Great Name - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: Great Name

02
May
2023

Moors and Christians

categories: 1970's recipes, Cuba, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Great Name, Rice, The Caribbean, World Cooking

I love food that has an evocative/unusual name so as soon as I saw a recipe for something called Moors and Christians in the Caribbean chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972), I knew it was something I wanted to cook.

This dish which is a mix of black beans and rice comes from Cuba and looks back to the time of conflict between the Moors and Christians in Spain. It represents the end of this conflict and how two different cultures can live side by side in harmony. Which is a heartwarming story for a lovely spot of comfort food!

Moors and Christians was a great side dish to a very non-Cuban lamb and potato curry we were having that night for dinner. I could also see myself just eating it with a little pico de gallo-style salad. Or mixed some pulled beef or chicken as a burrito filling!

Moors and Christians – The Recipe

This looks to be a very simple version of Moors and Christians. There are some more elaborate versions on the internet if you want something more fancy!0

I was also fascinated to see that my dish which I cooked without a picture reference was a lot paler than most of the other dishes. I think this might be because I cheated a little bit and used canned black beans.

Travel Aspirations

I am fairly sure that Moors and Christians is the first Cuban-inspired food I have eaten. And reflecting on it reawakened a long-held desire of mine to travel there. I first got the urge after watching The Beuna Vista Social Club many years ago. The music, the dancing, the culture really spoke to me! Now that we can travel again, I guess I better start saving!

Havana here I come!

Have a great week!

08
Sep
2020

London Peculiar

categories: Great Name, Soup

I love food that has an evocative (or just plain weird) name. So, when I found myself with a large ham hock in my freezer and some green split peas in the pantry, London Peculiar was top of my list of things to make! Who wouldn’t want to eat London Peculiar rather than plain old pea and ham soup?

London Peculiar, (aka London Particular) takes its name from the thick “pea-soup” fogs that used to cover London. You would think that these noxious swirling greeny grey fogs were a thing of the long distant past. Surely they were from the times of Dickens and Jack the Ripper? Not so! There was actually a “fog event” as late as 1952!

The 1952 Fog

The fog in ’52 was so dense and so intrusive that the opera La Traviata had to be stopped because people at the back could not see the stage! Even if they could, the actors and other audience members were coughing so much no one could hear anything over the noise. On the Isle of Dogs, the fog was so thick, people could not see their own feet!

12, 000 people died from the fog, which was full of toxic chemicals.

Just like today, (but more eerie because of the fog), the people of London took to wearing masks to protect themselves. Then, as now, wise advice was to stay home when you can and wear a mask if you couldn’t!

And of course, when times get tough, there is nothing like a warm bowl of soup to soothe the soul! There is an old Jewish proverb that says “Worries go down better with soup than without”. So true!

Soup is cheap to make, quick to reheat, and usually fairly healthy. It is great working from home lunch food but also perfect for a cold winter evening. It is also a great way to hide veggies if we have little people or even big people, who don’t love their greens! Watch the salt in this one though, ham hocks can be quite salty so I would not add more salt until you had tasted the soup to check.

London Peculiar – The Recipe

I found my recipe for London Peculiar in the July 2010 edition of Delicious Magazine. You can find that same recipe here.

PS The amazing pictures of London in 1952 and the factoids I used came from here and here. These are both amazing articles that are worth reading in full too.

Stay safe and stay peculiar friends!!!

And enjoy Shirley Bassey singing about history repeating!

30
Aug
2020

Mother in Law’s Tongues

categories: Baking, Crackers, Great Name, Italy

I was finally able to find some yeast ! After maybe four months, there were packets of yeast on the supermarket shelves last week Don’t hate me for buying two packets – I have a MONTHS of baking projects to catch up on, Starting with these delicious crackers called Mother in Law’s Tongues!

These crackers get their name because Mother in Law’s Tongues are said to be very long. All the better for the malicious gossiping! Called Lingue di Suocera in their native Italy, they are a great addition to any snack plate. I styled my snack plate like the one in the Joe Wicks recipe for Burrata with Mint Pesto. It was so delicious!!!!

These crackers are great! Even the fussiest eater in the world was impressed. “These taste like something you’d buy in a fancy shop” was the exact comment.

They are a bit fiddly as you have to roll out the dough as thin as possible but I think these are worth taking a little extra time on. They have a lovely “snap” to them and are the perfect carrier for other flavours such as pesto, burrata, guac, hummus…

As you may have noticed, these are not crackers for the perfectionist. Each one is different in their size, shape, rise and colour. Personally, I love the variety and think it makes for a more interesting snack plate but if you are one of those people that wants everything just so…these may not be the one for you!

Mother in Law’s Tongues – The Recipe

Huge disclaimer here! This recipe was in my folder of copied and cut out recipes. There was, however, no notation as to where they originally came from for me to give proper credit. I have googled to no avail. However, if you are the writer of this recipe, or know who was, please let me know and I can give proper credit where it is due!

You can also play around with the flavours on the crackers themselves – I made poppy seed, sesame seed, nigella, black pepper and parmesan, and sea salt but could see the flavour combos being extended almost indefinitely depending on your preference or what you intend serving them with. I’m thinking you could do a lovely swirl of pesto through the dough if you were going to serve with Joe’s burrata. Or maybe some dukkah for hummus. Chilli flakes and lemon zest for guac? One word of caution though – I found the plain salt ones to be a little too salty for my taste but that my own fault for sprinkling too liberally. Next time I make these I am going to do an everything bagel version which I think will be amazing!

Now, excuse, me, I have a snack plate to devour!

Have a great week and don’t stop talking about these crackers!

13
Oct
2019

Use By: Roast Vegetable Bubble and Squeak

categories: England, Great Name, Leftovers, Roast Vegetables, Use By

What can you do with a load of leftover roast veggies? Make one of the best-named dishes ever – Bubble and Squeak! Bubble and Squeak is a British recipe which is traditionally made from the leftovers from the traditional Sunday roast. It is supposedly called Bubble and Squeak due to the noises made during the cooking process. I think this last bit may be apocryphal. My Bubble and Squeak neither bubbled or squeaked. It was totally delicious though!

So what’s it all about Alfie? Given the Britishness of this dish, feel free to use your best Michael Caine cockney voice as you read that too!

Well, get your leftovers – I had some Ottlolenghi Harissa Potatoes and some Brussels Sprouts. You can use pretty much whatever veg you have as long as you have one that can be mashed up. Mashed potato will also work a treat in this.

Mash up your veggies and add a beaten egg. The rest is up to you. Add some of your chopped up leftover roast if you like, throw in some herbs or some cheese. Add some chill or a dollop of mustard. Be as fancy or as simple as you like. I kept these pretty simple, just the veggies and egg because the potatoes already had some harissa and spice seasoning.

When you are ready, pan fry your Bubble and Squeaks to make delicious patties. These are delicious as a side dish, make a great vegetarian burger patty or are good just by themselves.

Topped Bubble and Squeak

My favourite way to eat Bubble and Squeak is to pan-fry the little cakes until they are all crispy and brown on the outside and then top them with all sorts of delish things. These are one of my go-to’s for lunch (or breakfast) when I am working from home.

Breakfast Bubbles

No, I’m not talking about champagne although, having just come back from Europe where a glass of sparkling is de rigueur with your brekkie I’m totally on board with bubbles in the AM. Hmm…if you had some sparkling wine with your breakfast Bubble and Sqeak I guess that’s double bubble!

Bubble and Squeak with an egg makes a for a super breakfast. You could pan fry some bacon as you heat the bubble and squeak if you wanted to have some meat but I like to have mine just with egg. Grilled cheese on top of your B&S is another delicious breakfast option.

Lunchtime Squeaks

Come lunchtime, I like to top my Bubble and Squeak with some chilli labneh and pickled red cabbage or hummus and tomato salsa as per the top picture.

I love the combination of the crispy roast veggies, the creaminess of the yoghurt and the bite of pickle!

Bubble and Squeak can become quite addictive and now I routinely cook extra veg just so I can have them over the next few days!

Here’s a recipe but feel free to experiment as you wish with herbs, condiments etc. My version does not include cheese in the mix but, if you were going to add it, you could play around with different types. Having said that, now I desperately want to have Bubble and Squeak with some blue cheese crumbled through it!!!

Tell me, what is your favourite way of using up roasted veg?

Have a great week!