Favourite Food Cuisine to Make?

Miaka_M

Miaka_M

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I'm sure that we all have our preferences of what foods we eat and what we make. I am from a West Indian background, so a majority of the people would think that I make Indian cuisine, but the truth is that I enjoy making Italian foods; I enjoy making pastas and pizzas. I don't really enjoy making the staple foods from my culture because I've been introduced to other things that I like a little more. With that being said, I can indeed make the foods from my culture, but I prefer Italian cuisine. What do you prefer?
 
ironically I prefer to make Indian food which I usually cook from scratch. my herb and spice range is extensive and does not really fit into the cupboard it is meant to live in. herbs have one shelf and spices the other shelf. I have even managed to find tamarind dates locally so I can make my own tamarind concentrate rather than the shop bought stuff which contains sugar and salt. Otherwise, I like to make a fair amount of traditional British cooking but from a vegan point of view. however lunch today will be chickpea dosa because I have run out of eggs to make pancakes!
 
Well, not surprisingly I like making what I like eating. So a lot of mexican foods and different meats.
 
I like making good ol southern food. I like cooking fried chicken with collard greens and cornbread, or some baked ham with turnip greens and sweet corn. I do love to cook and I like cooking the foods I grew up with.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
ironically I prefer to make Indian food which I usually cook from scratch. my herb and spice range is extensive and does not really fit into the cupboard it is meant to live in. herbs have one shelf and spices the other shelf. I have even managed to find tamarind dates locally so I can make my own tamarind concentrate rather than the shop bought stuff which contains sugar and salt. Otherwise, I like to make a fair amount of traditional British cooking but from a vegan point of view. however lunch today will be chickpea dosa because I have run out of eggs to make pancakes!
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The Indian cuisine has so many flavours and spices to add to it and that's one thing that I enjoy about the cuisine. Tamarind dates? I've actually never heard of them but if you can do-it-yourself with some ingredients, then go ahead. :) Chickpea dosa tastes amazing! I've had it before from my aunt. I actually don't eat eggs and I'm a vegetarian as well, because of my culture.
 
Miaka_M said:
The Indian cuisine has so many flavours and spices to add to it and that's one thing that I enjoy about the cuisine. Tamarind dates? I've actually never heard of them but if you can do-it-yourself with some ingredients, then go ahead. :) Chickpea dosa tastes amazing! I've had it before from my aunt. I actually don't eat eggs and I'm a vegetarian as well, because of my culture.
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More info on the Tamarind Date can be found here. "Tamarind" litterally translates as Indian Date (from arabic), though India is not the original 'home' of the tamarind date - Sudan is.

The date is almost identical in appearance to standard 'dates', but because of the numerous stones and inedible fibres in it, it generally soaked in a little water overnight to soften it, and then mashed up, and put through a sieve to extract anything that will go through the sieve. This is then the taramind puree which is added to recipes.

My local Morrison's actually sells the Taramind in a block of dates which I process myself. I find the taste is much nicer than the tamarind concentrate you can purchase in supermarkets & health food shops and does not contain added sugar or salt.

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I usually break off around 50g for most of my recipes.

The result of cooking indian all the time and from scratch, using the spices usually as seeds but not always is that my herb & spice cupboard is full to over flowing. Yet despite this photo, I actually need to stock up on some spices today when I visit a health food shop some 21 miles away!

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I love all kinds of foods, but I like cooking pasta the most because it is so easy to experiment with ingredients and substitutions in the sauces, and so hard to get something completely inedible.
 
Miaka_M said:
. With that being said, I can indeed make the foods from my culture, but I prefer Italian cuisine.
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I'm the same way! I come from a Polish background and was brought up with Polish traditions and language. I do love the food from the culture, but it can be such a process to make a simple dinner.
Just like you I love to make italian food. Chicken Alfredo is probably my favorite. I love the creaminess and all the flavor :)
 
sandra0530 said:
I'm the same way! I come from a Polish background and was brought up with Polish traditions and language. I do love the food from the culture, but it can be such a process to make a simple dinner.
Just like you I love to make italian food. Chicken Alfredo is probably my favorite. I love the creaminess and all the flavor :)
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A little cream, a little cheese, and I'm in! I actually stuck to tomato sauces for years under the impression that cream sauces were difficult to make, I'm so glad I finally decided to give it a go! And pesto is super simple as well! :)
 
sandra0530 said:
Do you have any good recipes for a pesto? I have never made pesto but I always wanted to try!
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It's insanely simple. Mixing the ingredients can be done the traditional way (mortar and pestle), or with a food processor (faster!), or with a blender if you don't have a processor (less efficient, but I made it work), or by hand if you're an idiot (me!). You can even substitute spinach for basil for a variation, or

2 cups fresh basil + 1/3 cup pine nuts (I've used other nuts as well, YMMV)

chop/process/blend

add

1/2 cup grated Parmesan/Romano, 2-3 cloves minced garlic, blend some more

slowly add

1/2 cup olive oil while mixing

Salt and pepper to taste.

Done :D

I've seen recipes that add lemon juice, but not tried that myself. And it's better when the pine nuts are toasted, but I always forget!
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
@zestery
lemon juice would be acting as a preservative to allow everything to remain the bright green it is immediately after processing rather than a much darker green that a pesto without would fade to naturally. That is all.
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Aha, okay that makes perfect sense. I've only made it in batches for immediate use, so I guess I didn't miss anything :D
 
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