Gourmet Global

October is a very important month in most of the major religions, except Christianity.

For Jews, there are three major religious holidays this month: Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
For Muslims, there is Eid-al-Fitr.
For Hindus, there is Diwali.

For all of these religious holidays, there are foods that are commonly served to honor the respective holiday.

I will focus today’s entry on Eid since today is in fact Eid-al-Fitr, which ends the month of Ramadan. After fasting for a month, a huge feast of many courses is usually prepared. I remember the first time I experienced Eid-Al-Fitr, I was visiting my cousins in Holland who are of Islamic Indonesian decent on their father’s side and I was amazed at the amount of food. My aunt had been cooking for days. There is no one food used to commemorate Eid. Islam is a religion celebrated in many countries, in many regions of the world from Morocco to Pakistan to Malaysia to Guyana and the foods prepared are the foods indigenous to the nationality. While my aunt prepared food like Nasi Goreng and Peanut Soup, in Pakistan foods like Biryani and Korma are prepared and in Morocco, the best tagines are prepared on Eid.

Here is a delicious recipe for a Tagine of Yam, Carrots and Prunes (if you do not like prunes like many of us Americans do not, you can substitute any combination of raisins, currants, dried apricots, figs and dates)

Ingredients

3 T olive oil

a little butter

30 pearl onions, blanched and peeled

2 lbs. yams, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

3 carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces

5 oz. prunes, pitted

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground ginger

2 t clear honey

2 c vegetable stock

bunch coriander, finely chopped

bunch mint, finely chopped

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Heat the olive oil in a flameproof casserole with the butter and stir in the onions. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are tender, then remove half of the onions from the pan and set aside.

Add the yams and carrots to the pan and cook until lightly browned. Stir in the prunes with the cinnamon, ginger and honey, then pour in the stock. Season well, cover the casserole and transfer to the oven for about 45 minutes.

Stir in the reserved onions and bake for a further 10 minutes. Gently stir in the chopped coriander and mint and serve the tagine immediately over couscous or Basmati rice.

Since I do advertise myself as the Gourmet Global, I am always educating myself on different lands - not only the cuisine, but the culture as well.
When I purchase cookbooks, I do not only look at the recipes but I actually read cookbooks. I love learning about the culture - languages, festivals, religions, traditions - this give me insight so that I then can create my own original recipes using ingredients native to the particular cuisine I happen to be reading about. I like cookbooks that have huge introductions where I can learn so much more than just the recipes can teach me.

On that note, I am currently reading - The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by famed Aquavit chef, Marcus Samuelsson who was born in Ethiopia but adopted by Swedish parents when he was 3.

I am learning about the differences in the cuisines of the different regions of Africa. An interesting note I discovered while reading his introduction is that foie gras, bread and beer were all invented in Egypt. I knew about the bread from the Bible, but I was especially surprised to learn that foie gras was invented here because I associate foie gras most with the French (especially after my recent trip to Paris).

When I make it to Egypt, I will have to remember to take note if foie gras is as predominant on the menus as it was in France because in all my readings about Egyptian cuisine I have never noticed foie gras being a part of it. I haven’t yet gotten to the recipes part of the cookbook - maybe it is even in the cookbook. I find it interesting that the French are known for something created in Egypt (although it might have been created by the French in Egypt).

Anyway, that is my little bit of trivia for today!