North African Cuisine
Tajine the Dish
For me, the dish tajine embodies North African cuisine. Tajine or tagine is a dish that is named after the clay pot that it is made. Tajine is basically a stew. It can have lamb or chicken or both. It can also include beef or fish or various game birds and that's just for starters. Imagine a slow, cooked stew with tender pieces of lamb and apricot mixed with all the spices of the Middle East, Orient and its own native North African spices and vegetables? Or a stew of chicken, dates and nuts with cinnamon, ginger and the exotic saffron in the mix! Or beef , peppers, and olives or a combination of everything I have just mentioned! This is what tajine is.
Tajine the pot
The tajine is a clay pot that is often glazed, painted and fired like ceramic.The tajine has a flat bottom with a cone shaped lid. North African dishes are typically made in the pot, normally a stew. The tajine cooks similar to a crock pot where meats are allowed to slow cook and become super tender. There's a suggestion that the upside down cone lid of the tajine allows for the steam inside to condensate and be reintroduced into dish making the stewed meats even moister. The comparatively shallow bottom of the tajine as compared to the tall cone-like lid of the tajine makes for a perfect serving bowl or dish. A stove and a dish in one pragmatic cultural dining and cooking experience combined. I can imagine the caravans of old traveling throughout North Africa taking along and using this basic oven and serving dish or pot combination. Many of us live in an industrialized world. We drive assembly line alloy and plastic cars, we microwave stuff from a package. We drag out an iron skillet, set it on an electric burner, set it on high, because we are in a hurry. But somehow we lost something along the way. We traded culture for convenience. We traded cuisine, for a paper bag being shoved out a drive-thru window.
Korean Cuisine
Korean cuisine tends to have a lot of beef in it as compared to other countries and cultures in Asia. They have numerous barbecue dishes that are almost always served with kimchi .
Kalbi or Galbi
Kalbi is strips of beef, braised or barbecued, that is usually marinated . Rarely does a Korean meal not include beef. Whether its the grilled beef in kalbi or a beef broth in soups. But the Korean cuisine particularly favors braised short ribs. Kalbi can also include grilled or braised pork and chicken as well. The picture on the above right shows a picture of grilling pork kalbi. This picture includes mushrooms, but they often have slices of pears on kalbi. Kalbi is often marinated with varying combinations of soy sauce, brown sugar or rice wine, garlic, chillies and fruit juices.
Kimchi
Kimchi is a typical and traditional dish enjoyed by Koreans. The dish comes in hundreds of different kinds and ingredients.It can have cabbage, seafood, onions, radishes, and cucumbers. Some of the spices in a traditionally made kimchi might include cloves, ginger and red chillies. Cabbage that has been fermented in rice water is the main ingredient to most of the authentic kimche recipes enjoyed by the typical Korean family.The picture at the very top shows a delicious looking bowl of kimchi. Korean cuisine certainly reflects the food of their ancient ancestors the Mongols that Koreans descend from and their preference of beef, but also reflects the influences of China and Japan as well. With the uses of spices and salts from the Chinese and the symbolic and meaningful approach to food and dining from the Japanese. Korean dishes were impacted by the influence of the Spanish and their introduction of red chillies as well. Korean restaurants that prepare kalbi, will often have individual grills for each table.If you didn't have an appetite when you came in the Korean restaurant, you will definitely acquire one as you watch the cook, barbecue or braise the kalbi right before your eyes!
Indonesian Cuisine
The foods I have picked to showcase on Indonesian cuisine is satay, or called sate in Indonesia and the peanut sauce that usually accompanies it and a rice side dish called lontong.
Sate or Satay
Sate is a popular dish and consists of skewered meats on bamboo sticks or the middle stem of a coconut leaf and charcoaled and marinated over open flame and then possibly served on a banana leaf as your plate. You can have beef sate or pork, chicken or fish and shrimp sate. There is even a snake sate for those bold enough to try it! Sate can be found being prepared in open markets to sell to passerby's. but also can be found in the finer restaurants in Indonesia.
Bumbu Kacang The peanut sauce
Peanut sauce is very popular in Indonesia. Peanuts were introduced into Indonesia by the Portuguese or the Spanish, several hundred years ago and peanuts have thrived and grown well in the climate of Indonesia. Bumbu kacang sauce basically consists of peanuts, coconut sugar, and soy sauce and many other ingredients depending on the different cooks or dishes. Some recipes for bumbu kacang would also include, garlic and onions and spices like ginger and cumin. Others would include kecap manis, which is a soy sauce with brown sugar or molasses, garlic or star anise.
Lontong
Lontong is an Indonesian rice cake or dish that is cooked rice that has been packed into banana leaves and cooked some more. The compacted rice is then cut into smaller pieces and served as or with sate or as an ingredient or side of salads or with sauces.
The marinades
Marinades for your sate range widely and depend on the meat of the sate, whether chicken, beef or pork or seafood. Most include soy sauce and spices. They also can include honey lemon juice, lemon grass, lime juice, ginger and just about any spices you like.
