipes, it is spot on. We like it with pork, chicken, fish and seafood. It's not our first choice for beef, lamb or duck.
My late Uncle Charles was from an old Mauritian family and we would all eat Poudine Maïs on his birthday each year -- it is also popular in Durban restaurants for those who have been to Mauritius on holiday. A sweet pudding or cake made with maize meal, coconut cream, cardamom and fresh vanilla.
Across East Africa and southern Africa we eat a white (not yellow) maize meal that is smoother and more highly refined, as I understand it, than grits. The whole seed is milled, not just the kernel. In Kenya this is called ugali, in Zimbabwe sadza, in Malawi and Zambia nshima and in South Africa, uPhuthu or pap (stywepap or krummelpap is closer to the texture of grits). It is sometimes mixed with millet or cassava.
For the other shipmates, for MaryLouise knows this territory better than do I, *nyama choma = roast meat. "Roast" and "meat" are both very broad. I think that the best that I've had was a slightly acidic curry of goat made by a Tanzanian woman. It was grilled, then simmered in a sauce. She allowed that she used limes, but otherwise was not forthcoming on the secrets of her recipe (I suspect kalonji/nigella was also in there as the secret ingredient, certainly ginger root, garlic, onion, tomato, fresh chilis). It's not for nothing that one can say in Swahili, "Ninakupenda kama nyama choma", I love you like roast meat.
Ooh, interesting. I haven't had it in years, but then I haven't been through the market for a long time. I may have to attempt making it. Coconut cream and cardamom sound like tasty additions.
Vanilla pods (and pale rum) tends to come across to the UK in a suitcase so will have to wait.
My favourite thing about Port Louis Bazaar is people selling food from glass 'fish tanks' mounted on top of push bikes. No need to set up or clean away; just ride up, sell your poudine maïs or Chinese guava or daal puri (gram stuffed flatbread) with butterbean stew, and pedal home.
<sigh> Roll on the ability to travel.
Warning: A politically incorrect turn of phrase.
I've never visited Mauritius, but it figured prominently in my stepfather's memory - he said that it was a paradise for him, and some of his happiest memories before arriving in Canada at the age of 18. His father was an official in the British colonial service, and to avoid any whiff of favouritism for his eldest son, always had him schooled outside his jurisdiction. Mauritius was the exception (sadly, my stepfather spent more time away from the family than with), so to keep my stepfather away from any taint of favouritism, he was sent to a Jesuit school. My stepfather, by his own admission, was no scholar. One day in history class, while they were studying the Reformation, the priest asked something (I forget what, specifically) the answer to which was "the Catholics". My stepfather shot up us hand, confident that he knew the answer. "Yes, Michael," said the kind priest (a very encouraging guy, I was told). Proudly Michael stood and said, "The papists, Father!"
My second experience of Mauritius was in a hotel dining room in Johannesburg. I had arrived at the hotel late on a Sunday evening, and was warned that if I wanted dinner, the kitchen was closing in 15 minutes. I asked that they notify the kitchen that I would be down from my room as soon as possible, and that I'd order quickly. They were very accommodating, I held up my end of the bargain, and I had a very nice meal. It was a large dining room, probably 100 seats. There were maybe a dozen of us sprinkled through the dining room. This was in 2001, and the dining room was an artefact from the Apartheid era, and still laboured under the fashion deprivation of apartheid and sanctions - burgundy carpet, heavy dark wood furniture and panelling, etc. At its centre there was a multiracial table of six. I was having my coffee and brandy at around 10.30, and a woman at the table of six stood, and started singing. It was a beautiful, languid melody, about lying on the beach, under the moon, accompanied by the memory of her lover, as memory lapped ashore. She swayed slightly, like a rhythmic accompaniment. Red gown, matching earrings, the most beautiful skin. When I screwed up the guts to approach her table, she received me graciously, and had the most beautiful accent in French. The table invited me to join them at a jazz club, and would have gone, but I was leaving the following morning.
Since this is about food, I had a grilled squid appetiser, a veal paillard with capers, garlic, white wine, lemon, chillis (sort of a piccata), a bottle of Stellenbosch Sauvignon Blanc (Buitenverwachting?), and coffee and brandy.
Death bed memories.
I was lucky to be able to spend time on the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius, Madagascar, the Seychelles and Réunion before they became too expensive as a luxury destination -- each has a specific history and culture with many food traditions in fusion.