Can't Take My Eyes Jollof You

NATIONAL DISH OF NIGERIA - Jollof Rice

Welcome back to Africa! Today we are travelling to the most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria, which lies on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Apparently Nigeria has one of the most booming economies in the world, and is touted as being a future economic leader.

Well those of you reading this is the future, first of all: Hello and welcome to The GGJ! What's it like there? Are we all wearing silver lyrca jumpsuits? Do we FINALLY get those Hoverboards from Back To The Future? And is Justin Bieber the leader of Earth? And secondly, can someone drop in to Nigeria and make sure that the now affluent Nigerians have not lost touch with their culinary roots and changed their national dish. For their national dish is the tasty Jollof Rice.

Jollof Rice, found in various incarnations across West Africa, is a dish with common ingredients of rice, tomato/paste, onion, salt and red pepper. But as I've found during my continuing tutelage of international cooking, there can be a multitude of different recipes regarding a dish. Sometimes people of the same race, nation, or even family may disagree on the correct way to prepare a dish. I've noticed on other cooking blogs and cooking videos on YouTube, that some native people have expressed negative comments towards the attempt of a national dish. And the more personal the dish is to them, the more emotive they could be about the method. I hope that this does not happen at The GGJ. So if any readers feel offended by my preparation of your national dish, please understand that I am a very amateur cook and that although I do research on each upcoming dish/country, I don't deem to be an expert or to exemplify an indigenous person. My attempts are not a personal attack. And in the end I hope that all that is left is some better understanding, some wonderful experiences, and of course some magnificent food!

 Enjoy, or as they say in Nigeria, Enjoy! (unless you speak Yorùbá then Ounjẹ ajẹye o!)



Here's the recipe of the Nigerian version: http://www.motherlandnigeria.com/recipes.html#jollof_rice

Difficulty:         5

Appearance:   3

Taste:              4 

TOTAL:           12

Another straight forward recipe, thanks Nigeria. It's as simple as cooking some rice (and then processing some vegetable and throwing those in).

To me, rice is not the grandest thing to look at. It's also not offensive by any standards, I'm just saying that I'm sure you wouldn't find it hanging in the Louvre. I certainly didn't see any when I was there. But this version of Jollof Rice isn't just flat white. The processed vegetables, cayenne pepper and broth give it a little burst of colour. Not to mention their contribution to it's mouth-watering aroma whilst cooking.

And the taste......delicioso! The vegetable stock I used gave it a good kick and the pungent flavour burst over my tastebuds like someone blew up some dynamite made of rice. Thankfully I did make enough to last until the end of days. But then again it was SO filling, and with the equally scrumptious peri-peri chicken and fried plantains I made to accompany the rice, I could only eat so much. Luckily Moleface Hay Rae was on hand to handle the eating duties. And for her efforts she got a take home portion in my IKEA plastic containers (PRODUCT PLACEMENT!)

My Wild Irish Stew Rose

NATIONAL DISH OF IRELAND - Irish Stew

Oh the Irish! I feel that sometimes the world looks at them unfairly and with judging eyes, but that is not the case here at The GGJ. We LOVE the Irish! What with their roguish charm, stunning women, fondness for good times (read: drinking), sexy accents and of course their contributions to the world (they gave us Johnny Logan the Eurovision superstar!, and the ejector seat!)

And they also gave us St Patrick's Day! St Patrick, although a British chap, was kidnapped by Irish raiders and forced into slavery. After escaping and returning home, he became an ordained bishop and returned to Ireland to spread the word of the Lord. Add the tales of legend and St Patrick seemed to have an interesting life. He used the shamrock to teach people about the Holy Trinity. His ash walking stick, when plunged into the ground, grew into a tree. And his greatest achievement, he banished all the snakes from Ireland by chasing them into the sea. Across the world people liturgically celebrate his life on March 17th. Others choose more to celebrate Ireland as a whole by dressing in green and consuming their weight in Guinness. Here at The GGJ we fall into the latter category.




I needed a drinking buddy to help me devour the hearty helping of Irish Stew, so over came Moleface Theresa. We spent a lovely Irish evening just eating, drinking, talking, laughing and general merriment. To cap off the evening, for dessert I made a rich Chocolate Guinness Pudding. The dark chocolate forms the Guinness portion, whilst the whipped cream forms the head. Was absolutely delicious, but very, very rich.



Enjoy, or as they say in Ireland, Enjoy! (unless you speak Gaeilge then Bainigí sult as bhur mbéile!)



A recipe link that will bring you the luck of the Irish: http://recipes.kaboose.com/traditional-irish-stew.html

Difficulty:         5

Appearance:   4

Taste:              4 

TOTAL:           13

This has to be one of the easiest recipes to make that has the best pay off! Just chop those vegetables and meat, throw them in the pot and cook for several hours.

I gave Irish Stew a rate of 4 for appearance, but if it was a freezing winter day and I came home to this spectacular sight it certainly would have received a large 5! The colour of the chunky style vegetables offset the meat perfectly, and the garnish/flavouring of the parsley gave it some green of the Irish.

Man this stew was all kinds of awesome!!! I knew it would be good, because I love Irish stew, but this was something different. There wasn't a lot of broth or soup, but the flavours of the vegetables and condiments infused wonderfully in the oven. But the best part was the tender lamb. So succulent that it fell apart in your mouth. YUM much! Theresa and I felt as if we were on The Emerald Isle as we sat with our delicious stew and our pint of Guinness. The only thing missing was The Corrs.

(For those playing at home, guess who has the most Eurovision wins of all time? That's right, the Irish. Since participating in the first Eurovision, Ireland has sent 41 entries, winning the contest a staggering 7 times! (1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996), and finished in the top five 18 times. Note the 3 consecutive years from 92-94, the only time this has happened! Johnny Logan (Australian-born!) is known as Mr Eurovision, winning the contest twice (1980, 1987) and penning the winning Irish song of 1992. You may know his classic 1987 winning song "Hold Me Now". Of recent years Ireland haven't fared well at Eurovision, only making the finals once in the past 3 years. This year (PS. 2 months to go!) they hope to take it again with Jedward, the twins from UK's The X Factor in 2009. Good luck weird defying gravity haired boys!)

Trying To Look Borscht In Them Diors

NATIONAL DISH OF RUSSIA - Borscht

Welcome to Slacktown, population: numerous. I am Slacky McSlack, Mayor of Slacktown. As you will see throughout March, it will not be a very prosperous cooking month. This is resultant of I have gone back to University to work on my non-existent Psychology career. So with study, work and the birthdays for the million of my friends that decided to be born around this time of year, I ain't got much time for the kitchen. "TRAVESTY!" you weep, "SACRILEGIOUS!" you yell. I know I is horrible GGJ Pilgrims, but before you stone me for my crimes, let's look at this interestingly hued Russian dish. 

Borscht, although of Ukrainian origin, is generally more associated with Russia. The main ingredient being beetroot gives it that deep red-purple colour, but there are other chromatic variations such as orange and green borscht. Your next decision is to decide if you want it hot or cold. This impacts on what recipe you use. Hot borscht is generally a heart soup that includes starchy potatoes, carrots, other vegetables and meat. Whereas cold borscht, still made with beetroot, is mixed with a sour dairy (sour cream, soured milk, youghurt) and can include cucumber and radishes. And then there are the regional differences, from the wheat ladden Romanian borscht, to the dried mushroom styled Lithuanian borscht, the staple soup spreads across and beyond the nations of central and eastern Europe.

The Russian variety consists of the requisite beetroot, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, meat and broth. A dollop of sour cream is thrown on individual servings and then sprinkled with some dill (which I believe is one of the most underused herb). And if you feel this hearty soup won't fill you up, then you can always serve it with some bread.


Enjoy, or as they say in Russia, Приятного аппетита! (Prijatnovo appetita)



For some beetroot staining Russian times: http://www.ukraineorphans.net/id51.html
 

Difficulty:         3

Appearance:   4

Taste:              4 

TOTAL:           11

There are a few processes going on here, and if takes less time if you multi-task by doing a few at a time. Not sure why, but cooking seems to be the only time that I can really multi-task. The Molefaces would say that is because I have undiagnosed ADHD. I don't know about......ooh there is something shiny over there!

Now even though I have nothing but pure malevolence towards beetroot, I was loving the colour of the Borscht something fierce. It was a deep and vibrant pink that stained the vegetables and meat, even staining my hands making it look like I had slain people.

Forgive me Russian people, for I am completely biased on this dish. I HATE BEETROOT!!! Anything that stains you like you were involved in a human sacrifice should not be eaten. So let's take beetroot out of the equation (of a dish where beetroot is the main ingredient), and then I can evaluate Borscht. Ah how I love a hearty meal consisting of a broth, vegetables and meat. It is relatively inexpensive and makes a lot of soup (we had so much I could have fed the Russian people twice!). And so filling, sometimes there is no room for bread. A good winter staple. Now if we were to include the beetroot. Let's just say that thankfully it contained meat, for it was the meat that saved the dish. The beetroot permeated everything! This would be delectable to those that actually like the horrid tubular vegetable, but not for me. Although I will say that it did taste better the next day (lasted for a few days). And it was an ingenious idea to throw some sour cream and dill on top. So don't take my repugnance for beetroot as a reason to sample Russia's national dish, give Borscht a try!

(For those playing at home, Russia has participated in 14 Eurovisions since their debut in 1994. Since 2000 they have fared quite well in the finals finishing 3rd twice (2003, 2007), 2nd twice (2000, 2006) and winning the 2008 contest. It has been said this was due to a voting bias of neighbouring countries, but there will be no political talk here. For the 2003 contest, Russia sent the controversial duo t.A.T.u as their representatives. Remember them? For the past two years they have just been out of the top 10, hopefully this year brings them better luck.)