Benin

Steve’s flat, Streatham.

5 November 2012.

Having failed to write this review at the time, it’s not going to be easy to remember what it was like nearly 3 years later, so just enjoy the photos and maybe make the recipes and then let us know what it was like…

Crabe Béninoise

Jollof rice

Banana thingy

Recipes

Crabe Béninoise

• 2 eggs
• 3 spring onions, chopped
• Garlic clove, chopped finely
• 1/2lb white and brown crab meat
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bird’s eye chili, seeded and chopped
• White breadcrumbs from 2 slices
• Stick celery, chopped finely
• Few springs parsley, chopped
• Mango, diced
• 2 avocados, diced
• 1/2 lime

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Beat eggs lightly. Stir in crab, onion, tomatoes, parsley, celery, garlic, chili andhalf the  breadcrumbs, and season.

Spoon into ramekins and sprinkle remaining breadcrumbs on top.

Bake for 30 minutes until set and golden on top.

Meanwhile, combine the avocado and mango, and squeeze over the lime juice. Refrigerate and serve with the crab pots.

Jollof Rice

A one-pot main course dish of rice and vegetables.

• 400g tin black-eyed beans
• 2 aubergines
• 3 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 bird’s eye chilis, roasted and chopped
• 10 tomatoes
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp West African curry powder
• Hot pepper sauce
• 3l water
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1.5 tbsp tomato puree
• 500g carrots, sliced
• 500g green beans
• 320g rice

Slice and salt aubergines and leave to drain in colander.

Heat oil in pan and fry aubergine, 1 tsp of onion, half the ginger, half the chili, half the garlic and the pepper. Remove aubergine when browned, then add remaining onion, ginger, chili, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, cayenne pepper and curry powder. Stir and add hot pepper sauce if required.

Simmer for 10 minutes then add balck-eyed beans, carrots, rice and water.

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 mins, then add green beans and aubergine. Simmer for 15 mins uncovered, then another 20 mins covered.

Belize

Joe & Sophie’s flat, Deptford

20 September 2012.

Off to Deptford this time, not to a representative restaurant unfortunately, but to Joe & Sophie’s new flat. Given that Belize has a well-defined and interestingly varied cuisine, it was a shame not to be able to find a find a restaurant that serves in it London, when there seem to be several of them in American cities. At least we weren’t short of recipes to attempt.

First up was Sophie’s “Panadas”, which were a kind of deep-fried empanada filled with tuna and green peppers. These were served with a fabulous “salsa”, actually a cabbage and coriander salad raised to divine levels by the addition of lime juice. The panadas were pretty good too.

Panadas

For main course, Joe made a chicken and onion stew lifted out of the ordinary by a sauce that featured white wine vinegar, lime juice, cloves and allspice and gave the whole thing a thoroughly pickled flavour. It was unusual and delicious, but ultimately a bit too intense to be polished off by all of us.

The Belize speciality – chicken and onion stew

 

Finally, for dessert, an unlikely pudding called sweet potato pone. Also popular in Jamaica, there are myriad variations on the recipe with wildly differing quantities of each ingredient. I tried for an average of the Belizean versions I found on the web, and the result was really quite good, even if it didn’t solidify in the oven as I’d hoped.

Finally we washed it down with a Belizean version of ‘michelada’, a spiced beer. Not quite the right drink to follow what was quite a spicy main, but it was nevertheless curiously satisfying.

Overall, I’m not sure I’d make any of the dishes again in quite the same way, but the michelada is definitely worth a try.

Food: 3/5

Recipes

Sweet potato pone… nicer than it looks…

Sweet Potato Pone

• 900g sweet potatoes, grated
• 60g butter, melted
• 450g dark brown sugar
• 600ml (1.5 cans) coconut milk
• 300ml (0.5 cans) evaporated milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g raisins
• 2 tbsp grated root ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon/nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 220ºC.

Mix the grated sweet potato with the sugar and coconut milk in a large bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved, then add the evaporated milk, butter, ginger, vanilla, raisins and cinnamon. Mix well and pour into a 9”x11” baking dish.

Bake for 30 mins, then lower heat to 180ºC and bake for another 30 mins.

Michelada

• 1 Mexican/Belizean beer bottle
• 1/4 lime
• 2 splash tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
• 1 splash Worcestershire sauce
• Pinch black pepper

Fill a tall glass with ice. Squeeze in the lime and drop it in. Add sauces and pepper. Pour in beer, stir and serve.

Belgium

Brouge at The Old Goat, 241 Hampton Road, TW2 5NG.

Visited 24 August 2012

This was a very English-feeling country pub, with a menu that nodded towards Belgium rather than rushing up and shaking it firmly by the hand. Joe & Sophie had Waterzooi, the one clearly Belgian dish on the menu, and Steve had sausage and mash, which earned its Belgian spurs by substituting stoempe (a mash of potato, carrot and other root vegetables) for mash.

Waterzooi & Delirium Tremens

The beers were authentically Belgian though, which came as a saving grace. We tried Kwak, Duvel, Leute, Delerium Tremens, and Chimay.

Beers

Food 2/5

Atmos 1/5

Belarus

Steve’s house, Streatham

17 June 2012

A special occasion this, since we had our first-ever guest chef – Steve’s Belarussian friend Alina. She proposed the following menu:

As starter, Draniki with sour cream: http://www.belarusianfood.com/2009/05/draniki.html

This, says Alina, is the iconic Belarussian dish. She served it with a side order of grechka, fried onion and mushrooms. Very nice indeed, a promising start.

Cooking grechka

For main: Kalduni, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalduny, but a modern variation of it, using mashed potato instead of unleavened dough, and baked instead of boiled, and with a minced meat filling. This turned out OK in the end, though it didn’t look so good during preparation.

Kalduni

For dessert: Syrniki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrniki, which were served with raspberries, blueberries and cream. Delicious.

Syrniki

Finally there was a rum-and-orange cocktail Krambambula, the signature Belarussian drink.

Alina explains: “Belarussian cuisine is heavily potato, buckwheat, dairy and mushroom-based, so these dishes would be a fair representation of what’s been going on food-wise for generations. Salads in Belarus tend to be quite plain, just some vegetables cut in pieces with a dash of oil and vinegar or sour cream.”

Food: 4/5