It’s Friday – Finally

What up newsies,
The weekend is finally upon us. It’s time for drinks and dancing (or preperation for surgery) – WOOO!!!!

If you read last weeks Friday post you’d know my gallbladder is being removed. Well, come Monday afternoon I should be a couple of pounds lighter. Thanks Gallstones!! Some diet!?!

It’s too bad my gally had to poop out because I could’ve enjoyed some of this culture food we talked about this week. I’VE EATEN BRIGADEIRO, IT’S DELICIOUS!! I wouldn’t dare eat one now – But watch out in a couple of months! Fans of yummy should really try these, sooooo good.

And ya know what? I’ve never eaten any of those West Indian dishes but I’d rock em all. If I’d known about Roti and how to make it I probably would’ve eaten that the last couple of months. I think that would’ve been good for me…….and I can already envision Doubles outside of all the bars – people stumbling out to order, asking for a Double Doubles.

I have to say no to Sushi though. I am in no way a part of the hipster Sushi Dictatorship (unregistered trademark c/o Kenny Bloggins). It’s seems like the thing right now is to eat (and love) Sushi. I can almost feel the people shaming me for not enjoying Sushi. Hey, what can I say?

I’m seafood friendly, that’s right. I would rather watch it swim than sizzle. I am not a Seafood Rights activist, so you can kill as many as you want, I’m cool. Just don’t hassle me about not rockin’ the sea wrap….

Like someone used to say, give me rice, give me vegetables (or something like that, I’m not sure). Everyone can enjoy their fish while I hop on the George Foreman and cook some Chicken.

Holy grilled chicken Batman, this is tasty!!

Well, before I go, I have to say, Alberta is truely weird……………

I’m born & raised in AB and I just can’t fathom why we have so many strange attractions. I didn’t even realise we had Giant Food until yesterday. If I’m not mistaken we also have a Star Trek ship (in Vulcan, no less), a large golf putter, a badminton racket, and seriously there’s too many too mention. Click HERE for a look. What a place.

Well, I think my time is up. Stay tuned next week when we’ll be discussing Fad Diets. NEW DISEASES HERE WE COME!! Till that time, stay healthy,

W (I’m the new one, Bush is almost gone)

Food of the West Indies

Growing up in an inter-racial family, I got to experience a different culture first hand. This Christmas, I am going to go and visit my relatives down in Trinidad and Tobago, and experience how they celebrate Christmas. While I am down in Trinidad, I will get to eat some of my favorite West Indian foods. They are, Doubles, Pelau, Roti and Sweet bread.

• Doubles – this food is a common Street Food. It is made with  2  slices of bara  (fried flat bread), which is why it is called Doubles. It is filled with chick peas or garbonzo beans, which is known as channa and with different types of spices, which are called chutney. Some commonly used spices are mango, cucumber or coconut. Doubles are a very popular late night snack.

 

• Pelau – which is also know as “Cook up” where it’s ingredients vary with each family. It usually consists of a type of meat – chicken, beef or pigtail, vegetables, rice and pigeon peas. My family loves to eat this any time, this dish is really fast and easy to make. We usually like to eat this at lunch or when we are at the beach.

 

 

• Roti – means bread in Hindu. It is basically made with wheat flour, baking soda, salt and water. It resembles a tortilla. It is cooked on a large concave griddle. There are many kinds of roti and they are eaten with vegetables, curry chicken or on it’s own.  I enjoy eating my roti plain or the Dhalpuri roti. This roti has ground yellow split peas, cumin, garlic and pepper.
• Sweet bread – is a dessert mainly eaten at christmas or at special occasions. It contains coconut and a variety of different fruits.

Just thinking about all of these foods have made me very hungry!

Giant Food: Alberta Canada

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break. This is one of the few years where I have not spent my Thanksgiving at my Baba and Gedo’s (Ukrainian for Grandma and Grandpa’s)  home in Vegreville, Alberta.

Vegreville is home to the worlds largest Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg).
One beautiful Thanksgiving day my family took a road-trip to visit the Ukrainian food, Giants of the Prairies. This trip was awesome because in one day we saw giant statues of my top 3 favorite Ukrainian foods!
We saw:
The worlds largest Mushrooms in Vilma, Alberta
My Gedo used to pick wild mushrooms and bring them home for my Baba to make mushroom sauce. This sauce is incredible!
Baba fry’s onions in butter and 1 Tbsp of flour, until they are golden brown. Then, she slowly adds a pint of sour cream and stirs the mixture until it is smooth. Next, she adds a qt. of sliced mushrooms, salt and pepper and drippings from a chicken or turkey. The final step is to simmer the sauce for 15 min. Sooooo good on mashed potatoes, meat and perogy’s!
 
 

We also saw the worlds largest Perogy in Glendon, Alberta

 
 
 
 
 
These are some pictures of my Baba, Mom and I making 3 generation perogys for the pig Roast party.   

                                          
Last but not least, the worlds largest Kubassa in Mundare, Alberta

 
 
I like to slice this up and fry it with my perogys and some onions. Then I eat it with eggs and fresh tomato for breakfast! Mmmmm yum!

I think i`m turning JAPANESE*

Konnichiwa!

This week is all about culture. One of the best ways to experience a culture and learn what they`re all about is through their food. Every culture has a distinct type of cuisine and they also have customs of how you are supposed to eat and serve that food.

Japan is a small island in East Asia. Their food is distinct from any other Asian cuisine. The major ingredients that are used are rice, fish, eggs, soy, and vegetables. They believe in eating from communal dishes so that food can be shared with everyone at the table. They also eat using chopsticks, as do all Asian cultures, but Japanese people believe that it is very disrepectful to ever put your chopsticks vertically into your food. This is because insense sticks stand vertically and they are used as an offering to the dead.

The Japanese are best known for one of my favorite foods… Sushi.

When most people think as sushi they think of Makizushi or Maki rolls. This is a type of sushi roll made of nori (seaweed paper), sushi rice, raw tuna, sliced vegetables, and commonly wasabi paste.

 

 

 

But of course this isn`t the only kind of sushi there is. There are so many variations and types that you can make. The word sushi literally means “it`s sour“ and the word is traditionally used to mean vinegared rice, usually topped with other ingredients including fish, meat, and vegetables.

But it`s not all about knowing what makes sushi. The trick is really knowing how to make good sushi. And once you have this mastered you will be able to seriously impress any one.

 

How to Make Sushi:

Step 1: Start with the nori. Feel both sides of the sheet of nori. One side should feel smooth and the other rough. The nori should be laying facing rough side up. Place the nori on a bamboo rolling mat.

Step 2: Wet your hands and grab a ball of sushi rice. Sushi rice is quite sticky so it is important to keep your hands wet when working with it. However you want to have your hands to be dry when working with the nori.

Step 3: Put the ball of rice in the middle of the nori sheet and spread it out to cover the sheet equally. You want to leave the upper margin of about 2cm uncovered for rolling the sushi properly later.

Step 4: Then place a slice of fish down the edge of the nori, along with slices of vegetables, such as, carrots, cucumbers, asparagus, etc.

Step 5: Starting with the closer edge of the bamboo mat roll the sushi to form a rectangular shaped hill and tighten it.

Step 6: Continue rolling the sushi and keeping it tight with each move. Make sure to put pressure on all three parts until you get to the end.

Step 7: Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 6 or 8 pieces depending on how big you want each piece.

Step 8: Serve with a side of soy sauce and wasabi for dipping. Enjoy! (via)

 

Hopefully you all get out there and try to embrace something new. If this is something that you have tried before then I hope you try to make it yourself because it is really easy once you get used to it.

Sayonara!

 

Brigadeiro – Brazilian Birthday Chocolates

As today’s Thanksgiving festivities come to a close I realize there is no rest for the cooks. Holidays revolve around food and I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without turkey and all the trimmings.

In fact, food is so intertwined with culture it’s easy to forget that most countries don’t celebrate Thanksgiving at all but have their own delicious customs.

So, in honor of all the tasty traditions we may miss out on here in Canada, Digitally Delicious is going to dive into ethnic cuisine for the next few days and share some favourite food finds from other cultures.

A few months back a friend from Brazil surprised me with some chocolates for my birthday called ‘Brigadeiro’. They taste a little bit like fudge and a little bit like chocolate truffles. She explained that they are a popular birthday tradition in Brazil. Women get together to make hundreds of them for parties and children loiter around the tables in hopes of sneaking a few when no one is looking. The recipe is also used as an icing for cakes (they just reduce the cooking time so the mixture is spreadable).

Brigadeiro has a fascinating history (albeit a rather recent one). It was invented in the 1940’s while Brazil was at war. There was a shortage of imported sweets and Nestle had just introduced cocoa powder to the country. The recipe was then named after a local hero, Eduardo Gomes (an Air Force brigadier) who squashed an attempted communist coup in Rio. All these factors combined to give Brazil a delicious national treat that has become a holiday staple.

Brigadeiro was named after Eduardo Gomes (centre)

The chocolates were so good my cousins and I decided to adopt the tradition and to make a batch for my aunt’s birthday. The recipe is simple – all you need is butter, condensed milk, cocoa powder, and sprinkles. Cooking the Brigadeiro was quick and easy. Rolling it into little balls and covering it with sprinkles was kind of hard. I discovered that like most things in life timing is key. If you don’t cook the chocolate mixture long enough it is tough to roll, but if you cook it too long it is tough to chew. That said, practice makes perfect and I suspect I’ll only improve with each passing birthday…

Here’s a video showing exactly how they’re made.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon butter

1 can (14 oz.) condensed milk

Sprinkles of choice (we used candy sprinkles, shredded cocounut, and cocoa powder).

Directions:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cocoa, butter, and condensed milk.

Cook until thickened (approx. 10 minutes) stirring constantly. When it is finished the mixture should start to pull away from the sides of the pan and you will be able to see the bottom of the pan while you stir.

Remove from heat and pour mixture onto a greased plate or bowl. Place in the freezer to cool the mixture down and make it easier to handle.

Roll into small balls (greasing your hands with butter first will make this easier).

Dip the balls into bowls full of sprinkles.