spicy eritrean mince

Firstly, I want to say I was a little disappointed with this recipe that I cooked as part of my 2008 Food Challenge to try out East African cuisine.

Maybe I did something wrong in the cooking process, but the end result just didn’t do anything for me.

Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t taste bad, but it certainly wasn’t as good as some of the other East African dishes I have made (my favourite is still the delectable Yasa Tibs).

Here it is, for better or worse. A dish which is edible, warming and filling but just didn’t ignite fireworks.


Tsebhi Sega (Spicy Eritrean Mince)

Recipe from Celtnet. Serves 4 as part of shared meal.
Ingredients:
2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
50ml berbere
50ml tegelese tesmi (see below)
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
6 large tomatoes, skinned and sliced
1kg lamb, shredded
Pepper and salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a frying-pan and fry the onions light golden.

2. Add the berbere and the tegelese tesmi (and water if necessary) and simmer over a low heat.

3. After 10 minutes, add the ginger and garlic.

4. After 5 minutes add tomatoes, salt and pepper.

5. After 15 minutes add the meat and simmer until the meat is cooked (add some water if necessary).

6. Serve hot with with injera.

Tegelese Tesmi (Ginger Butter)

Recipe from Celtnet.

Ingredients:200g unsalted butter
100ml water
2 small onions, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ginger, grated

Method:
1. Put the butter and the water in a frying-pan and heat them until the butter has melted.

2. Add the other ingredients and simmer the mixture on low for 30 minutes, until the mixture stops skimming and the butter is clear. Do not stir the mixture.

3. Sieve the butter and allow to cool in a sealed jam jar.


Eritrea is a tiny East African country of over 4 million people with a long and distinguished history. Bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti, it has a long coastline along the Red Sea, directly opposite the shores of Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

In Biblical times, Eritrea was known as the lavish land of Punt where Egyptian Pharoahs would launch expeditions to obtain incense and exotic animals skins, but Eritrea’s historical significance extends even further, to over 1 million years ago, with the discovery of a hominid skull linking Homo erectus and archaic Homo sapiens.

Eritrea, along with Ethiopia and Somaliland, was part of a mismanaged Italian colony and after the Italians left Eritrea found itself annexed by Ethiopia in the 1960s. War broke out and ended in 1991 with the independence of Eritrea. There have also been discoveries of obsidian tools over 125,000 years old, used to harvest marine life by the hunter-gatherers of the time.

The Aksum people of Eritrea converted to Christianity in the 300s making them the second official Christian state in history (Armenia was the first) and the first to mint coins with the cross symbol. Beginning in the 700s, the Beja began to dominate the area and introduced Islam, making the country's current division about 50% Moslem and 50% Christianity.

The Tigrinya and Tigre people make up around 80% of Eritrea’s population, while Afro-Asiatic ethnic groups such as the Saho, Hedareb, Afar and Bilen are believed to descend from the oldest inhabitants of the Horn of Africa.

Reference & Map
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LocationEritrea.svg
Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes main course lamb tsebhi sega spicy recipes stew recipes lamb recipes main course recipes eritrean recipes eritrean food eritrean cuisine east african recipes east african food east african cuisine

ethiopian sautéed fish

This delicious Ethiopian dish is my initial forage into East African cuisine for my Food Resolutions for the year.

It seems I really enjoy the spicy, fresh flavours of East Africa, and berbere, the fiery spice of Ethiopia.

Since I have been reading up on Ethiopian stews and sauté dishes, I was able to create my own moreish sautéed fish. I used blue eye cod and marinated it in lime juice before wet frying in spices and a little stock and tomatoes. I highly recommend this as a mouth-watering, tangy and spicy dinner or lunch.

I even created my own recipe for berbere, but I must warn you it contains less chillies than an Ethiopian cook would use (I used 4 and I suspect they’d use between 10-20, or even more!).

I’m now setting my sights on a spicy beef recipe from Ethiopia’s neighbour, Eritrea.

Yasa Tibs (Ethiopian Sautéed Fish)
Anna’s very own recipe. Serves 2.
Ingredients:
500g blue eye cod fillets, boned & cut into chunks
Juice of 4 limes
1½ teaspoons berbere spice (see below)
3cm piece ginger, peeled & grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tablespoons niter kebbeh (spiced butter)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ cup passata (tomato sauce)
¼ cup fish stock
1 tablespoon chopped coriander, leaves & stalks
Method:
1. Marinate fish in berbere spice and lime juice for 1 hour.
2. Heat niter kebbeh and sesame oil in frying pan.
3. Add grated garlic and ginger. Fry until soft.
4. Add fish chunks with marinade liquid, passata and fish stock. Cook for 2 minutes.
5. Turn fish and cook for another 2 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, plate and garnish with coriander. Serve with injera (flat bread) and eat with your hands!
Note: If not using niter kebbeh try 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, 2 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon smoky paprika instead.

Berbere
Anna’s very own blend. Makes ½ cup.
Ingredients:
2 dried long red chillies
2 dried small red chilli
1 tablespoon smoky paprika
2cm piece of cinnamon quill
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon whole black pepper
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon ground ginger
4 whole cloves
3 allspice berries (pimento)
2 cardamom pods
Method:
1. In a frying pan, dry roast the all the spices (except the salt) until fragrant, approximately 3-5 minutes.
2. Cool spices then add salt.
3. Blend to powder in a spice grinder. Mixture can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Note: Ethiopians would most likely use 5 times the amount of chilli listed here!


Although this recipe is garnished with fresh coriander, my focus WHB ingredient this week is the wonderful lime, since it’s such a prominent flavour in this recipe.

There so many types of limes, and I have to say I haven’t never found a type of lime I didn’t like. My favourites would be the highly acidic Mexican or Key limes (Citrus aurantifolia), fragrant, leafy Kaffir limes (Citrus hystrix) and the beautiful and delicious finger lime (Citrus australasica) which is native to Australia. The dark green Tahitian/Persian limes (Citrus x latifolia) are also pretty good.

Limes are an important ingredient in many world dishes, such as ceviche in Latin America, Key Lime pies from Florida, Aceh Limeade in Indonesia, a myriad of spice and curry pastes in South East Asia and in Iran dried limes are used in many dishes. And let’s not forget all those cocktails where lime is critical!

Perhaps I’m just a sucker for anything acidic and tangy, but I just adore limes and crave dishes where their flavour shines through.

This episode of Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted by the lovely Katie from Thyme for Cooking, a great blogger based in Vendée, France.

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes weekend herb blogging whb main course spice blend berbere cod fish seafood yasa tibs berbere recipes yasa tibs recipes berbere recipes spice recipes spice blend recipes cod recipes ethiopian fish recipes fish recipes seafood recipes ethiopian recipes ethiopian food ethiopian cuisine

Lime photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lime_Blossom.jpg

spicy mauritian choko salad

This is a delicious, spicy and sour salad from the island of Mauritius. The main ingredient choko (chayote) is so refreshing but the green chillies add fire.

I highly recommend this with fish or barbecued meats.

Salade Chou Chou (Mauritian Choko Salad)
Recipe by Madeleine Philippe.
Ingredients:
1 kg chokos (chayote)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly crushed garlic
1 medium onion finely sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh green chillies
freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Method:
1. Heat water in a large saucepan enough to boil all the chokos. Add salt and stir to dissolve completely. Add the chokos and boil for about 20 minutes or until tender. Remove from boiling water and allow to cool.
2. Peel and halve the chokos. Discard the seeds and cut into slices according to preferences.
3. Mix the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, freshly chopped green chillies (if desired) and sliced onions together.
4. Pour over the sliced chokos and carefully mix together without breaking the chokos.

Mauritius is a gorgeous island off the coast of Africa, happily floating away in the Indian Ocean, about 900km east of Madagascar. Together with Réunion, and five other islands, they make up the Mascarene Islands.

Mauritius is so multicultural and comprises of ethnic groups of Indian, African, French, British and Chinese ancestry. The island’s official language is English, media and business is conducted mostly in French and despite all of this the most commonly spoken language is Mauritian Creole.
Today Mauritius is famously known as a luxury travel destination and after seeing some of the photos below you can understand why!

Their cuisine is shaped by their population with hybrid dishes combining French, Chinese and Indian cooking techniques with local ingredients. Unfortunately for the dodo bird, Mauritius was it's only natural habitat and it ended up as one of those local ingredients.

If you want to know more about the choko/chayote you can see this recent post, but I’m guessing in Mauritius it’s probably known by it’s French name: christophene or chou chou.

Map, Photos & Reference:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WAV7CPWZHbhhgv4k19a5Zw-JvVlw96QOSsFVdcgWyQbSwTrM525rL6vwa0TuoerlPCpJnPqu25wK6oV5tJPm0tdCiaYsE2zzqoilXfsM8twqM7HY7DenoDDSLsXKHVZ7JsL0RQ/s1600-h/mauritius.jpg
http://www.threebestbeaches.com/africa/mauritius/uploaded_images/tbb-mauritius03-794451.jpg
http://www.opentravelinfo.com/files/images/mauritius-05_0.jpg
http://www.weddings-abroad.com/images/mauritius_residence_beach_01.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritius

Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes salad choko chayote salade chou chou chou chou chilli vegetarian recipes salad recipes chayote recipes choko recipes mauritian recipes mauritian food mauritian cuisine