People with non British heritage, a question...

Guapa1

Do you cook the food traditional to your country?

It was my granny's birthday this week, she's in her 80s and it got me thinking.

When my gran eventually passes, a lot of the traditional cooking is going to go with her. My mum does not cook at all. My gran taught me a lot as a child, but I rarely cook those dishes apart from rice and peas on a Sunday, or special occasions like escoveitch snapper for Easter.

I've decided from now on, to cook one 'traditional' dish a week and try to add some of the food to other dishes (e.g using dasheen instead of potato).

Anyone else?

vixtress

cant answer your question as i am british heritage but i would love to hear your recipes

Quasar

I often do (Italian) but not always. I live alone so a quick pasta or a nice salad are a lot easier for me to put together. When I have guests however I like to show off

That said I love authentic British food too.

Guapa1

Of course Vixtress, I'll definitely post them as I go. Not sure it'll help your weight loss though! (which is fab, well done.)

Quasar, I know what you mean. When I used to live alone it was easier pull together a salad. I need to get practising on my British recipes too. My pastry is lacking!

lukiesgirl

My OH is of Eastern European origin & his Mum taught me some recipes. She is british but on her 1st trip to her OHs country of birth she was given cookery lessons. I have made a few dishes but I am not keen so I tend to stick to less exotic British recipes. You really don't want to know what they do with a pig's brain:rotfl:

bajangal

I sometimes cook traditional food, but a lot of it is down to time. My traditional food involves washing the meat. Cutting away all traces of fat and sinew. Leaving it to steep in lime and salt for a couple of hours. Seasoning it up and leaving it overnight. Only lately can we buy ready made seasoning, but in my days it was having to use the pestle and mortar to get everything to a fine grade.
My grandmother taught me a lot of her ways and recipes, which did not involve modern technology (blender, mixer, microwave), and it took blooming long from beginning to the time the food was ready to eat. Sometimes I wondered which would come first - death from hunger or dinner on the table!! Then again, she didn't work so was home all day to prepare meals.
Fast forward to now, with pressures of work, children, etc - time is of the essence - and KFC/takeaways has taken over.
Also, unless you live in a big city, it is not so easy to buy cultural food stuff.

chopperharris

I make stovies and mince and tatties once in a blue moon , colcannon(bady) and irish stew without the meat for the wife.Some times I know how paul macca felt with linda...popping out for some meat once a week keeps me sane , what she whom must be obeyed doesnt know etc.

The irish stew looks more like a chowder or hot pot.I make one pot and add cracked crab or cockles to mine only.Served with a bit of the irish soda bread toasted lightly and spread with full irish butter.

If i was you I would be sucking the brains right out of the old dear as much as possible and getting those recipes on paper sharpish.Or like the petrified scottish tea cake its 'scone forever.:rotfl:

Guapa1

@BajanGal
Oooh, I'm an adopted Bim girl. My friend says that I'm the only non Bajan she knows that like Mauby! :beer:

You should have seen my granny's face when I made carrot juice in a blender...:rotfl:
I don't have time to grate it and squeeze it in muslin! I now know how hard it is to get some ingredients out of a city, I was going to make my friend from a small town in Wales some green plantain, and when we went to her supermarket it was about £2 for 1. It's 4 for a pound round my way!

@Lukiesgirl...
Brain? :eek:
There are some things I'm not interested in learning at all. Cows foot for example, why would anyone want that jelly type thing? *shudders* Pig tail? No thanks.

@ Chopper
I was very proud of myself, I made some soda bread the other day. What are stovies?
Don't you worry, I'm picking away, she's fighting me though. I think she thinks she's going to live forever. Actually thinking about it, she might! She only let me get her a washing machine last year. Up to then, she done everything by hand over the bath.

I went to see her on mothers day and as my cousin was parking the car, I said 'I've got a little something for you' She got all excited and was like 'ooh rum? Guinness?' When I gave her the flowers and chocolate she just threw them down and said they were bad for her health. :rotfl:

chopperharris

Guapa1 wrote: »

@BajanGal
Oooh, I'm an adopted Bim girl. My friend says that I'm the only non Bajan she knows that like Mauby! :beer:

You should have seen my granny's face when I made carrot juice in a blender...:rotfl:
I don't have time to grate it and squeeze it in muslin! I now know how hard it is to get some ingredients out of a city, I was going to make my friend from a small town in Wales some green plantain, and when we went to her supermarket it was about £2 for 1. It's 4 for a pound round my way!

@Lukiesgirl...
Brain? :eek:
There are some things I'm not interested in learning at all. Cows foot for example, why would anyone want that jelly type thing? *shudders* Pig tail? No thanks.

@ Chopper
I was very proud of myself, I made some soda bread the other day. What are stovies?
Don't you worry, I'm picking away, she's fighting me though. I think she thinks she's going to live forever. Actually thinking about it, she might! She only let me get her a washing machine last year. Up to then, she done everything by hand over the bath.

I went to see her on mothers day and as my cousin was parking the car, I said 'I've got a little something for you' She got all excited and was like 'ooh rum? Guinness?' When I gave her the flowers and chocolate she just threw them down and said they were bad for her health. :rotfl:

Its the bloody black stuff thats keeping her going , they used to say that stout was on prescription...and I am inclined to beleive it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stovies

I have perfected it with soya , yes a meat free stovies.The key to a good stovies is eating it on the second day , forget about the wiki pages saying to have oatcakes.... only soda bread , irish cottage style loaf , any traditional style heavy bread works best when warmed and buttered...not that mass produced muck , except for maybe a scots batch but very fresh and sliced "plain" loaf but not toasted at all and merely buttered with a good salted butter....its the crusts of the scots batch that compliments it.

Actually most scots irish food is just heart disease incaranated , but hey anything that gets you to heaven faster and far from gery dank rain cant be bad.Its all guniness on tap there anyway , and theres no northern heaven to put a bummer on it..

I also get a nice small unsliced tinned bakers loaf , lightly crusted , half it , scoop out most of the bread and put the stovies in it using as a secondary plate if you will ....the good bit is your eating the dish all soaked in the gravy.

Sounds to me like the auld dear still has a bit of fire in her belly , its when thats gone you worry.

radiosupply

I'm a recent Canadian expat, and I come from a large ethnically Ukrainian family. I love making pyrohy for my wife (potato and cheese wrapped in flour dough dumplings, boiled, fried and served with bacon and onion) and giving some to the neighbours. I've had thumbs up from all tasters!

It does make me sad, though, that one of my favourite money-saving recipes back home is rather expensive to do here. Usually I grow all the ingredients for borscht in my garden, but I've been too nervous to try gardening here yet!

Penelope_Penguin

radiosupply wrote: »

Usually I grow all the ingredients for borscht in my garden, but I've been too nervous to try gardening here yet!

Beetroot is really easy to grow in the UK. What makes you nervous It's really cheap to buy, too, when it's in season :T

Penny. x