Persnickety: March 2022

Foreign Cuisine in Plain English

SPAETLZE - Soft noodles of Swabish origin, the name translates as "little sparrow"-isn't that precious! For years I prepared spaetzle by pulling off a minuscule amount of batter, half a teaspoon at a time and plunging each into boiling, salted water - time consuming with a soggy result. Last year while eating spatezle in Germany I determined there must be a better way, particularly since I wasn't willing to dismiss this culinary treasure to the back of my recipe box! An inexpensive, effective kitchen tool has since revolutionzed spaetzle making for me. In fact the simple tool is so miraculous, I bought one for each of my daughters. The dumplings come out uniformly sized and processed in one swipe of the hand! If you decide you love spaetlze, which complements most German entrees deliciously, it is a worthy investment!

TABIL - the essential Tunisian spice! Tabil is a spice blend used in many Tunisian dishes, including cous cous, tajins, salads and soups. Tabil is available at some Middle Eastern Grocery stores. You may create your own by finely grinding 3 tab. coriander seeds, 1 1/2 tab. cumin seeds, 1 tab. caraway seeds and 1/2 tab. crushed red pepper flakes. May be kept several months in the freezer or stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

HARISSA - Tunisians like it spicy!! The addition of harissa, the national condiment of ground hot red peppers, should be carefully considered and used in moderation until the palettes of your feasters let you know otherwise. The mountain of dried red peppers in the Nabul open-air market and the unheeded tears streaming down the faces of exuberant gourmands slathering harissaon their baguettes, convinced me that here was an appetite of a hotter temperament than mine!

Persnickety

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Scotland/London Caravans #6