KITCHEN TABLE

Memories you can taste

Collated by the adventure holiday experts at Exodus Travels, this is a collection of globe-trotting gastronomy to help you recreate your travels at home. Food is not simply fuel, they write. “It’s an excuse for friends, old and new, to gather together; a celebration of regional idiosyncrasies and specialities.” Divided into sections on recipes from Europe, North Africa and Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Americas, A Taste of Adventure uses easily available ingredients to turn a meal into a trip down memory lane.

 

Beetroot Curry, Sri Lanka

500 gms raw beetroot, tops and bottoms trimmed, but unpeeled

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

8-10 fresh curry leaves

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 green bird’s eye chillies, slit in half lengthways

1 tsp chilli powder

125 ml coconut milk

Salt

Put the whole beetroot in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the beetroot is tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

Peel the cooked beetroot and cut into bite-size pieces. Heat the oil in the pan. Add the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds and fry until the spices are fragrant.

Add the onion, green chillies and chilli powder and stir until the onions and chillies are coated in the spices.

Add the beetroot and coconut milk and stir. Season with salt and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Spoon into a serving dish and serve as a side dish with rice and other curries.

Paella, Spain

3 tbsp olive oil

2 boneless chicken thighs,  skinned or not, as you prefer

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

1 tsp smoked paprika

50gm chorizo, skinned and cut into small chunks

225 gms Bomba paella rice

600 ml dry white wine and chicken stock in equal quantities

Pinch of saffron threads, soaked in a couple of tbsp of hot water for 10 minutes

115 gms frozen peas

2 tbsp pitted black olives

1 tbsp capers

12 raw prawns, shelled, but  heads and tails left on

12 mussels in their shells

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp chopped leaf coriander or flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken thighs on both sides over a high heat. Drain from the pan and cut each into three pieces. Set aside.

Lower the heat, add the onion and cook until softened.

Add the garlic, red pepper, smoked paprika and chorizo and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Tip in the rice and stir until the grains are coated in the oil.

Slowly pour in the wine and stock, add the saffron and its soaking water, and return the chicken to the pan, pushing the pieces down into the rice.

Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is not quite tender and the grains have absorbed most of the cooking liquid.

Stir in the frozen peas, olives, capers and prawns and lay the mussels on top.

Cover the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the prawns have turned pink, the mussel shells have opened, and the rice is tender.

Season with salt and pepper, scatter over the chopped coriander or parsley and serve at once, straight from the pan.

Chimichurri, Argentina

3 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh oregano

2-4 cloves of garlic, according to taste, peeled and crushed

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

1 small, medium-heat, red chilli, deseeded, ribs inside removed and finely chopped, or 1-2 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice

50 ml olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Taste and adjust the flavour, if desired, adding extra herbs, garlic, chilli, lemon juice or seasoning.