Recipes to connect with Culture

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Read and start cooking some of the most interesting and historically significant recipes around the globe.

There are many food items in the world which have their roots in history as well as culture. Each recipe has a story to tell and making these items makes one feel more connected to their ancestors and community. Here are a few recipes whose stories will surely take you for a ride.

Panettone, Italy

The Panettone from Italy is the country’s signature Christmas cake and has a very interesting story behind its creation as well. It is a kind of sweet bread sprinkled with raisins, almonds, and citrus. Making it is a two-day process but all is worth the time.

There are five different stages in this production process and you need a separate batch of ingredients for each stage. The total quantity required is:

1. Strong white flour – 640 grams
2. Natural Yeast – 330 grams
3. Water – Lots of it!
4. Butter, soft – 230 grams
5. Egg yolks – 260 grams
6. Caster Sugar – 210 grams
7. Honey – 16 grams
8. Salt – 12 grams
9. Vanilla pod – ½
10. Lemon, zested – ½
11. Orange, zested – ½
12. Raisins – 200 grams

For the icing, you will need:

1. White almond flour – 40 grams
2. Hazelnut flour – 40 grams
3. Caster sugar – 120 grams
4. Soft flour – 9 grams
5. Cocoa powder – 2 grams
6. Corn flour – 3 grams
7. Egg white – 50 grams
8. Almonds, pearl sugar to garnish

For the preparation on the first day:

1. You need to start by making the starter sponge by mixing 20 grams of both strong white flour and natural yeast with 9 mL of water. Mix this for 7 minutes and then, let it rise for three hours at 27 degrees Celsius. The temperature shouldn’t increase beyond this.
2. After three hours, mix this set of dough with another 40 grams of strong white flour and natural yeast with 17 mL of water. This needs to be treated the same and kept for three hours again.
3. Repeat the same process as above once three hours are up and add a new batch of 80 grams of strong white flour and natural yeast with 34 mL of water. This needs to rest for three hours again. Once it’s done, your ‘mother dough’ is ready.
4. The next step is to take a fresh batch of 400 grams of strong white flour, 170 grams of soft butter, 190 grams of natural yeast, 200 grams of egg yolk, 175 grams of caster sugar and 150 mL of water at 28 degrees Celsius, and mix it together to make a new dough. Do so after melting the sugar, and adding flour and eggs to this.
5. Add the ‘mother dough’ to this new dough and mix the two until combined perfectly. The final temperature of this combo should be 26 degrees Celsius. This needs to rest for 12 hours.
6. The next day, you have to make another fresh and final batch by mixing it with the previous dough. Mix the two for 15 minutes or so.
7. Finish off by using the remaining flour, caster sugar, egg yolks, butter, salt, honey, vanilla pod, zested orange and honey, and raisins. Allow this mixture to rest for an hour.
8. Divide the final dough into two, roll these pieces, and then, place them in panettone molds. These have to rest for another 6 hours.
9. After resting, this needs to be baked in a preheated oven until the temperature reaches 94 degrees Celsius.
10. For the icing, you need to blend all the ingredients and then, use it to glaze the final panettone bread.
11. Sprinkle the end product with pearl sugar and almonds. Your Panettone is done!

Haggis, Scotland

Haggis is an authentic recipe which originated and evolved in Scotland, later spreading to Britain and some other regions in Northern Europe. The dish was very popular because of its practicality and easy preparation method. The cooking style is a bit unconventional but its worth the effort.

The ingredients’ list includes:

1. A thoroughly cleaned, scalded and turned inside out sheep’s stomach or ox caecum – 1
2. Salt – 4 tbsp
3. Ground Black Pepper – 2 tbsp
4. Onions, finely chopped – 2
5. Oatmeal – 225 grams
6. Beef or lamb trimmings – 450 grams
7. Mace – 1 tbsp
8. Nutmeg – 1 tbsp
9. Ground coriander seeds – 4 tbsp
10. Stock from lungs and trimmings

When you get all ingredients, you can start cooking:

1. Wash the lungs, heart, and liver and place them into a large pan of water to bring to a boil. This needs to be done for about two hours.
2. As it cooks, get the stock out and put it aside.
3. When it has boiled enough, mince the meat and put it into a bowl. To this bowl, add the onions, oatmeal, and seasoning. Keep on cooking this and add stock for more moisture and texture.
4. As this gets done, fill the sheep’s stomach with the mixture until its half full. Once done, sew the stomach and do it so while keeping in mind that the stomach shouldn’t explode while cooking.
5. This ‘pouch’ is then boiled in water for 3 hours without a lid. Keep on adding water to make sure that the ‘pouch’ stays drenched in water.
6. When it is done, to serve, cut the haggis open and serve the filling with mashed turnip or mashed potatoes.

Mooncakes, China

Traditional Chinese Mooncakes are an absolute delicacy and will quickly become one of your obsessions if made the right way.

For the ingredients, you need:

1. Lotus paste – 210 grams
2. Salty eggs
3. Peanut Oil
4. Salt – 1 tbsp
5. Granulated sugar
6. Honey
7. Golden syrup (made from refining sugar cane and can be found at the market)
8. Lye water (potassium carbonate solution)
9. All-purpose flour
10. Egg yolk
11. Whole milk

You will also need to get Mooncake molds which stamp pretty designs on the final product. You can get either 50-gram or 100-gram molds.

To make the Mooncakes:

1. You need to prepare the Mooncake skin first. For this, combine the golden syrup with peanut oil and lye water in a small bowl. Mix this well and add flour to this too. This should form a dough. This needs to be cooled in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Now, it’s time to use the paste as well as the skin. You need to weigh and take 30 grams of lotus paste and roughly 20 grams of mooncake skin dough.
3. Roll out this dough into a ball, flatten it, and then, put the paste inside the mooncake along with a salty egg. Enclose it, roll it into a ball, and put it inside a mold after dusting the inside of the mold with a light layer of flour.
4. Make as many Mooncakes as you want and place these on a baking sheet. Put these in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes to an hour.
5. Bake these for 177 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes. Once done, take the Mooncakes out and coat these with egg wash made from combining one egg yolk with whole milk.
6. Put this back into the oven and keep them there for another 12 minutes. After taking them out, let them cool down for 5 minutes. If you can, it’s the best to keep them in the fridge for 24 hours to rest before eating.
7. Your Mooncakes are ready!

Avial, India

Avial is a popular dish made in Southern India and is made traditionally as a vegetable dish. The dish has two stories of creation and both are immensely interesting if you want to read about it.

For the ingredients, you need:

1. Drumsticks, chopped
2. Carrots, chopped
3. Cucumber, chopped
4. Pumpkin, chopped
5. Ash gourd, chopped
6. Green beans, chopped
7. Curd – 1 cup
8. Coconut, grated – 1 cup
9. Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
10. Green chilies, chopped – 2 to 3
11. Curry leaves – 12 to 15
12. Turmeric powder – 1 tbsp
13. Salt – 4 tbsp
14. Chili powder – 1 tbsp

The recipe goes:

1. Rinse, peel, and cut all vegetables into medium to long sticks. It needs to be cut French fry style. You can try to add a raw banana if you want to.
2. At the same time, beat 1 cup of curd using a whisk and keep it aside.
3. Take a blender/grinder and put in the coconut, chilies, and cumin seeds in it. Add half a cup of water to this mixture and grind it into a paste. Your coconut paste is ready.
4. Add all the veggies in a pot full of water and sprinkle turmeric powder on top. Stir this well and cover the pot with a lid. Let it cook on medium heat until the vegetables are cooked.
5. Once cooked, add the coconut paste you made earlier and mix it well. Keep the heat on and let it simmer for 5 to 7 minutes more on medium-low heat. If the mixture becomes dry, add hot water to it.
6. When you feel like its cooked enough, add the curd, and turn off the heat. You can add some coconut oil too but its optional.
7. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Fufu, Western Africa

Fufu, also known as Foofoo or Foufou, is West African cuisine’s masterpiece and has a rich colonial and local history linked to it. This is one of the most famous and most delicious food items eaten over there and the recipe isn’t very taxing either.

You need to get your hands on casava, a root vegetable similar to sweet potatoes and russet potatoes, for the traditional recipe. If you want to work with alternatives, nowadays many other food replacements like corn, amala, semolina, eba, and green plantains are used in place of casava.

1. Once you have casava, peel its skin and cut it into small cubes so that it can be blended easily.
2. Blending these cubes is the next step and you have to keep doing it until a nice and smooth batter is formed.
3. Transfer this smooth batter to a pot, turn up the heat, and keep on stirring until the batter turns thick like a semi-solid paste.
4. As soon as this consistency is achieved, let the fufu cool down. Once cool enough, shape it into small balls and wrap each ball into an individual wrap. This helps with retaining moisture.

Your fufu is done and ready to eat! To properly enjoy it, eat it with rich and flavorful soups/stews like ewedu soup, okra soup, and egusi soup. Also, eat it with your hands to get the true Fufu experience!

Resources

Panettone, Italy

1. Tortora, A. (2016, November 14). Panettone Recipe. Great Italian Chefs; Great Italian Chefs. https://www.greatitalianchefs.com/recipes/panettone-recipe
2. ‌ https://www.facebook.com/simplyrecipes. (2019). Yes, You Can Make a Traditional Italian Panettone at Home. Simply Recipes. https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/panettone/

Haggis, Scotland

1. Food Urchin. (2016, January 18). Traditional Haggis Recipe. Great British Chefs; Great British Chefs. https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/traditional-haggis-recipe
2. ‌ BBC Food. (2023). Haggis. BBC Food. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/haggis_66072

Mooncakes, China

1. Du, B. (2022, August 26). Traditional Mooncake Recipe (with and without salted eggs) – Cooking Therapy. Cooking Therapy. https://www.cooking-therapy.com/mooncake-recipe/
2. ‌ Zhu, M. (2015, September 27). The Ultimate Guide to Traditional Mooncake (传统广式月饼). Omnivore’s Cookbook. https://omnivorescookbook.com/traditional-mooncake

Avial, India

1. Amit, D. (2021, June 12). Avial Recipe (Aviyal). Dassana’s Veg Recipes; Veg Recipes. https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/avial-recipe-kerala-avial-recipe/

‌Fufu, Western Africa

1. Osinkolu, L. (2021, February 5). West African Fufu. Chef Lola’s Kitchen. https://cheflolaskitchen.com/fufu-recipe-how-to-make-fufu/