FOOD FOR THOUGHT

<strong><span style=”font-size: 28pt;font-family: Arial” lang=”EN-GB”>Christmas international meal </span></strong>
CATALAN HOTPOT
No Christmas seems quite complete in Catalonia without traditional “escudella” (Catalan hotpot) and all its trimmings. This warming soup makes a substantial meal in itself for cold wintry days.

Ingredients:

100 gr. of dried beans
400 gr. of chickpeas
1kg of potatoes
½ kg of cabbage
½ kg of chicken
400 gr. of veal
400 gr. of mutton
1 pig’s trotter
200 gr. of white “botifarra” (cooked Catalan sausage)
200 gr. of black “botifarra” (blood sausage)
200 gr. of bacon
2 pieces of ham bone
400 gr. of minced meat
2 eggs
breadcrumbs
parsley
2 garlic cloves
salt
water.

Heat 4 litres of water in a stew pot. When it boils, add the ham bones, the veal, the pig’s trotter, the beans and chickpeas. Leave to boil for half an hour, then add the chicken, the mutton, the “botifarra” and the bacon and leave to boil another hour and a half. Skim off any scum with a slotted spoon.
Triturate the garlic and mix it with the breadcrumbs, the minced meat, the parsley and the lightly-beaten eggs. Knead the mixture with the hands until it is well bound and shape it into a thick roll. Add this roll, “pilota” and leave to boil for another hour.
When this is all cooked, remove the meat and the “pilota” and put it aside. Peel the potatoes and add them to the pot together with the cabbage and the carrot. Once cooked remove them and put them with the meat.
With the liquid a soup is made with “galets” (large shell-shaped pieces of alimentary pasta). The meat and vegetables are served separately in a platter.

The centrepiece of the traditional Christmas Eve feast in Poland is Carp.
If you walk around the streets of almost any town or city in you will come across streetcorner sellers with live carp for sale. Customers pick out their favourite fish, and the vendor bags the fish live and the fish taken home. Here are some recipes you can choose from, since in Poland carp is made differently depending on families’ preferences. It is served with mashed potatoes and dried fruit compote.

Fried Christmas Carp

Ingredients:

300g carp

10g salt

1g white pepper

20g butter

5g garlic

100g vegetable oil

Preparation:

• Debone, remove skin and clean the carp thoroughly.
• Salt and pepper the fillets, then brush with melted butter and mashed garlic.
• Fry slowly in hot olive oil until done.

Stuffed Carp in Gelatin

Ingredients:

1 Carp (about 1 kg)

1 onion

1 carrot

1/2 celery root

salt, pepper, allspice

1 stale bread bun

1/2 cup of milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

1 tablespoon of almond flakes

lemon juice

1 tablespoon of raisins

2 teaspoons of gelatin

1 cup of milk to soak the fish

Preparation:

Dress the carp by scaling it, cutting off the head, fins, and tail, gutting it (without cutting through its stomach), and washing it.

Cut the fish steakwise (that is,perpendicular to the spine). Soak the chopped fish in milk for at least one hour, then rinse. Wash, peel, and combine half an onion, the carrot, and celery in a pan of water. Add salt, pepper, and allspice, and bring to a boil. Add the head and the tail of the fish, and cook for an hour over a small flame. Soak the bun in milk, then drain it. Chop the the rest of the onion. Beat the egg whites to a foam. Pick the meat off the head and tail and grate it with the bun and onion; add the egg yolk, almonds, raisins, parsley, salt, pepper, and egg foam. Stir thoroughly.

Fill the fish pieces with the filling, carefully place them on vegetables, and cook for 30 minutes over a small fire (the broth should cover the fish). Soak the gelatin in 1/4 cup of cold water.

Take out the fish pieces and arrange them in a shallow bowl.

Melt the gelatin by heating it. Strain the broth, add lemon juice and gelatin, and stir. Cover the fish with the solidifying gelatin, and set aside for two hours to cool it.

Dried Fruit Compote

Ingrediens:

1 lb. mixed dried fruit

2 cups of water

grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

6 whole cloves

1 1/2 cups of sugar

Preparation:

Rinse and soak fruit in 2 cups of water overnight. Add sugar and heat till it dissolved. Add lemon juice, rind and cloves.

Refrigerate.

ESCARGOTS FARCIS

FOOD and AMOUNTS

Snails en conserve: 30 snails (6 per person)

Parsley: 5 g

Butter: 100 g

Garlic: 3 cloves

Bread (without crust): 20 g

Salt and pepper

MATERIEL

2 bowls

1 sieve

1 electric mincer

1 salad bowl

1 wooden spoon

1 scales

30 snail shells for the scraps

1 plate

1 dish

RECIPE:

1. Wash parsley end garlic.
2. Mince parsley, garlic, bred in the electric mincer.
3. Put the butter into the salad bowl.
4. Add garlic, parsley, bread and mix together.
5. Drain the snails.
6. Put one snail into each shell.
7. Cover the snails with the ready-to-cook butter.
8. Put the shells into a dish.
9. Put the oven knob on «grill position».
10. Heat up and serve when the butter is frothy.

POPPY SEED STRUDEL (Bejgli)
These cakes predate Christianity as the poppy was dedicate to the Moon goddess. (Opium-sleep). The recipes were handed down by the women. These caves are now usually made around Christmas time when fancy baking is typically done. These cakes can be wrapped in foil and stored in the freezer after they are baked.

makes 4,
takes 180 minutes

POPPY SEED FILLING: 450 g. of freshly ground poppy seeds (finely) • 240 g sugar • 1 cup BOILED milk • ¼ cup melted butter • 2 tbsp peach jam • 100 g raisins • 2 tbsp lemon zest. DOUGH: 800 g flour • 240 g sugar • 1 cup lukewarm water • 2 eggs, slightly beaten • 2 cake yeasts, regular or dry • ½ cup soft butter • tsp salt

POPPY SEED FILLING: Cook filling in bowl using only 3/4 cup of boiled milk. Divide into 4 portions one for each dough rollup. MAKE DOUGH: Crumble yeast in bowl, add water and sugar stirring till mixture liquefies. Blend flour and butter with wire pastry blender. Mix well, mix in eggs, salt and yeast. Mixt until dough is srnooth and leaves the side of the bowl clean. DO NOT LET RISE. Divide into four portions and roll each out in a rectangular shape, spread with filling and roll up like a Jelly Roll. Brush the rolls with egg yolks then put them aside for 20 minutes in a cool place. Prick rolls with toothpick on top and the sides to keep from splitting while baking. Place in greased baking pans. BAKE AT ONCE in 180 ºC oven about 30 to 45 min. or until brown. These cakes can be wrapped in foil and stored in the freezer afther they are baked.