Flavours of the World Cup (pt 1)
This week we bring you a recipe each from Australia, England, South Africa, Netherlands and New Zealand
Food has always been a way for different cultures to unite and bond. The World Cup is an event that not just brings people together, but also countries. Since there's a Rugby World Cup and a Cricket World Cup happening at the same time, we decided to bring you recipes from the participating countries.
For the first issue of Flavours of the World Cup, we've decided to pick four countries that are participating in both Rugby and Cricket World Cups and one country that's participating in one of the world cups.
So this week we bring you a recipe from Australia, England, South Africa, Netherlands, and New Zealand.
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Even though Ireland is the number one rugby team in the world and despite being a full Test-playing nation, they didn't qualify for the cricket World Cup. But the Netherlands did. So instead of an Irish dish, we are adding a Dutch dish.
We've picked dishes that are easy to cook in a pot or a pan (you won't need fancy utensils for any of these recipes) and ingredients that can be found or substituted with something local.
We've picked a Crayfish dish from Australia, Chicken Tikka Masala from England, Tomato Bredie From South Africa, Stamppot from the Netherlands and Whitebait fritters From New Zealand.
Here are the five recipes from the five World Cup-playing nations:
Australia: Crayfish
Crayfish is native to Australia and New Zealand, but we've picked a crayfish dish for Australia and we've picked a recipe that's cooked in a pan, not on a BBQ. There are places that sell frozen Crazyfish in Bangladesh but it's quite expensive. You can easily substitute the crayfish with shrimp, spiny lobster, lobster or crab.
Ingredients:
1.5kg live King Island cray (that's if you have access to it) or local rock lobster, Rock Shrimp or Spiny Lobster.
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
1 cup saltbush leaves or flat-leaf parsley leaves
Lemon wedges & finger lime pearls, to serve
150g unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp finely chopped saltbush leaves or flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 small red chilli, seeds removed, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
How to Cook:
For starters, combine all the ingredients in a bowl with the butter. Season with salt and pepper, then chill until needed. Place crayfish (or similar shellfish) in the freezer for two hours.
At the time of testing and writing this dish, we used local lobsters. Place it on its back on a flat, non-slip work surface with claws tied to expose the undersurface. Place a sharp knife on the head beneath the mouthparts. Cut through the head, then backwards towards the tail. Open out to reveal the two parts. Remove and discard the dark intestinal vein, stomach sac and gills.
Crack claws slightly in half crossways with a cleaver. Transfer crayfish, flesh-side up, to a baking tray and drizzle with oil. Heat a chargrill pan over high heat and add the crayfish, flesh-side down.
Cook for four minutes or until slightly charred. Turn, then, using a spoon, spread flesh with the saltbush butter. Cook for a further 8-10 minutes until the crayfish is just cooked through. Add saltbush leaves or parsley to the chargrill for five minutes of cooking to char slightly. Serve the crayfish hot, scattered with charred saltbush leaves, lemon wedges and finger lime pearls.
England: Chicken Tikka Masala
England is the nation of origin for both cricket and rugby, so it would be nice to add a dish that also originated in the UK. Even though Tikka Masala originated in Scotland it's still the national dish of the four home nations. What better way to represent the colonisers with a dish they've been colonised with?
Ingredients:
At the time of cooking this recipe, we decided to use a store-bought sauce to make the dish. Here are the ingredients.
4 tbsp vegetable oil
25g butter
4 onions, roughly chopped
6 tbsp chicken tikka masala paste (use shop-bought or make your own)
2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into chunks
8 chicken breasts
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp tomato purée
2-3 tbsp mango chutney
150ml double cream
150ml natural yoghourt
chopped coriander leaves, to serve
How to Cook:
Heat the vegetable oil and butter in a large, lidded casserole on the hob, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook for 15-20 mins until soft and golden.
Add the tikka masala paste and peppers, then cook for five minutes more to cook out the rawness of the spices. Add the chicken and stir well to coat in the paste. Cook for two mins, then tip in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and 200ml water. Cover with a lid and gently simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through.
Remove the lid, stir through the mango chutney, double cream and natural yoghurt, then gently warm through.
We made some coriander rice to go with the tikka masala. You can pair it with any rice dish and soft bread.
South Africa: Tomato Bredie
South Africa has a very rich food culture. With several European colonies and many local tribes, South Africa is a place where cultures combine the best. Tomato Bredie is the dish we decided to cook for South Africa. Traditionally a dish made with red meat, but at the time of the cooking my friends and I didn't feel like eating red meat, so we decided to put our twist on it. We cooked this dish with chicken thighs instead.
Ingredients:
Chicken pieces (we used free-range chicken since it was on sale)
Onions, chopped
Salt
Tomatoes( we used six fresh tomatoes and a tin of chopped tomatoes)
4-5 Red Chillies, finely sliced
Garlic
Fresh coriander
3-4 Potatoes
Cauliflower
Fresh Basil
How to cook:
Since it's a stew dish this is super easy to make. Braise the chicken pieces, onions and salt in a little water over high heat until browned. Add the tomatoes and cook until the tomato is the consistency of a paste.
Add chillies and garlic, and cook over medium heat until most of the liquid is reduced. Taste and add more sugar, if necessary, to give it more tang.
Stir the tomato paste into one cup of water, then add to the pan. Cook until the chicken and the vegetables are cooked, then serve with the rice and sambals, and garnish with coriander.
Netherlands: Stamppot
Since the South African rugby team is filled with Dutch descendants and the Dutch cricket team is filled with South African descendants, the Netherlands seemed like a perfect fit to replace Ireland in this list. We cooked an easy dish and since it's a Dutch dish, we measured everything to the T for this Stamppot dish.
Ingredients:
5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch pieces (4 pounds)
4 teaspoons salt (plus more for seasoning)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup milk
½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (plus more for seasoning)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced (1 tablespoon)
1 bunch of curly kale, stemmed and chopped into ½-inch pieces (about 12 ounces)
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 pound fully-cooked, smoked sausage such as Dutch Rookworst cut crosswise into thin slices
4-5 teaspoons olive oil, optional garnish
4 green onions, trimmed and chopped, optional garnish
How to cook:
Put potatoes and two teaspoons of salt in a large pot. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes.
Scoop out a cup of potato cooking water and set aside. Drain potatoes and return them to the pot.
Add butter, milk, two teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Mash potatoes, for creamier potatoes, add potato cooking water, a little at a time, stirring, until you get the desired texture.
In a large heavy skillet or pot with a lid, heat two tablespoons of oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for six to seven minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Raise heat to medium.
Add kale, ¼ cup water, and ½ teaspoon vinegar. Cover the pot and wait two to three minutes for the kale to wilt. Remove the cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for three to four minutes longer, or until the kale is tender.
Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Add kale mixture to potatoes and mash until thoroughly combined.
In the same heavy skillet used for the kale, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook the sausages for four to five minutes, until nicely browned on both sides and heated through. Divide the kale-potato mash between four or five bowls. Arrange sausages on top.
Drizzle on a teaspoon of olive oil per bowl and sprinkle with chopped scallions.
New Zealand - Whitebait fritters
Whitebait fritters, locally known as "Kachki Mach", are widely available in Bangladesh. With the availability and familiarity, it was a no-brainer to pick this dish to represent New Zealand.
Ingredients:
2 Eggs
200gs of Whitebait
Salt
Black pepper
Oil
Butter
Lemon
How to cook:
Beat the eggs in a bowl until they are light and frothy. Add the white bait with a generous pinch of salt and plenty of fresh pepper. Mix well. Take a large heavy frying pan and heat the oil and butter together over medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble and spit, add the egg and whitebait mixture in even tablespoonfuls (about five to six at a time) and cook for one to two minutes, then flip each fritter and cook the other side.
Immediately remove to a warmed plate. Continue cooking in batches of about five fritters until the mixture is finished. Serve at once with fresh lemon wedges, as finger food or for an entrée for four people
