International Food

I am always looking for new recipes for my family and chicken is always the protein of choice in our house. Truthfully I think my kids have gotten a bit tired of Moroccan food and so branching out is a must. We are big fans of food from the rest of the region and the further Middle East. While I was making a list of foods we loved and wanted to try I realized why not share them with you?!

I tried to choose recipes that represent multiple countries across North Africa and the Middle East. I’ve left off Turkish and Persian dishes because…they’re not Arabic countries or cultures, even though it’s all lumped together often times.

These 10 easy chicken recipes are going to change up your chicken game!

Until a few years ago, I was not a fan of Spanish cuisine. Truthfully I really had no idea what “Spanish” food was aside from paella. Rumor had it that the flavors were dull and pork reigned supreme. There might be some truth to that but with many visits to Spain under my belt now I have come to appreciate just how varied and wonderful the culinary culture is – even if I don’t eat pork.

In December my friend and travel partner in crime Sofie of Wonderful Wanderings was going to Seville to take a Spanish language course. Seville is a 1 hour flight from Marrakech and easily one of my favorite places on Earth. Seriously. So, when she asked if I might want to come to visit while she was there the answer was obvious. Heck yes!

I knew she would have classes every morning and while I could have opted to just lazy about the apartment I realized I could use this time to do something I really wanted. I love cooking but it has been a long time since I really challenged myself to learn a new cuisine. Most of my cooking of late is either making meals at home for the family or tinkering with Moroccan recipes. This was an opportunity to really go in depth with Andalucian cuisine hands on. I’ve always wanted to learn more about this region’s cuisine because of the combination of Arabic and European influences that make it up.

I reached out to Not Just a Tourist, a company I had previously done a food tour with in Seville to see if they could help with my special request. I didn’t just want a few hour class, and I didn’t want a class where I was just cutting onions. I really wanted to spend several days immersed and cooking a wide variety of dishes.

That is exactly what I got.

On my first day it was a trip to the market to pick up the items we’d need for class that day and talk a little about what else we would make over the three days I would be cooking. I cooked and ate so many dishes but decided to share four of them with you. These were my favorite and I think they are versatile enough that you can use them in several different ways.

Cold soups are a big part of southern Spanish food culture. But I’m not talking about gazpacho. No, not at all. Salmorejo and Ajo Blanco are two varieties of cold soups popular in the summer months. They’re so popular in fact that my teacher told me people are having cold soup bars at their wedding parties and serving variations of these soups and more. I didn’t know I could like cold soup so much until I made these.

Salmorejo

You can’t visit Seville without having this at least once. Even though it’s meant for summer, many places have it in the winter too – mostly for tourists who aren’t arriving in the hotter months. This dish is really easy to make at home.

Ingredients

• 750 grams peeled tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• (1) 100 gram soft bread roll
• 100 mL olive oil
• red wine vinegar
• pinch of salt

Directions

• Add the tomatoes and garlic to a blender and begin to mix.
• Rip up the bread roll and add pieces so that it incorporates with the mixture.
• Once blended taste the mixture and add salt and red wine vinegar. A small amount of each to begin with and adjust to your taste.
• Blend 2-3 minutes.
• Slowly pour the olive oil into the running blender to emulsify the oil.
• Once the oil has been incorporated transfer the mixture to a bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
• The soup can be served as is or garnish with slices of cucumber, chopped hard boiled eggs, or the traditional way of serrano ham.

Ajo Blanco

The literal translation of this soup is “white garlic” and so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that this is a garlic soup. I really love the story of how this soup came to be. It’s an incredibly old recipe and the mixture of cultures makes me smile – even if the story is a bit sad. When the Romans conquered the Iberian Peninsula men were given land after serving in the army for seven years. These people were often quite poor and a staple of their diet was bread spread with a garlic paste. Remember, tomatoes hadn’t arrived in Spain yet as this was before the discovery of the “new world.” Later, after the Arabs arrived almonds were added to the mixture to adjust the taste. It’s one of the original soups of Europe!

Ingredients

• 150 grams raw almonds
• 1 1/2 cloves garlic
• (1) 100 gram soft bread
• 200 mL cold water
• 15 mL sherry or balsamic vinegar
• appx 60 mL olive oil

Directions

• In a blender add the almonds, garlic, and water and begin to blend.
• Rip the bread and add pieces to the soup mixture to puree.
• While the blending is running add the vinegar.
• Blend for 2-3 minutes until a smooth consistency is reached.
• Slowly pour the olive oil into the soup to emulsify.
• Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

If you want a more garlicky soup you can add more garlic but remember the flavor will get stronger as it chills. I suggest making it once by the recipe and then adjusting the next time.

Garnishes: Diced green apple, cucumber and onions tossed in vinegar and olive oil make a nice condiment for the top. You also could garnish with a quick grilled prawn and green grapes. A small dusting of smoked paprika also dresses it up.

Mushroom and Broad Beans with a Poached Egg

This is a take on a classic tapas called habas con jamon or broad beans with ham. As we don’t eat pork I was looking for dishes that I could make that would be authentic but we could still eat. This dish delivered and to be honest, I think that I prefer it more this way (I do still remember what ham tastes like!) This can be served as a tapas or a side dish to a main meal with or without the egg. I also think it makes for a great breakfast with some toast!

Ingredients

• 250 g broad beans (green beans also work)
• 4 -6 button mushrooms
• 1/2 medium onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp sherry wine (or apple cider vinegar)
• 4 eggs – 1 for each tapas sized serving
• salt and pepper

Directions

• Clean beans, cut into 3-4 centimeter pieces and blanch.
• Add olive oil to a cooking pan and heat to medium high heat.
• Place the 3 cloves of garlic into the oil and gently cook until they begin to brown. Remove from the pan and discard. This will add the flavor to the oil without the bitterness of cooked garlic.
• Finely dice 1/2 an onion and add to the oil. Reduce heat.
• Cook the onion until it begins to almost caramelize.
• Add the sherry wine to the onions and turn up the heat.
• Add the strained beans and season with salt and pepper.
• Finely dice the mushrooms and add them to the mixture until soft.
• Portion mixture to four bowls while poaching one egg to top each dish.

Vegetarian White Bean Stew

This dish is one of those classic comfort foods you find in every culture. It’s also a catch-all dish. Women would put together the odds and ends left in the pantry to make this. Just like red beans and rice in New Orleans, this dish was typically made for wash day. Something that could be on the stove cooking while she was otherwise busy. Traditionally it’s made with chorize (and if you want that recipe check out Lauren’s blog Spanish Sabores to make it). The vegetables used here are just suggestions, feel free to use what you have.

Ingredients

• 300 grams white beans soaked overnight
• olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 leek or 1/2 onion diced
• 1/2 cup mixed green and red peppers
• 1 zucchini
• 1 small turnip
• 1-2 small potatoes
• 1-2 small carrots
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• your choice bay leaf, thyme or oregano
• 3 liters of water

Directions

• In a large pot, cover the bottom with olive oil and add the garlic. Saute until browned and then remove from the oil and discard.
• Chop all of the vegetables into pieces of equal size.
• In the oil, add the leek and peppers and cook 2-3 minutes.
• Add the chopped vegetables in order of hardest to softest texture. Mix well.
• Drain the beans and add to the pot along with the 3 liters of water.
• Season with salt and paprika.
• Bring stew to a boil for 10 minutes and then reduce the heat. Cook for about 1 hour.
• Test the beans to see if softened and adjust water throughout cooking time to make sure everything remains covered.

The stew can be eaten immediately or left overnight and reheated the next day. While I loved it right out of the pot, it’s supposed to be even more flavorful on day 2.

If you’re planning to visit Seville I highly recommend checking out the food culture. You can check out some great tours on Bookmundi. Challenge what you think you know about Spanish food when you go! Some of my other favorite things to do in Seville include visiting the Real Alcazar, taking a bike ride in Parc Maria Luisa and seeing the Plaza Espana.

The first time we were in Finland I fell in love with giant cinnamon buns. They were packed with flavor and just one sniff took me home and memories of Christmas flooded my memory. You might not think Finnish food is full of flavor, and much of it isn’t, but korvapusti are different. These cinnamon rolls are jam-packed with cinnamon and cardamom flavors and are the perfect addition to a cup of coffee.

On our last trip to Helsinki the one thing I wanted to learn how to do was to make these buns, and if there were a Finnish grandma that could teach me even better. Eija at Cafe Fleuriste was kind enough to take me under her wing and show me the ropes! I was surprised that these were a lot easier to make than I thought they would be. You only need to leave the dough for 30 minutes to rise. Don’t be put off by the amount of butter and sugar and try to cut corners. These aren’t an everyday treat but something special.

Eija was kind enough to share her recipe with me (for you all) and if you are ever in Helsinki please go visit her at Cafe Fleuriste and enjoy some of her other home-baked pastries. These will be in my baking rolodex for years to come. (Please note this recipe is in metric measurements, I have not converted it to standard yet – sorry to my American friends!) 

Finnish Cinnamon Rolls (Korvapusti)

• Author: Amanda Mouttaki

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Description

These delicious Scandinavian treats are sure to make everyone who tries a bite fall in love!

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Ingredients

For the Dough:

• 50 grams fresh yeast
• 150 grams unsalted butter
• 6 deciliters whole milk
• 2 deciliters sugar
• 3 Tablespoons ground cardamom
• 1 – 1.5 liters flour
• 1 egg
• sugar crystals or sliced almonds for topping

For the Filling:

• 100 grams butter per half of the dough
• 1,5 deciliters sugar
• ground cinnamon

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Instructions

1. Melt the butter, add milk and warm up on the stove until just lukewarm.
2. Whisk butter and milk with yeast, sugar, and cardamom
3. Add flour until the dough just comes together. It should still be very soft.
4. Let the dough stand in a warm place for about 30 minutes to rise slightly.
5. Cut the doubt in half. Flour a cutting board and gently roll out the dough until it is about 1.5-2cm
6. thick and a rectangle.
7. Use a cheese slicer or knife to slice pieces of butter – you will want to cover most of the dough with slices of butter.
8. Sprinkle sugar over the entire surface of the dough, repeat with the cinnamon.
9. Starting at the bottom of the dough, begin rolling upwards, keeping the dough as tightly wound as possible until you have a log.
10. With a knife cut the dough at an angle, into a triangle shape but leave the tip of the triangle flat instead of pointed.
11. Place each of the triangles onto a baking sheet. Sit the triangle on the long edge and use your finger to press down on the top, flat edge to shape the buns. Repeat.
12. Whip with beaten egg yolk and add sugar or almonds on the top of each roll
13. Bake 10-15 minutes at 200 °C

Thank you to Cafe Fleuriste for hosting us and the #HelsinkiSecret residency for arranging this experience as well as our week in Helsinki!

I promised on Instagram and in my last post about our cooking class that I would share the recipe to make this easy tuna curry recipe from the Maldives. The  most surprising thing to me was just how fast it was made. When I think of curry I think of something that has lots of ingredients and needs hours to simmer and get all the flavors to work together. Not so in this case.

For me, there were too many onions in the dish, I would have added about half but I don’t really love the texture of onions in my food. Other than that it’s perfect. I am starting to really like whole pieces of tuna, especially when it’s fresh and doesn’t have the smell or taste of the canned stuff. What can I say I grew up in the middle of the rural Midwestern US, canned tuna was as exotic as it got. I don’t think I ever saw a whole tuna fish until I was an adult!

So if you can’t be in the Maldives, you may as well bring a little bit of the Maldives to you!

Maldivian Tuna Curry

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings

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Ingredients

• 50 grams diced tuna loin
• 1 red chili (seeds out)
• 2 green chili (seeds out)
• 50 grams shallots
• 1 small onion cut to thin slices
• 30 grams garlic
• 15 grams ginger
• 1 rampe leaf (can be omitted)
• 3 curry leaves
• 2 small cinnamon sticks
• 4 cardamom seeds
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 Tbsp ghee
• 100 grams fresh grated coconut
• 100 mL coconut cream (milk)
• 300 mL chicken stock
• 300 mL fish stock
• salt and pepper to taste

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Instructions

1. Blend the grated coconut into a smooth paste.
2. Bled the chilis, shallots, garlic, and ginger to a smooth paste in a blender or with a mortar and pestle.
3. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the shallot paste until it’s fragrant, add the curry leaves, rampe, cinnamon, cardamom, fenugreek, and sliced onion.
4. Saute for 12 minutes over moderate heat, allowing onions and shallots to brown nicely.
5. Stir in blended coconut, then chicken and fish stock.
6. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer the sauce.
7. Cook on reduced heat for 10 minutes, add the coconut milk and simmer until it begins to thicken.
8. Add the tuna pieces and cook until tuna is just cooked through.
9. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 fillet

Want to try some other dishes from the Maldives? Check out some of these!

Maldives Cook has a bunch of Maldivian recipes for all courses

Global Table Adventure has three Maldivian dishes that are easy and delicious!

You could try this breakfast recipe of Mas Huni from Saveur.

This sambal recipe (lots of Sri Lankan influence) might be just perfect for a spice lover!

We were guests of Centara Resorts during our time in the Maldives. They kindly shared this recipe from their kitchens. We hope you love it as much as we did!