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Cape Verde Cuisine
Cape Verde cuisine uses elements from various cooking traditions borrowed from their neighbors and developed from their own traditional dishes. Using the right amount of spices for example is essential – either for spicing up the taste or for coloring the dish. The diversity of vegetables and cereals found in Cape Verde is also noticed in the delicious dishes belonging to their cuisine. The visual attractiveness of the dish is also important, and a balance between colors and proportion differentiates. Each traditional dish has a special cooking method, which is more or less general in all of Cape Verde’s regions. Meat is one of the main elements of most Cape Verde dishes and cured and smoked hams are often parts of delicious dishes.
Cape Verde is a small beautiful country situated in the Atlantic Ocean and it is formed by 10 Islands. The official language is Portuguese. Some of the most important holidays and festivals in this country are the Independence Day held on July the 5th, National Day on 12th September, National Heroes' Day (Jan 20), National Heroes' Day (Jan 20), Labor Day (May 1), All Saints' Day, and Christmas. During any celebration the most consumed dishes are couscous and Cachupa, which is considered to be a national dish. Cachupa is made from corn, a selection of meats, variety of beans, vegetables like sweet potatoes, manioc, cabbage, squash, and different types of sausages. Cachupa is also often made with fresh tuna. Mixing meat and vegetables with slices of melon and pastries blended with honey and almond makes couscous. Most used ingredients for any dish served during any celebration and not only, are cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, ginger and paprika.
Drinking tea is very popular in Cape Verde and it is usually accompanied by pastries like couscous or corn paddies. These are eaten with different locally made fruit jams which are usually papaya, red currant, coconut.
For an alcoholic drink the locally produced Grog which is a strong alcoholic drink made from sugar cane. There are also many fruit liquors which are all locally produced.
Recipes
Sopa de Peixe (Fish Soup)
Ingredients
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Preparation:
- In a large kettle, gently saute chopped onions, tomatoes, scallions and green and red peppers in oil.
- Add cut-up into small pieces fish and water.
- Cover and bring to a gentle boil.
- Add peeled potatoes and chopped parsley to kettle.
- Reduce heat and simmer.
Cachupa Rica
Ingredients
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Preparation:
- Soak the samp and beans overnight.
- In a stock pot, heat six cups of water. Add two tablespoons of olive oil, onion, garlic and bay leaf to water for seasoning. Bring to boil and add samp and beans.
- In a separate kettle, cook the vegetables except the tomatoes with the spareribs, chourico or linguica, blood sausage, and bacon.
- Next, cut up and season the chicken. Saute chicken in olive oil. Add tomatoes, and let simmer until samp and beans are almost folk tender but not quite done.
- Add cooked vegetables and meats into stock pot. Cook on low heat for approximately one hour.
- About 20 minutes before the cachupa is done you may mix in well sauted onion, garlic and tomato paste mixture (sofrito) to adjust and enhance the flavor.
- Turn off heat and let sit in the covered pot for at least one half hour before serving. Arrange meats and vegetables on a large serving platter and serve the corn and beans in a bowl.
Pudim De Queijo (Cheese Pudding)
Ingredients
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Preparation:
- Grate the cheese.
- Boil sugar in water to the consistency of a thick syrup.
- Add the cheese and mix well.
- Next, remove the mixture from heat and combine with beaten egg yolks and egg whites.
- Sprinkle the bottom of a pan with burnt sugar. Pour in the mixture and bake in a double boiler.
- The latter may also be accomplished by placing the pan with the mixture into a pan filled with hot water. The mixture can also be baked in a shallow, buttered and floured baking pan.
- Bake in the oven.
- After removed and cooled, cut into squares and top with granulated sugar.
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Czech Cuisine
Czech cuisine was influenced by its neighbours, primarily the Germans and the Hungarians. Unlike Mediterranean cuisine with its abundance of fresh vegetables and seafood, traditional Czech cuisine was shaped by long cold winters without fresh produce and so is heavier and more demanding of digestion.
It consists of fresh and smoked meats, flour, potatoes, onions, pickled vegetables, all with a lot of animal fat. However, with fresh vegetables, fish and meat now available throughout the year, the situation is changing and healthier trends are emerging.
Amongst the most important elements of the Czech cuisine belongs meat: pork, beef, poultry, rabbit and venison. The most common fish is fresh water carp, which is eaten primarily on Christmas Eve. Less common fish include trout, pike, zander and eel. Czech cuisine also utilises vegetables, fruits, beans and pulses, mushrooms, dairy products, grains, baked goods, vegetable and animal fat, spices, herbs and, last but not least, Czech beer.
Czech cuisine also favours various soups, which are usually served as the first course. Popular meals are also various sauces with dumplings, mushroom meals, eggs and also a great variety of baked sweet deserts. Sauce (similar to ‘gravy’ in English) and dumplings are a Czech specialty.
Sauces are usually made with butter and flour base (roux), cream, and flavouring ingredients, mainly vegetables. A wide variety of sauces is served with meat and dumplings – such as dill sauce (made with fresh dill), horseradish sauce, capsicum or green pepper sauce, tomato sauce, or even pickled gherkin sauce with beef; anchovy sauce with pork; or marjoram sauce with mutton. The Hungarian influence brought us the cream and sweet paprika sauces with chicken or veal.
There are many kinds of dumplings such as bread dumplings (with white or rye bread), potato dumplings, ‘hairy’ dumplings, so called because of their fuzzy surface, or dumplings filled with meat or fruits.
The most commonly used vegetables include potatos, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, spinach, parsley, celeriac, carrot and radish. Of fruits, Czech cuisine utilises apples, plums, pears, berries, currants and apricots.
Recipes
Polévka s játrovými knedlíčky (Soup with Liver Dumplings)
Ingredients
Liver Dumplings:
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Preparation
- First prepare the dumplings. Elaborate liver mass with egg and spices and thick it with breadcrumbs. Make small balls and coat them lightly with breadcrumbs.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry carrot in for about 5 or 6 mins.
- Put the beef broth to boil and add carrot with dumplings. Let it boil for about 5 mins.
- Add other vegetables and let it boil for another 10 - 15 mins until the dumplings float to the surface. Now you can also add the boiled meat if you have it.
- Season with salt and pepper, add fresh parsley and serve.
Tip: In the end you can also add noodles or you can leave the soup only with the dumplings.
Svíčková na smetaně (Sirloin in cream sauce)
One of the most popular Czech meals, roasted larded beef sirloin in a sauce of cream and root vegetables, served with dumplings.
Ingredients
To thicken the Sauce:
To decorate:
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Preparation:
- Clean and shred the carrots, celery and parsleys.
- Melt the butter.
- Interlard the beef with bacon. Put 1/3 of vegetables, beef and spices into a larger pan and pour the melted butter. Then add the rest of vegetables and leave it at least overnight in cold.
- Warm the oven to 160C. Put there the meat with vegetables and bake for about 10 mins without basting. Then add salt, pour boiling water or broth and cook until the meat is tender. Baste occasionally. Then remove the meat with spices and blend vegetables until you get smooth sauce.
- Stir the flour with whipped cream and milk and if it's necessary thicken the sauce. Boil for a while, season with salt and you can also add the rest of whipped or sour cream.
- Serve with teaspoon of pickled cranberries and dumplings.
Nakládaný hermelín (Pickled Hermelín)
One of favorite cold snacks accompanying beer in pubs.
Ingredients
Tool:
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Preparation:
- Cut the cheese in half lengthwise. Rub up the garlic with salt and chilli peppers.
- Spread the paste on the cut parts of Camembert and cover it up with other halves of the cheese.
- Cut the rest of the garlic on slices and together with onion, cheese and other ingredients put in layers into the jar or a plastic container.
- Cover with oil and close.
- Let it ripen at least for 3 days at room temperature or at least 5 days in fridge.
Your Recipes
We love to cook, we love food, we love to try new dishes and also old forgotten ones from all around the world. Here we cooked popular, traditional portuguese Christmas Eve dish called Bacalhau com Natas - Cod fish with Cream. It was delicious and the other day we made more for the rest of the family and it had a great success. We have decided to share this recipe here with you, so you can also try it and send us your photos and comments on our FB Fan Page Wall.
But because we love to try new dishes, we would also like to try your recipes. Share your dishes, recipes, photos and comments with Afro-Bailar and our fans. The one with the most "likes" will win free Full Pass. Competition takes place on our FB page, become our fan and see more details there.
Bacalhau com Natas (Salted Cod with Cream)
This is a popular way of cooking salted cod in Portugal. It is an oven baked dish consisting of layers of bacalhau, onion, diced fried potato and cream. Although dairy such as cream or cheese is not used in traditional Portuguese main courses the popularity of this dish, in households and restaurants, make it a classic. The origin of this dish is unclear, but a similar one using cod and cream was invented by chef João Ribeiro in the 1930s.
Ingredients
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Preparation:
- Rinse the fish and then put into a large bowl and soak, changing the water for 2 days.
- Cook cod fish in water for 10 mins.
- Once the cod fish is cooked, remove it, let it cool and keep 200 ml of the broth.
- Take the cod fish and flake into pieces, discarding the bones and the skin.
- Cut potatoes on small cubes and fry them.
- White Sauce: Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour, stir it and little by little add 200ml of the cod fish's broth and then milk and cream. Season with salt, peper, nutmeg and lemon juice.
- In another saucepan fry onions, garlic and 1 bay leave and let onion to turn glassy. Add cod fish, let it fry for few mins, add the fried potatoes and 1/3 of the white sauce and cook for about 2 mins.
- Grease the pan with olive oil and put the cod fish with potatoes in it. In the end pour white sauce over the dish and sprinkle with grated cheese. If you like olives as we do, you can also add them on the top.
- Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes on 220C until the surface is light brown golden and the béchamel is hot (if it bubbles a little, it is hot)
- Serve with fresh salad and white wine.
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