Pickled

The next day I woke up with a hangover. The best cure for a hangover? Pickles!

We had a simple breakfast of pickles, cured meat, cheese, tomatoes and bread. The day went by slower. We helped with the cleaning, which was a bigger task than we expected. We had a break, and Matush, a professional archer showed us how to use a bow and arrow. We killed a fair bit of time doing this. It was extremely addictive.

Shooting Rainbows

By the end of the day the cottage was looking cleaner, and the outside area had nearly returned to normal.

Patrick's cottage

In the evening we went for a walk up one of the surrounding mountains where there was a large white cross. Although no-one really knew why it was there. The view from the top was outstanding. The walk down in the dark really wasn’t!

View from the white cross

That evening we had Kapusta left over from the festival. It was especially delicious a few days after. To top of an already very tasty soup, Matush sliced up some raw garlic very finely and garnished the hot soup with it. It added a very subtle acidity to the dish, without being overly garlicky. The Slovakian really like their garlic, but unlike the pungent stuff we get in our supermarkets, Slovakian garlic has a far more modest flavour. We played dice outside by the fire and had a reasonably early night. The next day we would be going sightseeing around the mountain towns.

Warming up by the fire

Patrick's Kapusta

Patrick's Kapusta
This is a simple stew that is thickened using skin and bones. Patrick used lamb that had been reared, and and smoked, on Vlado’s farm. The sauerkraut was also homemade.

Ingredients:
Game/red meat of choice with skin and bones
Bay leaf
Whole onion
Good quality sauerkraut
Potatoes chopped
Dried mushrooms, soaked in water overnight, drained than sliced
Sweet paprika
Garlic, thinly sliced
Sour cream to serve

Method:
1. Boil the meat with the skin and bones in water with a few bay leaves on a slow fire for a couple of hours
2. Skim the impurities and remove the skin and bones
3. Add the sauerkraut, potato and mushrooms to the soup
4. Add the smoked paprika and season
5. Leave a couple of days if possible
6. Serve with the garlic and sour cream


Sauerkraut
Every family has their own recipe for sauerkraut. It’s eaten a great deal in Central and Eastern Europe that there are bound to be many variations. Although I have eaten my fair share of sauerkraut, I have never made it. This is Patrick's recipe which is tried and tested.

Ingredients:
White Cabbage
Caraway seeds
Bay Leaf
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

Method:
1. Thinly slice the cabbage
2. Place in a large bowl and salt. Allow to sit for 15-30 mins till it starts to release water.
3. Add the caraway seeds and bay leaf
4. Take the cabbage and place it in a jar, packing it down so that the liquid rises to the top
5. Continue to do this so that all the cabbage is submerged in the liquid. It may take a couple of days
6. Leave to ferment for a few months, or until bubbles stop forming

The Clean Up

The day after the night before. I should have woken up to a banging headache. Fortunately I didn't. I felt pretty fresh. Maybe it was the clean air, or the quality of the brewed drink, or maybe even the amount of food we ate. I have no idea, but it wasn’t too bad. Great, because we started our day with… yep, some more burciak. Because it only lasts a week, we had to get through it all before it went bad. I didn’t mind, I actually liked the stuff.

For breakfast we had Perkelt, which was also on Patrick’s menu the day before, although we hadn’t had the chance to try it. It is a meat stew, in this case it was local venison, that has a tomato and pepper base and is served over halusky. This particular perkelt was made by Vlado, Patrick’s friend who, like me, has a passion for all things spicy. Nice! The perkelt was spiced with home grown naga morich chillies. It was the best thing I had eaten on the whole trip. The depth of flavour, the slight tang from the tomatoes and the kick from the chilli pepper was refreshing and vastly different from the other food we had tried in Slovakia.

Perkelt

Naga Morich Chilli Pepper

I had to get the recipe. I knew my attempt to make perkelt would never compare to Vlado’s, but it was worth a shot. It was clear when talking to Vlado, that his process of cooking perkelt didn’t really follow a recipe as such, but rather had some important elements to it. For example, he stressed the importance of using pork fat instead of cooking oil. This changes the structure of the stew, so it is thicker and gives the whole dish a richer and deeper flavour. He also said that the peppers and tomatoes had to be cooked right down so that only the skins are left and the excess water from them evaporates. Also, for every kilo of meat a kilo of onions should also be used. (Recipe below).

So after breakfast, the day continued. Jess had to leave to go back to Budapest and there was a great deal of clearing up that needed to be done. Patrick and his buddies got down to this, whilst Laura and I went for a stroll around Stara Hora. The place seemed so different. People were packing up, shifting bits of outdoor furniture, and trying to sell their last gallons of burciak. There was also a massive clean up session that started and finished before we even had time to help out. It was incredible to see the village come together in a joint effort. On our walk, we bumped into Patrick’s older brother, who is also the mayor of the local village. Again in true Slovakian fashion, we were offered a shot of palinka, a bottle of burciak and some food. This time it was cold pork soup with vinegar onions. Weird as it sounds, it was really good.

We got back to the cottage to find ribs cooking on the the barbecue. We weren't complaining. A bottle of Jack Daniels was open and the burciak was put to rest (for a while).

Ribs on the barbecue

Everyone was in a bit of a celebratory mood. The boys had been busy the day before, so didn’t really have time to enjoy the festival, although they did really well and took in nice profit. Some of the older guys from the village popped by. Stories from the festival were shared and a few laughs were had. I had no idea what was being said. I couldn't help but laugh anyway.

It got to that point in the night when everyone was getting a little bit peckish. So, Matush, Patrick’s friend set about cooking. A frying pan was graced with a large spoonful of goose fat, in which a potato pancake was shallow fried and topping with cheese and chives. A jar of pickles was opened and some more JD was poured. I remember wondering at this point when I had my last fresh vegetable. But I didn’t ponder on that thought for too long.

Vlado's Perkelt

So here is as the recipe as suggested by Vlado, and interpreted by me. Apart from ratio of meat to onions, I have not used measurements:

Ingredients:

Pork fat

Onions, finely chopped (Equal ratio to meat)

Venison, or an other red/game meat of choice, small pieces (Equal ratio to onions)

Celery, shredded

Carrots, shredded

Parsley root, finely chopped

Blanched tomatoes, chopped roughly

Peppers, three different colours, chopped roughly

Paprika, hot and sweet

Tomato paste

Red wine, good quality and strong

Naga morich chilli 

Crushed garlic

Marjoram

Parsley leaf finely chopped

Halušky 

Method:

1. Fry onions in pork fat till golden turning brown, then add the chillies and cook till the onions turn golden brown
2. Add the celery, carrots and parsley roots and cook till they melt down
3. Add the meat, and when nearly cooked through add the tomatoes and peppers
4. Let the tomatoes and peppers cook down to a thick sauce. This will take a while. Drink some palinka to kill the time
5. Add the tomato paste and paprika, and cook out the rawness of the spice
6. Pour in the wine, and some water if needed, and allow the mixture to cook on a low heat for as long as possible
7. Add the crushed garlic, marjoram and parsley towards the end
8. Let it rest for one day (ideally)
9. Heat again and service with halušky

Street Market, Yangon, Myanmar

Myanmar, described as the final frontier of Asia. Still in the early stages of development, the country is vulnerable to external exploitations and this is being seen in the heavy influx of foreign investers who all want a cut of the virgin pie.

I am visiting my parents who have moved to Yangon last September (for some of this humble pie) and can not help feeling like I am part of the problem. Listening to expats whine and moan about the poor water quality, the lack of sanitation and the communication issues they have with their drivers is a little tiresome and frustrating. Worse still is the insistent trips to the only three air-conditioned malls/super-markets with "proper coffee", "sugar-free bread" and "cheese". I needed to escape and see what lay beyond Western Superficiality. So I took a trip down-town with chef Tuk Tuk from Horizon Golf Club, and ventured beyond the pagodas and river boats into the busy narrow streets of old Yangon. What I found was the most diverse variety of food, colour, and smells I had experienced since my arrival.

With 80% of the population still relying on agriculture as their main source of income, I truly hope this variety continues as Yangon develops, especially as padi-fields and farms around the city are being gobbled up by factories and high rise buildings. Like similar Asian cities, as competition increases with economic growth, there could be a reduction in variety of produce and an increase in more intensive agricultural practices. I wonder how this would effect the livelihoods of low-input agricultural farmers that supply majority of the city's fresh produce.

The polite patient nature of the Burmese people is something we could all learn from, but I feel it could also be detrimental when it comes to resisting the exploitation of human and environmental rights that are not being stripped by the government, but by foreign hands.

I dont want this post to be overly political. I would just like to show people what is worth preserving...

One of the many market streets in Down Town Yangon

Vegetables

Garnishes

Roots...  

...More Roots... 

...And Pickled Roots

Dried Mushrooms

Achari (Pickles)

Dried Chilli 

Fish Products

Chicken with all the bits and bobs

Live Eels

Fish, prawns, squid, clams and cray fish

Lobster and Langoustine 

Ice!!!

Pig and all the bits and bobs

Flowers

Indoor fish and meat market

Fruit 

Rambutan

Typical street in Old Yangon

Kimchi/Kim Chi/Kimchee/Gimchi

Good Kimchi, is like a good chutney, or a fine cheese, or even a perfectly baked loaf of bread: after much experimenting, and after making many mistakes, the perfect ratio and combination of ingredients is found, and stuck to for all future batches. So for my first ever batch of home-made kimchi, I expect there to be a few flaws, and for a few changes to be made in the future. Although to avoid it tasting totally rank, I did a fair bit of research…. Internal and external…. What makes good Kimchi for me? 

Findings? Well, texture of good Kimchi is as important as the level of spice. The use of crunchy Chinese (nappa) cabbage is absolutely essential. Other cabbages like savoy just don't have enough crunchy stem that retains some bite during the pickling process. The nappa cabbage also has more of an equal leaf to stem ratio, which means you don't end up with a total mush when the cabbage starts to ferment. To add extra crunch, some recipes call for radish, spring onion, or even cucumber. But that is when personal taste comes in, I prefer not to have too many extra bits in my Kimchi as it doesn't really suit me when making kimchi-based soups and stir-fries. I added roughly sliced leeks though, as I like the taste, and I feel it gives the mixture an extra dimension. The way the cabbage is cut also depends on the individual. Some prefer to keep the cabbage whole, and this is the traditionally method, peeling back each layer and stuffing it with the spicy paste, then finally placing it in large clay pots which are buried under ground for up to a year. I don't have large clay pots… so I chose to chop my cabbage up as it makes it easier to pack into medium sized jars. Once chopped, I left the cabbage to soaked in a water and salt solution for about 3 hours before being used.

I have tried a fair few batches of kimchi, and I have never been too keen on excessive, complicated flavours in the paste. I like my kimchi paste to be a little bit acidic, very garlicky and spicy, and very very smelly… the good kinda fermented kimchi smelly. Kimchi has a reputation for attracting flies, and this is defiantly down to the fermented/fishy smell. I know it doesn't sound all to attractive, but this is what gives the pickle its distinctive aroma. So to keep things simple, I blitzed up one onion, six gloves of garlic, one inch of ginger, two small skinned apples, 8 generous tbsp of fish sauce, 1 tbsp of sugar and a pinch of salt, 6 heaped tbsp of red pepper powder and 8 heaped tbsp of Gouchujang or red pepper paste. Kimchi recipes normally calls for just red pepper powder, but I also used a ready made paste, which is a mixture of fermented soya, rice and red pepper powder. My reasoning for this is simply to speed up the fermentation process. I’m not sure how it will effect the kimchi in the long run, but I don't think it’ll make too much of a difference. I like the taste of Gouchujang as well, so I doubt it will ruin the flavour too much. A final tasting before jarring is crucial. Be warned, you ay be left with a raw/hot taste in your mouth for the rest of the day. The Koreans have a saying, that after a meal, your guests should be sweating and burping… so I made sure to make my kimchi really hot!

So my spicy pickled cabbage, jarred and stored in the fridge, is left to ferment till it smells bad enough to eat. How to tell if your kimchi is fermenting successfully? Open the jar a few days into the fermenting process and you should notice bubbles in the red sauce. I could eat the it straight away, but I think I’ll test my patients and wait for a week at least. Kimchi can last up to a year in the fridge. The older the kimchi is, the more sour it tastes. Old kimchi is ideal for soups, stir-frying with rice or noodles, simply eaten as an accompliment to a main meal, or even on a toasted, buttered slice. Stir frying kimchi before using it in cooking brings out more flavour, just like when making a stock. I’ll will update on how it turns out and if its good to use will use it to make Kimchi Jigae… fingers and toes crossed. 

Mexican style cheese on toast

I know the Mexican make good dips, but I only found out recently they also make good pickled accompliments. One of which is pickled onion with gloves and lime. I made this the other day by simply slicing 2 large white onions really thin, then pouring the juice of three limes over them and a drizzle of rice wine vinegar over the onions, and adding a handful of gloves to the concoction. I stored it in a jar, and in a couple of days it was good to use.

Delicately spiced, yet acidic in flavour, the onions became soft and almost sweet. I had some sweet, nutty Manchego in the fridge and decided to make a rather special cheese on toast. I toasted a couple of slices of crusty white bread, and liberally spread the grated manchego over. I added the onions, some finely chopped green chilies and corriander, then seasoned and drizzled with olive oil. I placed under the grill and let the sweet, glovey, and fragrant smell fill the kitchen.

The combination isn’t by any means authentic Mexican, but it has good potential if used in a quesadilla instead of Warburtons crusty white bread…