Multi-cultural Recipes

Greece

According to Diane Kochilas in The Food and Wine of Greece: More than 300 Classic and Modern Dishes from the Mainland and Islands of Greece (St. Martin’s Press, 1990), very few people outside of Greece experience true Greek cooking. Essentially, she states, “Greek cuisine is country cookery at its best, home-based, dependent on the seasons, and often passed on it nothing more than a calligraphic hand in a ragged notebook from grandmother to mother to daughter” (xi). This marvelous venture into Greek food covers a broad spectrum of dishes. In keeping with the coming of spring, please enjoy the following recipes:

Tzatziki (Yogurt, Cucumber, and Garlic Dip)
(page 84)

Ingredients:
1 32-ounce container plain yogurt*
1 large cucumber
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill or fresh mint
3 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
salt, to taste

Instructions:
1. Empty yogurt into a large square of doubled cheesecloth. Tie at the top and elt hang to drip for 2 hours, until yogurt thickens and is strained. Place yogurt “cheese” in a medium sized bowl. You should have about 1 ½ cups.

2. Peel and grate cucumber. Taking a little at a time between the palms of your hand, squeeze as hard as possible until water is removed. Add to yogurt cheese.

3. Mix in garlic, dill, olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Combine all ingredients well. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve with warmed pita.

Yield: about 2 cups

*Note: In place of strained yogurt, use a mixture of ¾ cup plain, unstrained yogurt and ¾ cup sour cream, if desired.

Patatosalata (Traditional Greek Potato Salad)
(page 100)

Ingredients:
2 pounds small new potatoes, boiled, halved and sliced
15-20 kalamata olives, rinsed and well drained
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced into rings
3-4 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
2 tablespoons quality red wine vinegar
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon dried oregano or thyme

Instructions:
1. In a medium-sized serving bowl, combine potatoes, olives, and onion.

2. In a small jar, shake together olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and oregano and pour over salad. Serve cold or at room temperature.

In The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Learned From Your Grandmother, author Jeff Smith traces a number of recipes that he considers to be typical of a country’s cuisine as represented on American soil by immigrant descendents. This cookbook is a broad collection, which covers recipes from a range of origins, including sections on Armenian to Filipino to Latvian to Puerto Rican to Swedish to cuisine from the former country of Yugoslavia. The recipes range from the super simple to the extremely complex, and in general result in a delicious meal.

Cuba

Cuba is located 90 miles south of the tip of Florida, and Cuban immigration to the land that became the United States began as early as 1565 when St. Augustine, Florida, was established and hundreds of Spanish/Cuban soldiers moved to settle there. According to the 2000 Census, 1,241,685 Cuban Americans live in the United States, representing 3.5 percent of the all Hispanics in the U.S. Although Cuban Americans live all over the country, the largest clusters of Cuban Americans live in a number of cities in Florida, North Jersey, and New York.

Cuban cuisine in general is a fusion of Spanish, African and Caribbean cooking, with prominent spices, a strong rice and bean presence, a complex dessert culture due to the island’s sugar industry, and regional influences based on settlement patterns around the island. For example, Eastern Cuban cuisine reflects Caribbean influences, highlighting the flavors of garlic, cumin, onion, Cuban oregano and bay leaves, but using almost no peppers. Western Cuban cuisine reflects a stronger European and Asian influence, with a greater use of flour, eggs, sauces, and an emphasis on sweet and sour combinations.

Source: Wikipedia.com

In The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten From Your Grandmother, Jeff Smith provides a simple version of a delicious and totally satisfying Cuban meal, which can be morphed into a another standard meal with the addition of white rice, called Moros y Cristianos. (p. 110-111)

Ingredients
1 pound dried black beans, rinsed
4 cups water
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 medium green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
¼ pound salt pork, chopped
1 pound smoked ham hocks, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves
4 cups Chicken Stock
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Wash the beans and place them in a 6-quart stovetop casserole with 4 cups water. Cover and boil 2 minutes; shut off the heat and let stand 1 hour.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, except the vinegar, salt and pepper, cover, and simmer 2 hours until the beans are tender. You may have to add a bit of fresh water to the pot as the beans should be just covered with water when you begin the second cooking stage. At completion, debone the hocks, chop up the meat, and return it to the pot.
3. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and heat through.

To morph this dish into Moros y Cristianos, take 1 cup of the Cuban Black Beans and drain for a moment in a colander. Combine with 2 cups of fresh-cooked long grain rice. Stir until evenly incorporated and serve.

Ireland

These recipes come from his section on The Irish Immigrants, who rank as the third largest immigrant group to America, after the English and the Germans; today, at least 40 million Americans claim Irish heritage. The Irish have been among America’s immigrant population since the beginning of colonization, but a huge number of Irish immigrants came in the mid-19th century in the wake of the potato famine in Ireland, and continued into the early 20th century.

These simple, tasty dishes are among those that sustained the Irish once they arrived on America’s shores.

Smith, Jeff. The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Learned From Your Grandmother (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1990).

Serves 8

Ingredients
1 ½ pounds pork sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ½ pounds smoked ham, cut into 1-inch dice
1 quart boiling water
2 large yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Place the sausage and ham in the boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.
2. Drain, but reserve the liquid.
3. Place the meat into a large saucepan (or an ovenproof dish) with the onions, potatoes, and parsley. Add enough of the stock to not quite cover the contents.
4. Cover the pot and simmer gently for about 1 hour, or until the liquid is reduced by half and all the ingredients are cooked but not mushy. You may need to remove the lid during the last half of the cooking process.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve hot with the vegetables on top, fresh Irish Soda Bread and a glass of stout.

Irish Soda Bread (p. 214)

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients
6 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups buttermilk

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix very well.
3. Pour all of the buttermilk into the bowl at once and stir, using a wooden spoon, just until a soft dough is formed. Do not try to make it smooth at this point.
4. Pour the contents of the bowl out onto a counter and knead for a minute or so until everything comes together.
5. Divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a round loaf, pressing the top down a bit to just barely flatten it. Place the loaves on a large ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle some additional flour on top of each loaf and, using a sharp paring knife, make the sign of the Cross in slashes on the top of each.
6. Allow the loaves to rest for 10 minutes and then bake on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes, or until the loaves are golden brown and done to taste.
7. Cool on racks.

Hungary

This recipe comes from his section on The Hungarian Immigrants, who began immigrating to the United States in the late 1800s through the period of World War I. According to Smith, “nearly two million Americans claim Hungarian ancestry.”

The following deliciously simple, but intensely flavorful recipe is published in Jeff Smith’s The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten From Your Grandmother (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1990), p. 178.

Serves 4-6

3-4 tablespoons freshly rendered lard or oil
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
3 yellow onions, peeled and chopped
1 3 ½ pound chicken, cut into 8 serving pieces
1 cup chicken stock
1 medium tomato, diced
2 Anaheim or Cubanelle green peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
2 closes garlic, peeled and crushed

Thickening:
½ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. Heat a 6 quart heavy stove-top casserole and add the lard or oil and paprika.
2. Sauté the paprika for about 1 minute and add the onions. Saute for a few minutes and add the remaining ingredients, except for the thickening, to the pot.
3. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 45-60 minutes, or until all is tender.
4. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside.
5. Mix the sour cream and flour well, using a wire whisk. Add 1 cup of the gravy from the pot to the cream and stir well to avoid lumps.
6. Stir this mixture into the pot and stir while it thickens. Return the chicken to the pot and restore the heat.
7. Serve over Hungarian Dumplings or egg noodles.

“Chowder is greater than the sum of its parts,” extols White, who adds “it is the singular flavor created by the combination of these foods that will dominate” (27). Simple, fresh ingredients combine to create a sublime taste experience.

The following recipe is published in Jasper White’s 50 Chowders: One-Pot Meals – Clam, Corn & Beyond. Scribner, 2000, pages 79-81. Please consult this book for excellent recipes for Strong Fish Stock (page 58), Traditional Fish Stock (page 60), and Chicken Stock (page 72).

Ingredients:
4 ounces meaty salt pork, rind removed and cut into 1/3-inch dice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions (14 ounces), cut into ¾ inch dice
6 to 8 sprigs fresh summer savory or thyme, leaves removed and chopped (1 tablespoon)
2 dried bay leaves
2 pounds Yukon Gold, Maine, PEI, or other all-purpose potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/3 inch thick
5 cups fish stock, chicken stock, or water
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 pounds skinless haddock or cod fillets, preferably over 1 inch thick, pinbones removed
1 ½ to 2 cups heavy cream

Garnish:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Instructions:
1. Heat the pot over low heat and add the diced salt pork. Once it has rendered a few tablespoons of fat, increase the heat to medium and cook until the pork is a crisp golden brown. Using slotted spoon, transfer the cracklings to a small overproof dish, leaving fat in pot.

2. Add the butter, onions, savory or thyme, and bay leaves to the pot and sauté, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for about 8 minutes, until the onions are softened by not browned.

3. Add the potatoes and stock If stock does not cover the potatoes, add just enough water to cover them. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, cover, and cook the potatoes vigorously for about 10 minutes, until they are soft on the outside but still firm in the center. If the stock hasn’t thickened lightly, smash a few of the potato slices against the side of the pot and cook for a minute or two longer to release their starch. Reduce the heat to low and season assertively with salt and pepper (you want almost overseason the chowder at this point to avoid having to stir it much once the fish is added). Add the fish fillets and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat and allow the chowder to sit for 10 minutes (the fish will finish cooking during this time).

4. Gently stir in the cream and taste for salt and pepper. If you are not serving the chowder within the hour, let it cool a bit, then refrigerate; cover the chowder after it has chilled completely. Otherwise, let it sit for up to an hour at room temperature, allowing the flavors to meld.

5. When ready to serve, reheat the chowder over low heat; don’t let it boil. Warm the cracklings in a low oven (200 degrees F) for a few minutes.

6. Use a slotted spoon to mound the chunks of fish, the onions, and potatoes in the center of large soup plates or shallow bowls, and ladle the creamy broth around. Scatter the cracklings over the individual servings and finish each with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and minced chives.