meatless dishes to make your table pop
This was my first taste of bitter melon or gourd. I bought this morsel from a street-food stall waiting for a bus in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. Asking what it was the vendor shouted “bittaaa” repeatedly, making a “face”. I was intrigued. Continue reading “Thai Bitter Melon With Egg”
What can I say? Slimming it ain’t. Yet Spaniards enjoy a morsel while managing to stay in second place for life-expectancy and are set to top Japan by 2040. Cast aside your guilts and worries and enjoy a small piece of tortilla.
A great debate has been raging in Spain: does the classic tortilla contain onions or not? As long-time winner of the national tortilla contest the Galician municipality of Bentanzos holds the honour of being the nation’s standard-bearer. The onionists have had it their way for decades. But this year’s winner in Betanzo has finally sided with the non-onionist underdog in re-defining this Spanish institution. Continue reading “Tapas 6: Spanish Potato And Onion Tortilla”
I’m always amazed at how my French friends are able to rustle up a pot of onion soup complete with cheesy croutons, or a perfect spinach quiche in the mere twinkling of an eye. Or the Italians’ flair for putting pasta with a sauce unknown outside their village under your nose in little more than time it takes to boil a kettle.
The gift of the Spaniard is for the tortilla. We can make tortilla out of anything – if you can eat it, we can tortilla it. Continue reading “Tapas 5: Spanish Tortilla With Black Cabbage”