All posts tagged: travel

Grab a Cup of Coffee and Some Rusks!

Published by Kathy Hunt

Last month I had a Marcel Proust-madeleine moment where a bite of a baked good—in my case, a rusk—brought back memories of a long ago event. Unlike Proust’s profound experience, where I ate this cookie was far more interesting than the memory itself. Chewing on a nut-flecked rusk while I stared out at four graceful impalas drinking from a water hole in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, I remembered that a decade ago I had written a syndicated article about twice-baked cookies and that that article had included rusks. Yeah, my memory wasn’t nearly as cerebral as Proust’s, either. Rusks have featured in South African cuisine since the 18th century, when Dutch farmers or boers living in South Africa looked for ways to make bread last longer. By baking loaves of dough twice, they learned that they could remove all the moisture from the loaves. This gave their bread or rusks an almost endless shelf life. In times when food was scarce and shopping for supplies involved traveling long distances over hot, barren landscapes, they …

Beet and Apple Salad with Herring

Published by Kathy Hunt

Beets, apple, potatoes and herring. They may not sound like an obvious combo but these four come together in a delicious chilled salad known as sillsallad or, as I call it, beet and apple salad with, or without, herring. (Yes, I’m still preaching the joys of herring. How could I not? It’s an amazing, oily, omega-3 rich fish!) The perfect dinner companion In Sweden, the country from which this salad hails, sillsallad often shows up at holiday meals. With its ruby red hues and splashes of pink and green it makes for a festive dinner companion. A versatile dish, it pairs well with a variety of foods, including roast chicken and grilled or baked fish. Beet and apple salad with, or without, herring is also hearty enough to be served as a main course. It’s beet season! If you’ve dropped by a farmers’ market recently, you may have noticed the mounds of fresh beets for sale. We’re in the midst of the beet season, making this the perfect time for this salad. If you question …

Queso helado — Binge-worthy ice cream!

Published by Kathy Hunt

Ever try a new food and think, “Oh, man! I gotta eat this every day!”? That was exactly how I felt after my first spoonful of queso helado. Prior to visiting the South American country Peru, I had never heard of this iced sweet. As soon as I arrived in the UNESCO World Heritage Site and the country’s second largest city, Arequipa, I saw it everywhere. Along with its reputation for art, literature, baroque architecture crafted from volcanic ash and the volcanoes that produced this ash, Arequipa is known as the birthplace of queso helado. In Spanish queso helado means “frozen cheese” but this creamy, cinnamon-spiced ice cream seems more like frozen heaven to me. Its deceptive name comes from its appearance. When scraped rather than scooped from a metal bowl, the slabs of ice cream resemble wedges of cheese. Don’t let looks fool you. It tastes nothing like cheese. What’s in queso helado? Unlike traditional ice cream, queso helado contains no cream. Instead it features three types of milk, sweetened condensed, evaporated and whole …

Ceviche — It’s fresh and fast!

Published by Kathy Hunt

The national dish of Peru I love learning how to make a local speciality the right way. On a recent trip to Peru that specialty was ceviche. Considered the national dish of Peru, ceviche, or cebiche as it’s sometimes spelled, got its start during the Inca Empire. During that time Peruvian cooks along the coast would marinate freshly caught fish in the Andean corn alcohol chicha. After the Spanish conquest of the 16th century they began to incorporate European ingredients into their cooking. This included adding citrus to their seafood. Although it began as a coastal dish, ceviche is found throughout Peru. Inland, where rivers and lakes are common, cooks use Peruvian trout (truncha) and prawns (camarones). In the capital Lima sea bass, corvina drum and other semi-firm to firm white-fleshed fish are featured. What does it take to make an outstanding ceviche? Obviously, in a dish that features raw seafood, you should have very fresh, clean tasting fish. The fish itself should be semi-firm to firm in texture; you don’t want your fish falling …

The Annual Cookbook Review: Books to Give, Get and Gobble!

Published by Kathy Hunt

Although I write and buy books and cookbooks, I am always amazed by the tremendous number published every year. Who does cookbooks? Celebrities, celebrity chefs, musicians, athletes, bloggers, restaurants, farmers’ markets . . .. The list goes on and on. With so many new books on store shelves—and seemingly more coming out each week—it’s tough to know which ones will satisfy and which will leave you hungering for something more substantial. To help separate the filets from the hot dogs, the Bordeaux from the Two-Buck-Chuck, it’s the annual cookbook review! Included this year are baking books, a cocktail guide, vegetarian, Italian, German, Mediterranean and English cuisines as well as several food writing books and a graphic novel-like book. Happy shopping, reading and cooking! The Baking Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) If you want to learn the proper way to mix, bake and decorate a myriad of cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, breads, pastries and candy, reach for The Baking Bible. Perfect for bakers of any skill level, this comprehensive, IACP Award-winning cookbook …

pickled herring on brown bread in Denmark

Further Fish Tales: Now It’s “Herring!”

Published by Kathy Hunt

By now most know the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child.” In my case it takes a village of friends and family to launch another book. Two Fridays ago a wonderfully supportive group whom I’m honored to have as members of my village celebrated the publication of my nonfiction book Herring: A Global History. Part of Reaktion Books‘ Edible Series, Herring explores the historical, economic, cultural and environmental impact of this small, omega-3-rich, silvery fish. When people hear the topic of my book, they invariably ask the same thing. “Herring?” There are always a few who misunderstand and ask, “Hairy?” No, I didn’t write about hirsute people but I’m sure that would be a fascinating topic, too. Once everyone is on the same page about the subject, we get into what attracted me to it. After the publication of Fish Market I had a wealth of knowledge about seafood. I also had a desire to share more about a specific, historic and fascinating fish, the Atlantic and Pacific herring. Although a …

Perfecting Peanut Butter Pie

Published by Kathy Hunt

Growing up outside of Pittsburgh, I always assumed that peanut butter pie came from my part of the country. Every picnic my family attended and almost every restaurant where we ate offered a version of this rich sweet. Some bakers made it with a classic pie dough. They spooned the no-bake filling into the crisp crust and served the dessert at room temperature. Others lined their pie pans with graham cracker, shortbread or Oreo cookie crumbs, added the peanut butter mixture and refrigerated or froze the pie before serving. Each type—crunchy yet velvety or crumbly, hard and cold—had its diehard fans. The variations didn’t end with crust and consistency. Toppings ranged from chopped peanuts, shaved chocolate, cocoa powder or more cookie crumbs to whipped cream, chocolate glazes, or, my least favorites, overly sugary caramel, banana or strawberry sauces. No matter what differences existed, people gobbled up this dessert. In spite of my home turf’s love of this pie, Western Pennsylvanians cannot claim it as one of their own. Peanut butter pie has its roots in …

Got puff pastry and peaches? You’ve got dessert!

Published by Kathy Hunt

It’s probably no surprise that a lot of my recipe ideas come from travel. Unusual ingredients that I’ve tasted, signature dishes that I’ve tried and local recipes that I’ve acquired all influence my cooking. Although I gravitate to far flung locations, I do find inspiration closer to home. A perfect example is this spring’s obsession with puff pastry and stone fruit. A few Saturdays ago I went to Philadelphia to meet up with an old friend. Since I’d done something extraordinary and actually arrived early, I popped into a little bakery selling pastries and a small assortment of breads. What better place to kill time than in a food shop? While the almond croissants and pain au raisins looked lovely, what caught my eye were the “apricot boats,” glistening ovals of puff pastry topped with halved apricots and pearl sugar. So simple. So elegant. Why didn’t I ever think of doing that? Anything that easy and enticing I had to make. First, though, I should have a taste. So, with a box of apricot boats …

2016’s Books for Cooks

Published by Kathy Hunt

Yes, I’m squeezing in my seasonal list of books for cooks at the very last minute. This year I’ve got suggestions for readers, history lovers, bakers, spice fans, travel buffs and, of course, cooks. You won’t see any titles by social media darlings or celebrity chefs—if you read Kitchen Kat, you probably already know how to scramble an egg and you probably aren’t going to serve stuffed, roasted goat hearts at your next family gathering—but you will find a wealth of information, solid recipes and great gifts in this mix. Waste Free Kitchen Handbook by Dana Gunders (Chronicle Books, 2015) A scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Gunders offers tips for shopping smarter, eating more of what we purchase and throwing away less food. She also provides recipes for making the most of what we have on hand; this includes dishes such as Sautéed Lettuce and Broccoli Stalk Salad. My favorite sections don’t include recipes but instead focus on portion planning, food storage and uses for leftovers and food scraps. Spend less, waste less …

What to Eat at European Christmas Markets

Published by Kathy Hunt

My mother used to claim that I inherited my wanderlust from her late father, a civil and mining engineer who worked and traveled throughout Latin America. If he was to blame for my “itchy feet,” that unceasing desire to roam the globe, then she bore responsibility for my passion for European Christmas markets. As a kid, I spent countless Saturdays following her through crowded church Christmas bazaars. Which faith sponsored the event never mattered. As long as it featured homemade pizzelles, kolaches, stollen or fruitcake, we’d be there. A curious kid, I wondered how my hometown’s holiday bazaars stacked up against those in people’s homelands. If I visited Germany’s Striezelmarkt, would ladies jostle and push for the last few loaves of nut-studded stollen? If I went to Poland, would people nibble on onion- and potato-filled pierogis as they shopped? What did people eat at European Christmas markets? For that matter, did they even have these seasonal fairs? Turns out that Europe is chocked full of cheery, outdoor, holiday markets. Along with decorations, crafts and jewelry, …