Search

• Coriander - Cilantro

  Herb you can find in many cuisines worldwide. People usually love the taste of the leaves or hate. Except the leaves you can use the seeds as such or as a powder.

• Aloo jeera fry - Fried potatoes with cumin

  If you love fried potatoes, it is time to tune them up a bit by some great Indian spices :) Great as a side dish, but in India they serve them with rice or local bread.

• Authentic Moroccan couscous with beef and vegetables

  In our fast moving world it is quite hard to imagine preparing real couscous as they do in North Africa. The real one takes a few hours to prepare. Couscous in Morocco is a festive dish served on Friday. One of the reasons for long preparation is a slow cooked meat (usually beef or lamb). The second, most important one is slow moisturising of dry couscous by hands and then slow steaming above meat and vegetables in a special pot called couscoussier. Thanks to this slow process the couscous is well done, filled with smell of meat and vegetables and nicely loose.

• Baingan bharta - Minced roasted eggplant

  I fell in love with this vegetarian dish from Punjab instantly. Especially in its smoky flavor. Which is the most important point of the recipe. You simply roast it directly on open fire till it is black from all sides. And thats the magic.

• Beef tajine with green peas

  This tajine I learned on a traditional Moroccan market in a restaurant made of clothes where they cooked various kinds of tajines not only for shoppers but for vendors as well. Vendors could even cook their own using the kitchen. It was quite fun as I asked for tajine with green peas, so I had to shell them myself. I had to buy the meat too, as there was not meat on the market. The butcher saw a white girl, so he sold me some low quality beef, which I was told buy two local guests who I invited for the lunch as soon as they put the first piece of the meat to their mouths. Next time I have to be more careful.

• Egg curry

  Egg curry was my very first dish in India. I recall the picture with all the details. The food was delicious, 10 locals where looking at me like at a sacred picture, they were nodding their heads from side to side, smiling and the room was filled with the amazing smell of masala tea.

• Fish kefta - Moroccan fish balls

  For this delicacy, I didn`t hesitate to travel to 5 km distant village. Sardine kefta was my favourite. Grilled straight on the street, mashed with a knife and stuffed into a fresh, still warm bread. With chopped onion and chilli sauce, irresistible combination. And price? 4 dirhams! :) (year 2016)

• Fish tagine

  Because of surfing I spent loads of time on Atlantic coastline of Morocco. That`s why a fresh fish was my daily bread. Grilled, fried or made in traditional Moroccan dish, tagine. This recipe I learned in a restaurant on my favourite beach, Lagzira.

• Fried sardines with herbs ala Omar

  Fried sardines dusted in flour you will get easily nearly everywhere in Morocco. Usually it is a huge portion and it costs nearly nothing. But the recipe I learned from Omar in a fisherman house on the beach was simply the best.

• Gai phat met mamuang himmaphan - Chicken with cashew nuts

  Irresistible combination of various flavors and consistencies. Another delicacy from range of not spicy Thai dishes.

• Gai sabb - Fried chicken salad

  If you get a salad with meat in the "west", it is usually loads of vegetables just topped with a few bits of meat. In Thai salads it is the other way. Meat is the main ingredient and vegetable plays a supporting role. In spite of the loads of meat, this salad is very refreshing and suitable for summer heats too.

• Gobi masala - Couliflower masala

  This recipe I learnt from gipsies in a desert in Rajasthan, like chapati for instance. As they can`t afford having full pantry of ingredients ( .... they even do not have a pantry at all actually ......) they use just a minimum of them. Sometimes less means more, including this gobi masala recipe. Try it, it is worth it.

• Chicken curry

  It was a nice change to have a bit of a meat in India. Very interesting part was buying the chicken already. It was as fresh as it gets. Traditionally there are no fridges in India`s meat shops. There are live chicken instead running around and got "ready" only when a customer comes and buy one or two.

• Jeera rice - Fried rice with cumin

  Jeera rice is one of the most popular rice side dishes in India. It is a very nice combination of aromatic jeera (cumin), sweet raisins and crunchy cashews. All smoothened by quite loads of ghee. It is served with various kinds of North Indian curries, dhals and other dishes.

• Larb moo - Minced pork meat salad

  When one says refreshing salad, the last thing to imagine would be a salad made of pork minced meat. But with a lime juice, fresh herbs, spring onions ...... I was able to get it even in the biggest heats.

• Liver with olives

  I was invited for a dinner by my Moroccan friends for. While we were drinking and waiting for the "main chef", we became pretty hungry. So one of the guys said "lets make a starter" meanwhile. I was expecting something fast, small and light, but he made liver :) Yes, it was fast and it was delicious. But pretty filling too, so I had nearly no space for the main dish then :)

• Paneer and cashew nuts in a white gravy

  This was simply a balsam for my soul. So fine, creamy and delicate .... And it is quite easy to make home made paneer too. Or substitute it with tofu for instance.

• Raita - Indian salad with yoghurt dressing

  Raita is a yoghurt dressing used for traditional Indian salad of the same name. The basic of the salad, except for the yoghurt, usually is red onion with some of following vegetables like cucumber, capsicum, tomato or their combination. The salad you can see on the picture are mainly onions and just a few tomatoes.

• Tkalia - Zesty tripes with olives

  Large pieces of tripes hanging from hooks at the butcher`s shops are inherent part of meat shops in Morocco. Tripes dishes are very common there. They use lamb, goat and beef tripes too. In combination with other offals or separately, like in case of this recipe, which is called Tkalia.

• Tom yum gai - Sour and spicy soup with chicken

  Tom yum means sour and spicy. So if you do not know this soup, you probably already got the hint what to expect. The soup is not just a little bit sour and spicy. At least not if you get it in Thailand. Where they definitely are not moderate when using chilies and all various ingredients bringing sourness into the soup. This traditional Thai soup is amazing and very refreshing.

• Vegetarian tagine berber style

  Morocco is not a paradise for vegetarians. So vegetarian tagine doesn`t belong to typical Moroccan dishes. But this doesn`t mean they do not exist at all. I was so lucky I bumped into a place they made it and it was a traditional berber style.

• Yum woon sen - Glass noodle salad with minced pork

  Glass noodle salad belonged to my favourites. Like in majority of Thai salads, it is a great mix of flavours like spicy, sweet and sour. All topped with amazing fresh herbs. Do I need to add more?

• Yum woon sen - Thai glass noodle salad with squid and prawns

  The last meal I had in Thailand before I left. I nearly dropped a tear. This time surprisingly not because of the spiciness, the late afternoon simply felt so good. The sun was setting slowly and its rays were getting through the window of a small street restaurant. A very peaceful place. Thailand knows how to say good bye. And this amazing refreshing salad was another proof of it too :)