Day 90 & 91: Cameroon & Guinea

Split personalities

Cameroon was a going to be a challenge because Epicurious Kids chose N´Dole, the bitterleaf soup dish unique to this African country. After searching high and low in Brussels, no bitterleaf greens could be sourced locally. Spinach will have to do.

Getting the point

Gingerly cutting ginger

Kedjenou from Guinea was super easy, a one pot wonder that needed no supervision, just the occasional shaking. Chicken, tomatoes, onions, pepper were put in a cast iron pot and left to cook for over an hour. The Cameroon N´Dole dish only needed 10 minutes.

This is easy, I Kedjenou -T !

Nobody messes with my N´Dole

So Inigo decided to do it last-minute when we were ready with the Kedjenou. In addition to the onions, the Cameroonian recipe called for peanut butter. Inigo was skeptical about this additional ingredient. Nevertheless, he was game to try something new, “you never know, mom.” he stated determined to keep an open mind.

Kedjenou from Guinea

N´Dole from Cameroon

 

Tristan spooned steaming portions of the Kedjenou into the serving platter and Inigo smacked his lips after tasting the N´Dole. Another great meal!

 

Day 83 & 84: Liberia & Nigeria

Africa calling from Norway

 The Epicurious Kids were committed to continuing their cooking challenge during their summer break. “Africa is such a large continent, if we don’t continue, we’ll never succeed.” stated Tristan. Fortunately Inigo was in complete agreement.

Marinating the Suya chicken from Nigeria

Exotic ingredients were few and far in between in the one store in the small Norwegian village. “We’re gonna have a hard time…” predicted Inigo. Finding a recipe that was Norwegian friendly was slightly complicated. Liberia and Nigeria seemed to be the easy fit for this cooking challenge.

Turning up the heat up north!

Mixing in some Norwegian goodies: elg steak!

Suya from Nigeria was an easy choice, chicken marinated and grilled was a no-brainer. For Liberia, the first liberated African country proved to be more challenging. Palava was a meat based dish that required some red chilies, tomatoes, stock, spinach, ginger and onions.

Adding in some spice of life

Cous cous galore

The Palava simmered for close to an hour to allow the chilies to soften into the dish.  Epicurious Kids were excited to host their distant cousins for an African meal in their Norwegian summer house. Magnus and Andreas were coming over to fish and play, and perhaps Epicurious Kids could tempt them to try their Palava and Suya dishes.

All smiles for Nigerian Suya

Feasting with friends

Dinner guests were expected soon, Anders, Kjetil, Torkil and Siren were all coming to partake of the African feast. Success! Who knew one could whip up Liberian dishes with Norwegian ingredients?!

Palava from Liberia

Liberian & Nigerian table in Norway

Day 72: Egypt

Bil hana wish shifa’!

Epicurious Kids were excited to cook some Egyptian dishes. Enthralled by the stories of Pharoes and the Sphinx, they were  keen to discover their food culture.

Mixing in the love

Vinegary mixture for the Molokhia

Tristan and Inigo mixed in some spices into 2 cups of water, for the chicken breasts to simmer in. Then, in a separate bowl, the Epicurious Kids agreed to prepare the finishing sauce to pour over the chicken after baking: a mixture of vinegar, onions and cinnamon.

Tastemaker Tristan

Top Chef Inigo spices up with Baharat

The recipe was slightly difficult to understand because it went against Epicurious Kids instinctive way of preparing chicken. After prepping the broth, the chicken was to simmer in it until done. Then baked with some Molokhiya, a spinach like vegetable indigenous to Egypt. Tristan and Inigo worked together to carefully mix in the Molokhiya with the chicken breasts.

Sautéing the spices

The green team

Then the dish was put in the oven to bake with the Molokhiya and after 20 minutes, it was ready to be layered with rice,pita bread, chicken and topped with the vinegar, cinnamon mixture. Epicurious Kids were slightly skeptical at first in layering dry pita with rice, chicken and sauce —but in one quick bite, their doubts were quickly allayed! Bil hana wish shifa’!

Chicken with Molokhiya

Day 42: Poland

Poland is the next country to conquer!  We decided on two dishes, a main and dessert.  Why not? Zrazy (rolled beef stuffed with breadcrumbs and bacon) and Mizeria (cucumber salad in sour cream and dill) finishing off with Szarlotka (polish apple tart).  The Polish menu sounded mouthwatering enough to merit the time spent in the kitchen!

Breaking bread for crumbs

Queuing for cucumber

 

The meat was ready to be sliced and prepped for the stuffing.  As Tristan worked his protein gingerly, carefully cutting enough space for the stuffing and rolling method. This was a first for this Epicurious chef.  After a few panicky moments, he managed to get the hang of cutting and turning the meat as he sliced through the filet round.

Duet

Frying breadcrumbs

Inigo was busy peeling and cutting the cucumbers for his Mizeria.  “This is like the way we make it in Norway; mommy,, but without the sour cream, just vinegar.” Inigo´s top veggie is cucumber, and it took all of his self control not to pop every slice into his mouth.

Cutting the cucumber

 

Peeling with feeling

Tristan on the other hand was on double duty preparing his stuffing and ingeniously substituting mushroom for pine nuts, probably not a native Polish ingredient, but we work with what we have. The next step was to stuff the meat with the nutty mixture. He slipped in some spinach as well to add more greens into the dish.

Fixins´for the Polish beef

 

It´s what´s inside that counts

Now for the dessert! It was a battle to decide on who gets to peel and slice and core the apples. Tristan won this one since he deftly distracted Inigo with more cucumbers that needed peeling.  Inigo also got to shape and make the pastry dough after Tristan convinced him that he was the master at this.

Apple of my eye

Spreadin´some love

 

An apple mosaic

 

Perfect Pie

 

After a few months in he kitchen, both Tristan and Inigo were getting a feel for their natural talent in the kitchen and were quite supportive of each others strengths.  It still takes some convincing to get them to move out of their comfort zone and try something new and challenging.

Cool Cucumber

Rolled to perfection

After an intense kitchen stadium moment, the Epicurious Kids were plating their dishes. Beef perfectly pink and cucumber cool and crunchy…   Smacznego!

Smacznego!

Just desserts

Day 48: Czech Republic

Rubbing in perfection

Vepøová Peèenì is a mouthful.  But as Epicurious Kids venture into the deep recesses of Eastern European cuisine, they begin to savour the similarities and fall in love with the idea of melt-in-your mouth pork morsels that could hold up against any Cuban pork dish.

The dish was fairly simple, reminiscent of the Estonian pork roast they cooked early on in the challenge.  With the addition of dijon mustard, honey and beer, it doesn´t get more Eastern European than this.

Yellow peppers POP colour!

Inigo wrinkled his nose at the thought of adding beer to his pork dish, but a recipe must be followed to it´s savoury end. With colourful yellow paprika adding a pop of colour, the dish was surely going to stand-out.

The Iberico pork Tristan chose for the protein proved to be a wondrous marbled beauty. The layers of fat will melt into the meat and baste the pork from the inside, I explained. Inigo was dreamily licking his lips at the prospect of tasting these succulent morsels. After a slow simmering roasting time in the oven in our trusty clay pot, the meal was ready to serve1