Move over
Masterchef and whoever’s kitchen thinks they rule. Tonight at Poatina’s monthly
open to everyone Community Tea we had a feast to tempt the taste buds from all
corners of the globe, a somewhat strange term I’ve always wondered about seeing
as the planet isn’t a box. Maybe it comes from when the Earth was considered
flat. Be that as it may, we were dazzled with dishes from so many countries I lost count.
Italy, China and
India were well represented with several varieties of pasta and rice, noodles
and pappadums. Then things got more specific. Moroccan lamb, Aussie wallaby
stew and bush tucker warrigal greens, Kenyan/Ugandan kunde, Belgian stumpf
(that one had me stumped), West African jollof rice, French quiche,
Mediterranean baked fish, German Kartoffel Brei – mashed potato with all sorts
of stuff including sauerkraut, very tasty, and the good old favourite Pommie
bangers and mash.
Sitting around
the cosy Chalet open fire conversation was animated, bellies were satisfied,
and then there was dessert. I lost track of what was on offer, but in amongst
the trifle of Trifle was English bread and butter pudding, Indonesian Pisang
Goreng – fried bananas, so yummy, German Thuringer Kirschkuchen, try ordering
that at a restaurant. It’s a cherry cake, and very impressive too.
I slaved away in
my kitchen all afternoon and dutifully made my national flags so no one would
be confused about the inspiration for the dishes I created, but I think the
consensus was that most of my contributions were somewhat dubious in their
origin.
Ice from Iceland
- a bucket of ice cubes
Greens from Greenland
- a green tossed salad
French Dressing
for the Greenland Greens
Roasted herb
potatoes from Ireland – descendants of the one solitary potato that survived
the blight of 1845 which marked the start of the Irish Potato Famine
Something cold
from Chile – red jelly
And finally my
one genuine offering from China – spring rolls served on a china platter made
in China.
I had considered
making Bombe Alaska, but figured that might have been stretching my culinary
skills just a little too far.