A beautiful painting

Criolo Cooking

Another New Country

A BIG Welcome to Bolivia

Silpancho is a local Bolivian dish, it is a mixture of minced (ground) beef, breadcrumbs and spices that have been flattened into a giant meat pancake and cooked in very hot oil for just a few minutes. It is typically served with yajua (a hot tomato salsa) and a fried egg, on a bed of rice and fried potatoes. This is not food for the health-conscious.

A new country

A BIG Welcome to the Maldives

Maldivian food is spicy but milder than the food found in some neighbouring countries. Sweet, sour, hot and spicy food is found. Hedhikaa is a sanck popular in many cafés. Hot and spicy savouries are made of smoked fish, grated coconut, lime juice, onion and chilli. They include bajiyaa (pastry stuffed with fish), kulhi boakibaa (fishcake), keemia (fish rolls) and gulha (fishballs) and masroshi (small pancake stuffed with fish). The sweet items are made from flour, sugar, and essence. They include foniboakiba (cake made of flour), githeyo boakiba (made of flour, onions, and butter), and huni hakuru folhi (made of grated coconut, sugar and flour). A cup of black tea (kalhu sai) is the usual option to wash down the short eats.

A traditional meal consists of rice and garudhiya (fish soup), with fish, chilli, lemon and onion. Curries are also used instead of garudhiya. Fish paste known as rihaakuru is also a fine side dish. Alternately, roshi (chapati) and mas huni (made of grated coconut, fish, lemon and onions) are a popular dish. Fried yams are also widely eaten. Sweet dishes include custard, bodibaiy (rice mixed with sugar) and fruits such as bananas, mangoes and papayas. Watermelons are a favourite during the fasting month of Ramazan.

Traditional dishes can still be found in the local islands during Eid, Maloodh, and other festivals and occasions such as christening of a child, marking the anniversary of a death. The traditional dishes are now less common in the Maldives as western items like bread, sandwiches, margarine, jam, noodles and pasta are introduced. Most of the resorts have special nights called Maldivian Night serving traditional local foods.

Alcoholic beverages and pork are prohibited by Law and only found in tourist resorts and liveaboards for tourist consumption.

This IS an oven

You can have all your gas fired and electric ovens, grills and stoves, but nothing, I mean nothing beats an old wood fired oven.

I think this photo is absolutely wonderful.

A quick party idea...

...don't even need a recipe!

Peruvian Beer

Callao Pilsen,

Cristal & Cusqueña
the two most popular beers

Comments

It's all rather boring, but at the moment I can't respond to comments. My computer decides to switch off when i open the comment box. Weird, I know.

But, please have patience, your comments are being read (email notification) and appreciated.

AV

And now presenting...

Lebanon

A Big Welcome

Arak is the national alcoholic drink of Lebanon. It is a white alcohol distilled from grapes. The very best French distillation methods are matched with Lebanese tradition.

And still they come...

A BIG Welcome to Lithuania

Cepelinai (potato dumplings)

Traditional Lithuanian cuisine includes soups (beet, sauerkraut and sorrel), stews, sausages, smoked meat and rye bread.

Main meals consist of meat (pork, chicken and duck) or fish (eel, pike and herring) with potatoes and vegetables such as beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, mushrooms, onions, radishes and turnips.

Lithuania has a variety of potato dishes including pancakes and stuffed potato dumplings (cepelinai). Dairy products, especially cottage cheese and curd cheese, are used in Lithuanian recipes. Eggs are used to make a variety of omelettes.

Cakes, pastries, fruit dumplings and ice cream are popular desserts. Cold sweet soups are made with berries and fruit (cherry soup). Other fruits grown in Lithuania are apples, gooseberries, pears and plums. Bilberries, cranberries, raspberries and strawberries (as well as mushrooms) are collected from the woods.

Lithuanians drink milk, fruit juices, tea, coffee, beer (alus) and mead (a liquor made with honey).

Old dogs CAN learn new tricks...

One of my daily visits is to Beach Eats because there is always something new to see. Today was no different, and, being Thursday we are treated to "Thirsty Thursday." Today Diva on a Diet, featured a martini, The Baronial. You'll have to visit to learn more.

In the course of presenting The Baronial Diva on a Diet mentioned a gin called Hendrick's as the cocktail required a gin of some quality. I immediately thought of Gordon's, Beefeater's or Tanqueray, but Hendrick's I'd never heard of despite having considerable "gin" experience; forty-three years, in fact - I had my first Tom Collins at the age of 14. So I was prompted to Google it, and Google it I did. I found this:

"Hendrick's Gin (88 proof) is one of the most interesting spirits we've seen in some time. The packaging is superb. It carries an image of "British" comedic, irreverance mixed with late Victorian scientism. A little pamphlet included in the cylinder contains diagrams showing brains, cucumbers, skulls attached to spines and little notes with dry comments like, "A strong backbone is often displayed by Hendrick's drinkers." All this Monty Python-like goofyness, yet, Hendrick's isn't quite English, it's distilled and bottled in Ayrshire, Scotland. Hendrick's describes itself as "A most peculiar gin." No argument there- it does taste of cucumber, but this is mild and balanced against juniper, coriander and rose."

Part of a review on http://www.alcoholreviews.com/SPIRITS/gins-0901.shtml read for the rest. Which, in turn, lead me to the Hendrick's Gin home page.

Now, I have never tried this particular "cucumber" gin, but I am extremely tempted to if I ever find it in Brazil.

The other point I am going to add here, is that the Hendrick's Gin home page is probably the best and most intriguing home page I have ever seen. It's definitely worth a visit, if only to see it, which is why I am adding a link on the side bar.

Another new visitor recently

A BIG Welcome to Bermuda

On the island of Bermuda, one of the local specialties is an alcoholic drink called the Dark and Stormy . It’s basically made of 2 ingredients :

1) Gosling’s Bermuda Dark Rum
2) Ginger Beer (Note: NOT Ginger Ale)

You can get pre-mixed Dark and Stormy drinks in a can so you can just pop one open while you’re enjoying the nice sunny beaches of Bermuda.

A new visitor

A BIG Welcome to Macao

Macao is an ex-Portuguese colony off the coast of China near Hong Kong

Choclate Chip Ice Cream

You guys have probably figured out by now that I don't go in for the sweet stuff much, but i saw this recipe that was sooooo easy to follow, that even I could do it.

Check it out here.

A Survey - Can you help?

This morning I got an e-mail from Tracy...

Hi Argentum Vulgaris.   ;) 

I found Things that Fizz & Stuff this morning - it's a really fun site and clearly a lot of work goes into it.  Do you sleep? 

She is doing this...

my dissertation pertains to wine blogs as an information source –
focusing on the site, message, and source characteristics of the wine blog that people feel are important.  I'm also examining behavioral intentions such as following recommendations, spreading the information, and continuing with a particular wine blog.

And needs help, so I participated in the survey...

http://dbm.questionpro.com

If you can/would/could/feel compelled to/must help, I am sure she would appreciate it. The survey takes about 10 minutes, it's easy, there are no scary questions.

.

Classic Irish...

It would have to be green...

Scallops

Scallops

put scallops on a stick

Scallop Kebabs

Easy!

Dutch Beer

Wow, chilies

That represents a LOT of hot food!

Life sucks, take home....

...WTF?

From O'Reilly's Irish Pub

Some souvenir!