4Cities Cookbook: Cohort 10

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Credits Tori Campbell - idea, copy editing, management Arshia Eghbali - illustrations (portraits; cover) Adriana Garcia Brenke - illustrations (ingredient icons) Emma Hughes - layout design Mariia Kostenko - illustrations (plates; allergen icons) Sloane Pretto - layout editing and planning Sasha Tarkhanova - illustrations (shelves)

A special thank you to all of Cohort 10 for providing their recipes.

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Introduction The thirty-one members of 4Cities’ Cohort 10 came together over the course of two years to share many things: bottles of Belgian beer, Danube-side bike rides, late-night cigarettes, bottles of Spanish wine, sleepless nights filled with thesis stress, innumerable laughs, and heaping plates of food filled and crafted with love.

These two years far from home had us gravitating to our kitchens to cook up the recipes our families had taught us before we left on our adventures, to share with our new family. Good meals like these have provided comfort, a calm mind, and a full heart.

As we embark on our next adventures, may we bring along these recipes as our own little cultural catalogue, a retainer for our memories together, and a means for bringing about new memories with loved ones.

Now, let’s get cooking!

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Melis Günay Germany

Emma Hughes Canada Daniel Hilhorst Canada Victoria (Tori) Campbell United States

Bibi Witvliet Netherlands Serafina Van Godtsenhoven Belgium Marcus (Mags) Stevenson United Kingdom

Francesca Spigarolo Italy Ignasi Gaeta Soler Spain Paola Leenhouts Spain Natalia (Nati) Perez Mexico

Simon Unternährer Switzerland

Alejandra Rivera Colombia

Adriana Garcia Brenke Venezuela

Sloane Pretto Brazil

Felipe Suárez Uruguay Vincent Boannor Ghana

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Varvara Borodkina Russia Andrei Alberto Manca Romania

Dilnoza Tasheva Kyrgyzstan

Mariia Kostenko Ukraine Alexandra (Sasha) Tarkhanova Russia / Canada

Soheon Kim South Korea

Sanila Pradhan Nepal Anhad Imaan India Robern Padasas Philippines Eesha Iqbal Pakistan

Arshia Eghbali Iran Anousheh Parsaei Iran Hend Aly Egypt

Antonio Muco Australia

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Adriana GarcĂ­a Brenke Valencia, Venezuela

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Arepas Venezolanas con Reina Pepiada

Main Dish

Ingredients

1 cup warm water

2 chicken breasts

1 cup harina pan (precooked corn flour)

1 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tsp olive oil

Snack

½ cup chopped onions 200 grams peas

Salt

Pepper

Baking soda

Onion powder

2 avocados

Garlic powder

Cook’s Notes This dish is the most typical and most common meal in Venezuela. Jokingly, we say that nobody ever teaches us how to make arepas, our parents would just randomly ask us one day to makearepas and you’d try to do your best to not disappoint them. They can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner – as a main meal or as a snack.

Replacements For vegetarians: skip the chicken For vegans: replace mayonnaise with olive oil or a little bit of soy cooking cream/soy yogurt.

For gluten free: safe!

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Directions 1. I normally add one-part warm water, salt and a little pinch of baking soda.

Mix until dissolved and then slowly add one-part flour, stirring constantly so you don’t get lumps. Keep adding flour until the mix is soft but you are able to form a ball with your hands. Lastly, before doing the balls I add a little bit of olive oil to the dough. The mixture should be smooth but not sticky, and when you form the balls and flatten them, it should not crack on the sides.

2. I form the arepas and put them in a hot non-stick pan on medium-low and cook on that side until the arepa detaches from the pan (this means it’s completely cooked on that side, you should not try to unstick it with a spatula, you’ll ruin it). Only after that you can flip them with a spatula and let it cook on the other side. After it has detached from the surface again, I keep on flipping them until they’re a bit toasted or until you reach a point where you tap on them and it sounds like an empty drum.

3. While the arepas cook, you should start creating the filling. Cook the chicken on a pan with some oil. Let it cool down and pull apart with your fingers.

In a mixing bowl, cut the avocados and mash them until creamy. Add the shredded chicken and finely chopped onions. Incorporate the mayonnaise and mix together until creamy. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and onion/ garlic powder. Finally, add the peas and incorporate them gently to the mixture.

Garnish with some chopped parsley if desired.

4. Slice into the arepa and remove the filling to make room for the Reina Pepiada. You can add some butter on the leftover arepa filling and eat it separately. And Voilà! Arepas are done.

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Pan de Jamon Venezuelan Christmas Bread Snack

Ingredients 1 ½ kg all-purpose flour

½ kg sliced bacon

2 tbsp rapid rise yeast

1 kg ham

200 grams softened butter

200 grams green olives, pitless

3 eggs 200 grams white sugar 1 tbsp salt

200 grams raisins 150 grams brown sugar

½ liter milk

Cook’s Notes This Venezuelan bread recipe is exclusively made during holiday season, and it’s part of what we called the “Venezuelan Christmas dish”, consisting of Hallacas, hen salad and pan de jamón. It is long, and complicated, but it’s definitely worth it! This recipe I took from Claudio Nazoa, a Venezuelan comedian, and I’ll do my best to translate his jokes in the directions ;) It is the one I used for the bread I baked in Brussels, so if you ever think about how delicious it was, here’s the recipe for it! This recipe makes approximately 2 ginormous breads or three medium-sized ones. Don’t let people tell you about it! Do it. And Merry Christmas, even if you’re reading this on another day of the year.

Replacements For vegetarians: replace bacon and ham with a lot of cheese.

For vegans: you’re fucked.

For gluten free: use gluten free flour and active dry yeast.

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Directions 1. In a mixing bowl add a cup of warm water and two tablespoons rapid rise yeast and let it rest. Warm up the milk and add the salt and sugar 2. On the table top, add 1 kg of flour in a volcano shape and incorporate the yeast mixture. Add two eggs, the butter and slowly add the milk until you have a homogeneous mixture. In case the mixture is too watery, that’s what the other half a kilo of flour is for. If it’s necessary for the consistency, add a little bit of the remaining flour at a time, it’s not mandatory to add it all.

Form a ball with the dough and let it rest for 35 minutes in a warm place (inside the oven next to a warm glass of water is okay).

3. Meanwhile, with the help of your friends or family, fix some drinks for you to rest, nag your sibling or argue with your politically-incorrect relatives.

4. Now slice olives in several parallel pieces. Soak raisins in water. Have another drink, take your time and take some shots. Let your friends know that you’re doing Pan de Jamón, if they say they want some, say yes but in exchange for a bottle of expensive alcohol.

5. Place the ham and bacon in a organised way on a platter so it looks pretty.

6. Assume 35 minutes have passed and proceed to actually make the bread.

After you realize you don’t have a rolling pin, go around your building/ neighborhood asking people to borrow one. Divide the dough in two parts and stretch with the rolling pin until forming a rectangle.

7. Cover the dough with the ham and bacon until you can’t see an empty spot of dough. Sprinkle the raisins and olives evenly over the surface.

8. Roll the rectangle from here to there until you form a roll that later would be named bread.

9. With your fingers, press both ends of the roll, so the filling won’t come out.

Save a little bit of dough for decoration if you want.

10. Let the bread rest for 30 minutes before getting it in the oven that you should preheat to 180 ºC. 11. Put the bread in the oven and after 20 minutes, take it out and proceed to paint with a mixture consisting of the brown sugar and the remaining egg.

Bring back to the oven and bake for 40 minutes more.

Serves: 3 Prep Time: 40 minutes Cook Time: 60 minutes

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Fried Plantains Patacones Savory Plantains Snack

Ingredients 1 green plantain

Salt Vegetable oil for frying

Directions 1. First, remove the skin of the plantain by making a longitudinal incision and gently peeling it off. Chop the plantain into 5 even pieces.

4. Fry again for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oil and let rest again on paper towels. Add salt to taste and enjoy.

2. On a pot, heat vegetable oil until ready to fry and put the plantains pieces until they are golden but NOT brown (around 3-4 minutes). Remove from oil and let rest on paper towels.

5. This recipe goes well with coleslaw salad on top and/or salty white cheese.

3. Place the plantains on a piece of plastic wrap and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. With a flat pot or the bottom of a cup, press GENTLY on the pieces of plantain, flattening them without breaking them, into 1 cm thickness.

Cook’s Notes For this recipe, I will give you different ways to cook plantains depending on its ripeness.

Green plantains are usually for savoury recipes, while yellow and dark, black, plantains are for sweet dishes.

Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free!

Serves: 6 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes

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Fried Plantains Tajadas Sweet Plantains Snack

Ingredients 1 ripe (yellow black-ish) plantain

Vegetable oil for frying

Directions 1. First, remove the skin of the plantain by making a longitudinal incision and gently peeling it off. Chop the plantain into longitudinal and diagonal pieces.

To be more specific, the cuts should be approximately 45 degrees.

2. On a pot, heat vegetable oil until ready to fry and put the plantain pieces in until they are golden brown. Flip to fry the other side.

3. Remove from oil and let rest on paper towels.

4. This recipe goes well with butter and cheese, or just by itself :) 5. If you don’t feel like frying, my mom would put the plantain pieces in a glass bowl with water and some cinnamon and microwave it for 3-4 minutes Serves: 6 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes

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Alejandra Rivera Bogota, Colombia

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Bandeja Paisa Main Dish

Ingredients 1/2 pounds of dry red beans “Cargamanto”

Chicharron (pork skin)

Carrots

Wheat flour

White round onions

Large fried plantains

Tomatoes

Eggs

Cilantro

Grilled or fried piece of steak (omit for vegetarians)

Maggi (chicken soup boullion cubes)

(omit for vegetarians)

Rice

Directions 1. Put the beans to soak in water the day before so they become softer at the time of cooking (the next day) 2. Put them in a pressure pot by themselves for 15 minutes with one whole carrot and one whole white round onion 3. In the meantime, chop a green plantain in medium cubes and the other carrot in small pieces 4. When the 15 minutes have passed, take the beans from the pressure pot and put in what you just chopped, and put it again to cook everything in the pressure pot for another 10 minutes 5. Meanwhile, you will do a “hogao” (Colombian name for a very simple sauce to create more flavor for pretty much everything), it is just finely chopped tomato and onion, and a hint of salt. put all of that to cook in a pan for 5 minutes until it starts to smell good, without letting it burn.

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6. When the beans are done, blend the whole carrot and the whole white round onion with a hint of salt, cilantro, and the condiment Maggi.

7. After everything is blended, put it in the pressure pot for another 3 minutes.

8. When it’s done it is accompanied by “chicharron” (pork skin), which you fry with wheat flour and salt for it to become crunchy (omit for vegetarians) 9. Add the large fried plantains, a fried egg, a grilled or fried piece of steak (omit for vegetarians), and rice

Colombian Arepas Main Dish

Snack

2 cups of yellow corn flour 2 cups of mash potatoes flakes 1 cup of dry cheese “Costeño” (or similar, just a dry cheese that crumbles)

Ingredients zest of Panela (brown sugar loaf, usually comes in round or rectangular hard blocks) 1 ½ - 2 cups of water 2 table spoons of olive oil (lightest possible)

1 cup of fresh mozzarella cheese

Directions 1. Mix everything together, then let it rest for 10 minutes 2. After 10 minutes you can knead the dough (if the dough crumbles, then it needs more water but if the dough is sticky in your hands, then it needs more flour) 3. Knead it until it is a manageable, nonsticky dough, and make any shape you want, usually round

4. Put it to fry in a pan with olive oil for approximately 3-5 minutes on each side depending on how crunchy or toasty you want it.

5. You can accompany it with anything strong in flavour, or when the arepas are done you can open them from the side and stuff them with chicken, pork, shredded beef, or more cheese or tofu for vegetarians

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Andrei Alberto Manca Bucharest, Romania

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Sarmale Romanian Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients

Main Dish

2 tbsp vegetable oil

5g fresh dill chopped

1 large onion chopped

1 kg sour cabbage leaves

75g long grain rice uncooked

15 slices bacon chopped

1 kg ground pork 5g parsley chopped

11 cups tomato juice Salt and pepper to taste

Cook’s Notes My mom would always make sarmale with me and my grandma on cold rainy days when I was a kid. It remains one of my favorite meals and always makes me feel at home.

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Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 F and soak cabbage in water 2. Chop the onion and sautĂŠ in the oil. Add rice and cook for a minute 3. In a large bowl, add the ground pork, dill, onion, rice, and salt and pepper.

4. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together.

5. After you’ve soaked the cabbage in water, remove the leaves from the cabbage one by one and place them on a plate so they for rolling. Set the core aside.

8. Use about 1 to 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture in each rolls. Roll them up and line them up in your dish. After the first row add the bacon in between the rolls. Continue until done with meat mixture.

9. Pour the tomato juice all over the cabbage rolls. If the cabbage rolls are not completely covered, add water.

Cover them up with the lid, or aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven for 2 hours. After two hours add more water, and bake for another 2 hours without the lid on.

10. Serve hot and with a side of sour cream

6. Cut the bacon into small pieces 7. Chop up the remaining cabbage and place at the bottom of your baking dish

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Anhad Imaan New Delhi, India

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Carrot Halwa Dessert

Ingredients 8 tender juicy carrots* *To be grated; these yield about 4½ cups of grated carrots

6 pieces of green cardamom ¼ tsp of saffron strands

4½ cups milk

1 handful of raisins

4 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)**

10 tbsp of sugar

**You can get this at any Indian store in Europe

20 cashews

Cook’s Notes When I was about 8, and in class 2, I would run home excitedly every Friday after school because my mum would make us carrot halwa. I didn’t understand it then but it was a way for my mum to try and get me to go to school. She would tell me to do well through the week, and that I would get carrot halwa on Friday. Every Monday, I’d think about the end of the week. It was strange though that I wasn’t fixated with the idea that a reward awaits, for I remember that I did bunk school one particular week and my mum still made some carrot halwa, and I didn’t enjoy it at all. The next week, when I did go to school, the halwa was different experience altogether.

My mum’s carrot halwa and her recipe are special. Her carrot halwa instilled in me a focus and a clarity of thought the likes of which I cannot recall from my childhood. My mum’s simple recipe and its impact on me are in many ways a part of who I am today. That carrot halwa, amongst other things, moulded my way of living life and my general outlook towards it. as an 8 year old. I am a sum total of a plethora of different experiences, that halwa being a crucial one.

Today as an adult I know about 146 Indian recipes by heart, and many of them are far more complex than a simple carrot halwa, but I cannot to date pull of what my mum would make for us all those years ago. And I don’t think I ever will. This recipe is, therefore, handpicked from a variety of recipes I have been thinking about. And so, I would like to share this recipe with you.

This is my mum’s recipe :) Serves: 2 Prep time: 10-15 minutes Cooking time: 1hr 30 mins

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Directions 1. In a wide, non stick pan, add the milk and grated carrots (4.5 cups). Mix the carrots and the milk as well as possible.

5. Crush the 6 pieces of cardamom till you have a powder of sorts. Add this to the pan, stir and let it cook.

2. On a low-medium flame, bring the mixture to boil and then simmer

6. Carrot Halwa can take up to an 1 hour to cook, but again, depending on the kind of stove/hob you have, it could be done in less than that. Keep stirring in between

3. Now here is the tricky part. In about 20 minutes, the carrots will begin to cook and the milk will begin to evaporate.

This may take longer, depending on the temperature of your hob/stove. Keep a close eye!

4. When the milk has evaporated up to about 75% (No one gets it right the first time, and it sucks that there’s no other way to get this done) add the ghee and sugar. Stir for a good 5 minutes and then let it cook. (Do NOT increase the flame, it must be kept low and steady)

7. After an hour, switch off the flame and cover the pan with a lid. Let it remain in the pan for another 10-15 minutes.

8. Finally, add cashews and raisins on top and serve.

I really hope you get to make this and I am sure you’ll do a great job!

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Anousheh Parsaei Hamedan, Iran

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Abgoosht or Dizi Traditional Iranian Dish Main Dish

Ingredients 2 lamb shanks

1 tsp ground dried lime

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 large onion

1 cup of white beans, soaked overnight

2 tomatoes

1 tsp salt 1 cup of chickpeas, soaked overnight

Turmeric 1 large potato, peeled 1 teaspoon pepper

Cook’s Notes I would like to explicitly explain how Iranian cuisines could give you too many calories just in a one meal of your day! Therefore, I wish you a good luck if you are going to eat them, by any chance. One of the famous and delicious Iranian dishes that is very popular has been Abgoosht. Abgoosht literally means water of meat (meat juice). It is a dish that dates back hundreds of years.

You should bear in your mind that traditional Iranian dishes absolutely require time and patience to be cooked. Therefore, this food would be the most interesting dish for Friday lunch in Iran, as Friday is the only day off (weekend) during a week in Iran and you have time to wake up at 5 am to start cooking till 3 pm.

There is a joke in this regard that it says: if a hundred guests surprisingly arrive to your place for lunch time, you only need to fill more water in your pots and the taste of Abgoosht will be same at the end, even if you made it for four people.

By the way, there is variety of recipes for cooking this dish, but after most you will face the same feeling of exploding. Now, I am going to share with you how my family cooks Abgoosht and makes its side dishes.

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Directions First Stage: Cooking Meat Stock 1.

Place the meat, onion, chickpeas, beans and peeled tomatoes in a large pot.

2. Place the pot over medium heat. Add turmeric and 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low heat for 4 to 5 hours.

3. Remove the tomatoes, potatoes, onion, a bit of beans and any fat from the meat and place them in a bowl.

4. Now the first stage of cooking abgoosht is ready. You should serve the meat juice with small pieces of bread soaked in it and we call it: “Tilit Kardane Nun” Second stage: Making Goosht-koobideh from Abgoosht 5. Eating Abgoosht won’t be finished to only eat the meat stock with bread. As you know, we already mentioned other ingredients. Now, it is the time to enjoy the main meal!

6. Mix all the above-mentioned ingredients together utilizing Gooshtkoob (literally meat mortar). We crush them to be doughy consistency.

7. Add this to the pot again and add salt, pepper, tomato paste, potato and dried lime.

8. Cover and continue cooking for another hour.

9. Put the mashed ingredients on a bread and make your own sandwich with side dishes such as onion rings, fresh vegetables and Torshi (Salty-sour mixed fruits) Third stage: Drinking Chai-Nabaat 10. When you get sure that you don’t have any more space even for a banana (Iranian joke when they are so full), it is time to drink a cup of Chai-Nabaat.

11. Chai means tea and Nabaat is an Iranian yellow sugar-on-a-stick thing that people put in black tea to make it very sweet.

12. By drinking Chai-Nabaat, they satisfy themselves that they help digestion system to work better, however I do believe they can’t understand where does their specific Iranian big belly come from! (it is something like beer belly but this one is Iranian version by Chai-Nabaat).

Good Luck, Ani ;)

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Antonio Muco Fremantle, Western Australia

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Pizza Burger Snack

Ingredients Unleavened flatbread (any thin flatbread will do) Tomato paste/sauce (homemade pasta sauce is best) Mozzarella, plus any other cheeses you desire

Main Dish

Onions Mushrooms 2 eggs Beetroot, slices (Optional) Ham

(Cherry) Tomatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

Spinach leaves

Herbs of your choice oregano, basil, rosemary

Cook’s Notes A pizza version of the Australian burger, which typically includes beetroot and egg. I make it whenever I want a quick meal that tastes of home.

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Directions 1. Spread tomato paste on the flatbread 2. Generously apply mozzarella 3. If you wish, you can pre-fry the onions and mushroom until caramelised 4. Chop up the tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and beetroot and add 5. Fry the eggs, sunny side up, keeping them slightly runny, then place them on the pizza 6. Add spinach leaves 7. Drizzle olive oil over the pizza 8. Sprinkle the herbs of your choice 9. Place the pizza in the frying pan at high heat for 5 minutes, covering with a lid so that the toppings cook

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Arshia Eghbali Tehran, Iran

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Yalda Salad Side Dish

Ingredients 1 big cauliflower 2 big pomegranates 1 ½ cups creamy Greek yogurt

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 lemon Salt and pepper to season

Cook’s Notes In Iran we have a different calendar. Instead of the first of January, the year begins some time around the 21st of March (it could be the 20th or the 22nd, since it’s astronomically calculated). That day, which is the Iranian New Year’s Day, is called Nowruz – the first of Farvardin. That is the beginning of spring, the birthday of nature. As months go by and nature ages, there comes another special day – Yalda. Yalda Night is celebrated on the longest and darkest night of the year, that is the winter solstice. It is the last night of autumn – the night before the first of Dey. That is some time around the 21st of December (again it could be one day before or after).

On this special night, family and friends gather around and celebrate the promise of spring after winter, as they know that following the Yalda night, although winter is going to be long and cold, every night will be a little shorter and a little less dark, until spring and Nowruz eventually arrives. To symbolize this conquest of life over darkness, Anaar (pomegranate), with its rich crimson glow, is the fruit of the night. And here I’m sharing with you a salad that my mom makes on this beautiful occasion. Here is a simple dish to get you going for the long winter ahead!

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Directions 1. Break the cauliflower in small pieces with your hands and throw them in a big bowl.

2. Open one pomegranate, deseed it and add to the cauliflowers.

3. Pick up the other pomegranate and extract its juice in a big cup (be careful, this is some bloody business!).

4. In a smaller cup, add the creamy yogurt, then little by little add the pomegranate juice and stir it until you have an even pink dressing.

5. Then add the vinegar, the lemon and salt and pepper.

6. Pour the dressing over the bowl of cauliflowers and pomegranates, mix it like crazy and voila!

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Bibi Witvliet Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Bibi’s Pasta Pesto with Sunny Salad

Main Dish

Ingredients

Whole grain penne 30g Parmigiano Reggiano 1 whole basil plant 80g of pine nuts 2 cloves of garlic Salt and pepper

A lot of extra virgin olive oil Plenty of cherry tomatoes Fresh/dried thyme Rucola 4 big oranges 1 fennel

Cook’s Notes A former colleague of mine had once made this dish for me and when I tried to replicate it at home (by just thinking about what kind of ingredients she had used and how much she had used of them) my family (not including the cats) loved it! So now every time I’ve gone back to The Netherlands during this 4CITIES adventure my family has demanded me to cook this for them.

Serves: 4 Prep time: 30-45 minutes

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Directions 1. Preheat the oven at 200° celsius.

When the oven is ready put the cherry tomatoes in a big bowl with oil and sprinkle on top some thyme and salt.

Bake on a cooking sheet for about 20 minutes.

4. Prepare the whole grain penne and mix in the pesto

2. For the pesto: roast the pine nuts in a pan (without using any oil) and grate the cheese. Mix together the pine nuts, cheese, basil, olive oil, garlic and salt in a blender or a mortar and pestle.

6. Smakelijk eten!

5. Put together (in this order) on a plate: penne, roasted tomatoes, and then add the salad and‌‌..voila!

3. For the salad: peel the oranges and slice into small pieces. Cut the fennel in very thin and tiny pieces. Add together the rucola, fennel and the oranges. Top with olive oil, pepper, and salt (as you wish)

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Daniel Hilhorst Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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Nanaimo Bars Dessert

Ingredients 6 oz. Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided 3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp butter, softened, divided 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla 2 cups graham crumbs

1 cup flaked coconut 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 2 tbsp Bird’s Custard Powder 3 tbsp milk 2 cups icing sugar

Cook’s Notes A Canadian Recipe that reminds me of times spent in small-town socials and local church bazaars. Nanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a lovely little city, nestled between the mountains and the sea, defined by its nature to the water. But it is also defined by this delectable treat, which was once voted Canada’s Favourite Confection. It requires no oven #lifeonthemove and can be made in any number of local favourite flavour competitions. I’ve included both the original (non-vegan) version, and one without dairy or eggs (by a Canadian favourite vegan baker-blogger).

Servings: 32 servings, 1 bar (33 g) each Prep Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 4 hours

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Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Microwave 2 oz. chocolate and 1/2 cup butter in large microwaveable bowl on medium for 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Blend in egg and vanilla. Stir in graham crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press onto bottom of 9-inch square pan. Bake 8 minutes; cool completely.

over custard layer. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled before cutting into bars.

5. For easy removal of dessert from pan before cutting into bars, line empty pan with foil or parchment paper, with ends of foil extending over sides. Then, use the foil handles to remove chilled dessert from pan before cutting into bars.

3. Mix custard powder and milk in medium bowl with whisk until blended. Add 1/4 cup of the remaining butter; mix well.

Gradually beat in sugar until blended.

Spread onto crust. Refrigerate 15 minutes 4. Microwave remaining chocolate and butter in microwaveable bowl 2 to 3 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Spread

Alternatives Mocha Nanaimo Bars Blend 3 Tbsp. coffee-flavoured liqueur with 2 tsp Maxwell House Coffee granules.

Substitute this for the 3 tbsp milk used to prepare custard layer.

Red or Green Nanaimo Bars Prepare as directed, adding 1/2 tsp peppermint extract and a few drops green or red food colouring to filling with butter.

Storage Store bars in airtight container up to 1 week or freeze up to 3 months.

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Vegan Nanaimo Bars Classic Vanilla Dessert

Ingredients Bottom Layer 1/2 cup vegan butter 1/4 cup sugar

1 and ¼ cup vegan graham crackers or store bought, processed into a crumb

5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1/4 cup almonds, processed fine

1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp warm water, mixed)

1 cup unsweetened coconut

Middle Layer 1/2 cup vegan butter 2 tbsp coconut milk, full-fat (not light) 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tbsp vanilla custard powder 2 cups icing/confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Top Layer 4 oz non-dairy dark chocolate or semi-sweet

Shredded coconut, to garnish (optional)

2 tbsp vegan butter

Cook’s Notes Note: Middle layer gets very soft at room temperature. Please keep in the fridge until serving and always cut when chilled.

For the Mint Chip and Pomegranate Almond flavours please see this pdf: https://ohsheglows.com/docs/challenge10.pdf For illustrations, see Vegan Nanaimo Bars at Oh She Glows

Originally published on Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon.

Adapted from a family recipe as well as Joyce Hardcastle, 1986.

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Directions 1. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper and grease with butter on all sides. Leave a few inches of parchment hanging on the two ends so you can easily lift it up out of the pan when firm.

2. Middle layer: I prefer to begin making the middle layer because it will be ready when your bottom layer is pressed into the pan. In a small bowl, mix together the 2 tbsp of coconut milk and 1 tsp of vanilla with the 2 tbsp custard powder.

Stir until smooth.

3. With an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth and creamy.

Now add in the custard, coconut milk, and vanilla mixture and beat for a few minutes.

4. Gradually, add in the icing sugar and beat for about 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Set aside.

5. Bottom layer: In a small bowl mix the flax egg together (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp warm water). Set aside for a few minutes to allow it to thicken up.

6. In a saucepan, whisk together the butter, sugar, and sifted cocoa powder.

Heat on medium to low and stir frequently until smooth.

7. Now add in the gelled up flax egg and stir well. It will have a strange gel-like consistency now, but have no fear! Stir for a minute or so.

8. Now remove from heat and stir in the coconut, processed almonds, and graham wafer crumbs.

9. Stir well and then mix with your hands.

10. Press this mixture into your prepared pan, ensuring that you press it down very firmly and as evenly as possibly.

I used a pastry roller to smooth it out, but this is not necessary.

11. Take your middle layer frosting and spread over top of the bottom layer.

Smooth it out as evenly as possible.

Place in the freezer until firm, about 45 mins.

12. Top Layer: Melt your chocolate and butter in a double boiler or carefully in the microwave.

13. Stir well until smooth and all clumps are gone. Remove the pan from freezer and spread the chocolate quickly over the top. Sprinkle coconut on top if desired. Smooth out as much as possible and then place back in the freezer for about 1 hour until set.

14. Once set you can transfer it to the fridge to keep until ready or you can place it on the counter for about 10 minutes before cutting it into squares.

Makes about 16 small squares.

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Dilnoza Tasheva Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

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Celebratory Manty Main Dish

Ingredients 400 grams pumpkin

2 tsp salt

3 ½ tbsp flour

Black pepper (to taste)

1 tbsp water

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tbsp greens

2 onions

150 grams sour cream

1 tsp sugar

1 piece garlic

Cook’s Notes We do a special dish called “Manty” for a holiday or any kind of celebration when all family and relatives gather together and making a “holiday table”. Personally, it’s my favorite dish and instead of pumpkin it can be anything

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Directions 1. In a bowl mix water, egg and 1 tsp salt.

2. Add flour and knead the dough. Flour should be poured gradually. Knead the dough well and let it rest for 20 minutes.

3. To prepare the stuffing peel the pumpkin and cut into slices. Then cut the slices into strips and further into cubes.

4. Put the pumpkin cubes into the pan with onions and two spoonfuls of butter, mix them well by stirring often.

5. Add salt (1 teaspoon), pepper, and a teaspoon of sugar. You do not need to fry the pumpkin, just mix on the stove for no more than 5 minutes.

6. Roll the dough into a sausage-like shape. Cut the dough into equal pieces.

Flatten each piece and roll it into a flat cake. Put the pumpkin-mixture stuffing into the flat cake.

7. Form a manty by crimping the edges of the dough into a dumpling.

8. In steamer with the bottom oiled, boil the dumplings for 35 minutes. You can also dunk each mantyshka (dumpling) in oil to ensure they will not stick.

9. Serve ready-made manty with tomato or sour cream sauces. You can make these by combining the tomato or sour cream with garlic, salt, and greens.

10. Enjoy your meal!

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Eesha Iqbal Lahore, Pakistan

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Bhindi

Side Dish

Ingredients 250 grams bhindi (okra chopped)

1 tsp ginger, chopped

1 small bowl of water

½ tsp turmeric powder

7-8 tbsp mustard oil

Salt (to taste)

1 tsp cumin seeds

¼ tsp ground pepper

1 tsp fennel seeds

½ tsp sugar

1 small bowl onions, finely chopped

1 tsp lime juice

Cook’s Notes Okra, lady finger, or as what we Pakistani call, “Bhindi” in Urdu. It is one of my favorite vegetable dishes. I really miss it here in Europe because among many vegetables we eat here okra is not readily available. I think it is a very healthy and tasteful green vegetable to add in your diet. I am sure my vegetarian friends would enjoy it a lot. So here goes :)

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Directions 1. Heat oil, add cumin and fennel seeds, let them splutter.

2. Add the onions and lightly brown them.

3. Add ginger and some water, stir.

4. Add the turmeric powder and stir again.

5. Mix in the bhindi (okra) and the salt.

Pour in the rest of the water and continue stirring.

6. Sprinkle fennel powder and sugar.

7. Mix again and sprinkle the pepper powder.

8. Add the lime juice, stir well and serve.

Tadda!

Bon appetit

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Emma Hughes Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Mom’s Banana Bread

Snack

Ingredients 1 ½ cups all purpose flour* *Flour substitutes are recommended to fit your diet: gluten free flour, coconut flour, etc.

1 ½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda ¼ tsp ground cinnamon 1 egg (or egg substitute)

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)** **Using thawed frozen bananas (from the freezer) is a great way to use your bananas that have gotten too ripe in the past! Put them in the freezer when they get too soft and use them when you want to make banana bread!

2/3 cups sugar ¼ cup vegetable oil 1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel (optional)

Cook’s Notes This dish to me symbolizes home and family, hence why I want to share it with my 4Cities family. I am not much of a baker (I don’t have the patience for exact amounts of ingredients), but this banana bread is easy and one of the few things I enjoying baking.

When my sister and I were growing up, we would help my mom make this Banana Bread in our kitchen. Not only was the best memory of this the time that we spent together, but I also distinctly remember the amazing smell of banana bread filling the house when it was baking.

My advice: enjoy a slice of banana bread while it is still warm (after cooling a bit) with some butter on top! You deserve it!

Additions: Any amount of additional ingredients (ex: chocolate chips, blueberries, dried cranberries, raisins, pumpkin seeds, etc.)

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Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 350ยบF(175ยบC).

Grease (with butter) and flour a 8x4x2 inch loaf pan. Set aside.

6. *Add the extra ingredients into the mix and fold the mixture until ingredients are evenly spread through the mixture.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake at 350ยบF (175ยบC) for 5055 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean.

3. In another bowl mix the oil, eggs, and sugar, and beat well.

4. Mash the bananas in a separate bowl until most of the lumps are gone. Then fold into the liquid mixture.

8. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from the pan and cool on the rack. Wrap, store and enjoy!

5. Add the combined liquid mixture to the flour mixture and fold in until moistened.

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Bourbon, Bacon & Maple Syrup Brussel Sprouts

Side Dish

Ingredients

1-2 bags of Brussel Sprouts 2 cloves of Garlic Butter (to your discretion, but the more the better) Olive Oil

Bacon (Double Smoked if Possible)** **This ingredient can be removed for a vegetarian option!

2-3 tbsp Maple Syrup (to taste) Bourbon (to taste)

Cook’s Notes Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. I have always appreciated it as an opportunity to be surrounded by friends and family while eating good food. I also appreciate the holiday as it encourages everyone to take a moment to be thankful for everything and everyone in their lives.

Whenever I think of this dish, I can picture my parents, sister, uncles, aunts and cousins all moving around the kitchen in a form of organized chaos. Not only is the dish delicious, but brings a smile to my face and provides a momentary feeling of being at home.

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Directions 1. Par boil the sprouts in water in a large pot (5Min).

2. In a large fry pan, fry up desired amount double smoked bacon until crispy.

3. Remove the bacon and leave approximately 2 tbls of the fat in pan.

4. Add garlic, butter (don’t be stingy) and olive oil.

5. Heat the works until hot and then add the sprouts to the pan.

6. Sauté brussel sprouts until the sprouts are soft, but not falling apart.

7. In pan, add maple syrup (2-3 tbls) and bourbon to taste.

8. Continue sautéeing until the sprouts are browned a bit and soft (not mushy) 9. Add bacon just before serving.

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Felipe Suรกrez Montevideo, Uruguay

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Buseca Main Dish

Ingredients 1 ½ mondongo (tripe)

300 grams chickpeas

3 carrots

3 garlic cloves sliced

2 onions

Parsley

300 grams peas

2 bay leaves

3 large potatoes

1 sweet paprika cut into squares

300 grams frozen beans (or from a tin)

Chicken Stock *Optional to add vegetables to taste

Directions 1. Defrost the tripe, wash it well with tap water and remove the fat from the inside.

2. Put it in a pressure cooker with two bay leaves for about half an hour. Every 15 minutes puncture the tripe to see if it is soft, it does not have to be very soft.

If it is still hard, leave it for 15 more minutes, cook until it is ‘al dente’, if water gets too low on the pan, add more hot water until it is ready.

3. In a large pan fry the diced onion, sweet paprika, and garlic. Fry until the onions are transparent, then add all other ingredients, except parsley.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Take the bay leaves from the pressure cooker and add it to the pan with the vegetables.

5. After adding all the vegetables, take the mondongo (tripe) and cut it into 1cm stripes, after that cut the stripes in half.

6. Add water until all the ingredients in the pan are covered, add 2 cubes of chicken stock powder and put it to boil.

Boil for more than half an hour, it must be a little thick. Turn off the heat, add the parsley, cover the pan and let it rest for an hour so that the taste can penetrate all the ingredients.

7. Add parmesan cheese when served.

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Francesca Spigarolo Como (actually, a tiny village named Albiolo), Italy

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Bruschette al Pesto di Zucchine

Side Dish

Ingredients

200 grams zucchini 30 grams pine nuts or almonds 100 millileters olive oil, (about) 30 grams parmigiano reggiano (grated)

30 grams pecorino cheese (grated) 10 grams basil Salt (to taste) Homemade bread, as many slices as your stomach requires Garlic

Cook’s Notes At the age of 18, I left my parents’ place and moved to Rome. Together with the excitement of living in a big city and starting my own life as a real grown up came a sudden realization: I actually had no idea of what it meant to be a grown up. One sphere in which I discovered my knowledge to be particularly poor was that of cooking.

Among the few ingredients I felt vaguely confident working with was one of my favorite vegetables, zucchini. This resulted in what I admit might have been a slightly excessive consumption of zucchini-based plates, which became a source of endless dinner-time jokes for my (ungrateful) friends.

Even if the expansion of my culinary horizons brought to a drastic reduction in zucchini consumption, I guess it is worth taking advantage of the knowledge acquired in the past few years. So, here are some suggestions for a three-course zucchini-based meal.

Serves 4

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Directions 1. Clean the zucchini, cut the two ends and grate them (use a grater with large holes).

2. Put the grated zucchini in a colander, add a bit of salt and let them rest for 15-20 minutes.

3. Then put them in a blender together with the pine nuts (or almonds), basil leaves, Parmigiano, Pecorino and part of the oil. Mix with the blender for a few seconds, then add the remaining oil and continue mixing until you get a homogeneous cream. Add a little bit of water if needed.

4. Cut the bread into slices and toast it in the oven until it reaches a nice shade of golden-brown.

5. Spread the pesto on the bread and enjoy. You might add some Parmigiano flakes on top.

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Pasta with Zucchini, Shrimp, and Tomatoes Ingredients

Main Dish

400 grams pasta

½ glass white wine

250/300 grams shelled shrimp

Parsley

2-3 zucchini 15-20 cherry tomatoes 4 tsp olive oil

Chili pepper (to taste) Pepper (to taste) Salt (to taste)

Directions 1. Cut the zucchini into thin strips or slices, warm up the oil in a pan, add the garlic and cook it until it begins to brown.

2. Add the zucchini, salt, pepper and chilly pepper (just a bit) and let them roast.

Add a bit of cooking water (from the pasta) if needed.

3. Bring the water to a boil, add some salt, and cook the pasta (I prefer to have it slightly undercooked, or as we say in Italian, ‘al dente’).

4. When the zucchini are almost ready add the shrimps and ‘jump’ them in the pan (stir-fry?) with the white wine. Then add the cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

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5. Drain the pasta, saving a bit of the cooking water, and add it to the pan.

‘Jump’ the whole thing for few more minutes and add some cooking water to mix it better.

6. Serve it by adding some fresh minced parsley on top.

7. Pasta tips: any pasta-dish will be much better if you get a good pasta as a starting point, so either go fancy and get a nice brand, or go even fancier and make your own pasta, it is surprisingly easy and the difference it makes is beyond words!

Zucchini Parmigiana Cheese Breads Main Dish

Zucchini Prep 700 grams zucchini 60 grams parmigiano reggiano

Ingredients Peanut oil, as much as needed Pepper (to taste)

250 grams mozzarella

Salt (to taste)

Flour (Type 00), as much as needed

Basil (to taste)

Sauce Prep 700 grams tomato sauce (Passata) ½ onion

Salt (to taste) Basil (to taste)

Olive oil (to taste)

Directions 1. Pre-heat the oven to 200° celsius 2. Start by making the sauce. Heat up a bit of oil in a pan, add the finely chopped onion and let it brown at low heat.

3. Add the tomato sauce, a bit of water and some salt. Let it cook for 30-40 minutes at low heat, stirring it often.

Once the sauce will be ready, add some chopped basil leaves.

4. In the meanwhile, take care of the zucchini. Cut them into slices (the best way is to cut them lengthwise, in order to have some long and thin slices, around 5mm thick), and then dust them with flour on both sides. When the oil is warm, fry them for a few minutes. Place them on a layer of paper towel so that the oil is absorbed.

5. When everything is ready, take a baking tray and start adding the ingredients. Cover the tray with a layer of sauce, then add a layer of zucchini and cover it with one more layer of tomato sauce, parmigiano, mozzarella and a bit of pepper. Repeat the process and fill the tray. (Some tips: the zucchini should be placed once vertically and once horizontally, and the last layer should consist of tomato sauce and cheese).

6. Put tray in the preheated oven and cook the parmigiana for 25-30 minutes.

When ready, add some basil leaves on top and let it rest for a few minutes before eating.

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Hend Aly Cairo, Egypt

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Koshari Main Dish

Ingredients

2 cups rice

Garlic

1 cup beluga lentils

Salt

250 grams pasta

White vinegar

6 big onions

Chickpeas

1 can tomato sauce

Cooking oil

Directions 1. Soak the chickpeas (couple of hours or just buy canned ones) and the lentils for ½ hour 2. Cook, in boiled water with some salt, the three main ingredients separately (rice, lentils and pasta) 3. Prepare the sauce (tomato canned sauce, garlic [as much as you like], salt, white vinegar, cooking oil) and let them cook together, do not forget to fry the little pieces of garlic a little bit in the oil before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Serves: 4

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4. Prepare the side ingredients: 1- cut the onions into slices and mix them with a little of flour and fry, until they are crispy. 2- boil the soaked chickpeas until they get a bit soft. (add a little salt and vinegar) 5. Mix them all and bon appetit (bel hana wel shefa)

Baba Ghanouj Snack

Ingredients

Eggplants

Salt

Garlic

White Vinegar

Lemon

Tahini paste

Olive Oil

*all amounts subject to preference

Directions 1. Grill the eggplants until they are soft inside

4. Add garlic, lemon, salt, vinegar, tahina, olive oil

2. Remove the skin

5. Mix them all together

3. Turn it into rough paste with a fork.

6. Eat with bread Bon appetit! (bel hana wel shefa)

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Ignasi Gaeta Soler Barcelona, Spain

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Quiche Main Dish

Ingredients 500 grams milk

25 grams olive oil

200 grams gruyère

150 grams stripped bacon

100 grams emmental

Salt and pepper

4 eggs, yolks and whites separated

Nutmeg

70 grams flour 60 grams butter

Shortcrust pastry** **in a round shape / easy to find in supermarket / also gluten free versions work as well

Cook’s Notes Optional: depending on allergies/restrictions you can substitute any of these cheeses or milks for lactose-free and meats for mushrooms

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Directions 1. Preheat the oven at 180º celsius using the ‘upper and lower heat’ and ‘fan’ functions.

2. While the oven heats up, spread and fit the shortcrust pastry on a mold without taking off the baking parchment that usually comes with it. Cut a round piece of aluminium paper that fits the bottom of the mold, and place it on top of the spread pastry. Put it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. In the meanwhile, cut the bacon in small strips and cook it on the pan for a few minutes, just so it gets a little bit crusty. It is unnecessary to add any kind of oil for this. Add the bacon strips to the shortcrust pastry once the 10 to 15 min have passed. Now that the crust is out of the oven, reduce the temperature to 160 º celsius and keep the ‘upper and lower heat’ and ‘fan’ functions on.

4. Add the butter and oil in a pan, on a low to medium heat. Mix well the milk and the flour, and add it to the pan. Stir gently once in a while as the bechamel sauce forms. Slowly add all of the cheese while stirring it with a whisk.

Then add the yolks of all 4 eggs. Be careful, it will become very thick and hard to stir (sorry if it’s too graphic but that’s the only way I can say it :P).

5. Once you have a rather homogenous paste, add salt, pepper and nutmeg as you wish. Keep this on the low to medium heat.

6. In a big bowl, beat the egg whites with a drop of lemon juice until you reach a foamy texture. It makes it a lot easier if you have an electric mixer. You don’t want to miss this step: this will give the quiche a ‘mousse-like’ texture.

7. Once you’re done with the egg whites, slowly add the sauce from the pan and mix it all with a hand whisk in a very gentle way: you want the egg whites to blend well with the bechamel sauce, without losing the ‘mousse-y’ texture.

When everything is well mixed, add it on top of the shortcrust pastry. You can add a few bacon strips on top to decorate the quiche. Put it into the oven until the top of the quiche looks ‘gratin’-like. Pay attention to the crust as well.

8. Turn off the oven, take the quiche out, and serve.

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Marcus (Mags) Stevenson London, United Kingdom

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Gin and Tonic Cocktail

Ingredients

3-4 big ice cubes

Large slice of lemon

1 or 2 shots of gin

Lemon zest

(2 caps can also suffice)

Good quality tonic

*Optional: add some small fruit like a blueberry or cucumber to the drink to give it something extra

Cook’s Notes I can defend the brilliance of a ‘Yorkshire pudding’, the curious joy of ‘bubble and squeak’, and the simplicity of a ‘toad in the hole’ until I am blue in the face. These dishes are stables of the weekly Sunday roast with my family and friends and essential to some of my most treasured experiences and memories. Please save the ‘terrible English food’ jokes. However, I am incapable of actually making one of these delights without revealing precious family secrets (or actually just copying a Jamie Oliver recipe …).

However, one area of expertise is the essential ‘before-lunch G&T’ . Loved ones gather round the table in the living room, bring out the ‘posh glasses’, and make gin and tonics to accompany conversations regarding the most pressing gossip. I hope that a gin and tonic can bring you as much joy and great conversation as they have me.

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Directions 1. Remove glasses from the cupboard and place them ceremonially on the living room table 2. Grate the lemon skins to make a small place of lemon zest 3. Slice large pieces of lemon and lay them out on a small plate

Bonus tip: Find the right glass, dip into your pocket for top-quality tonic put the ice into the glass before you pour.

4. Place the gin and tonic water next to the glasses ready for the ceremony of making the drink 5. Place 3-4 ice cubes in a glass 6. Add the requested number of gin shots to the drink – poor slowly over the ice 7. Run a slice of lemon round the rim of the glass to moisten it and then add lemon on top of ice 8. Sprinkle some lemon zest on the rim of the glass 9. Add the tonic water onto the ice and gin until you have the required amount 10. Add berries or cucumber if desired 11. Stir gently to mix the cocktail

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Mariia Kostenko Dnipro, Ukraine

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“Curly Pincher” Cake Dessert

Ingredients Cake 2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup of sugar

2 cups flour

200 grams condensed milk

1 tsp cocoa

1 tbsp greek yogurt

Cream 800 grams greek yogurt

½ cup of sugar

Cook’s Notes My favorite mom’s cake :) Some of you already tried this cake in Brussels at Christmas dinner and in Vienna on Anhad’s bday. It was yummy, right? And not so sweet? And quite light with yogurt? Hope you will enjoy it :)

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Directions For the Cake 1. Pre-heat oven to 180ยบ celsius 2. Whip eggs and sugar 3. Add condensed milk, greek yogurt, baking powder and flour.

4. Divide dough into two parts 5. Add cocoa to one part (to color it) 6. Pour batter into two cake pans 7. Bake two cake layers 30-40 minutes

For the Cream 1. Mix greek yogurt with sugar

Magical moment 1. Cool baked cake layers 2. Cut a cocoa cake layer into cubes (appr.

2x2 cm) 3. Smear the cake layer with the cream 4. Dip cocoa cubes into the cream and then put on the top of the cake layer (to form a mountain) 5. Top the cake with melted milk chocolate 6. Put the cake in the fridge for 20-30 minutes 7. Enjoy the cake :)

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Melis GĂźnay Hamburg, Germany

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Börek Main Dish

Ingredients Mixture A 250-450g spinach, frozen*

2 cloves of garlic

*For fresh Spinach: use between 300-500g

250-300g sheep creamy (Bulgarian/Turkish) cheese

Mixture B 100ml milk

250g yogurt

6 tbsp olive oil

150g fresh herb cheese or creme fraiche

2 eggs

Other 1 package of Yufka dough

Cook’s Notes Our family’s signature dish is Börek. We make it with either minced meat or spinach and sheep cheese, but the latter is our go-to recipe for every occasion - birthdays, brunches, etc. Plus: it’s a brilliant way to get some spinach into children, because they usually are big fans of Börek, too.

It is similar to preparing a lasagne, but using Yufka dough instead of lasagne sheets. We use one mixture (B) that is spread upon every Yufka sheet, and a second mixture (A) that is used just once, for the filling (not to worry, yet, detailed instructions are below).

You need one pack of Yufka dough (puff pastry dough). You can get it in a store that sells ethnic foods. You can use the whole package for the Börek. However, you can also use roughly half of the pack, if you want your Börek to be thinner, which is what my family normally does.

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Directions 1. First prepare Mixture A: a. Put the spinach into boiling water for around three minutes, cool it with cold water, and chop it up b. Fry some onions in butter, add the spinach, and add a tiny bit of vegetable broth to add some taste c. Add a bit of creme fresh to make it creamy d. Mix the spinach with the crumbled sheep cheese and pressed garlic 2. Mix all ingredients (milk, oil, eggs, yogurt, and creme fraiche) to make Mixture B. 3. Preheat the oven to 150-180º celsius 4. Spread one of the puff pastry sheets over the baking tray. If it does not have the size of the baking tray (which is usually the case because they are either round and/or too large), just break or cut the corners of the sheet to make it fit. You can use the leftover patches for the next layers, creating a little patch work of the leftovers.

6. Continue layer for layer until approximately 1/3 of the Yufka dough is left. Then spread Mixture A across the sheet as evenly as possible (after soaking the respective layer with Mixture B, as any other layer).

7. Put another sheet on top of the filling, again soaking it with Mixture B, as before. Continue until the rest of the dough is used up. The final layer, too, is covered by Mixture B (so it’s really every one of them!).

8. Now put the baking tray in the middle of the pre-heated oven at and leave the Börek for 30-45 minutes (the time, however, varies greatly from oven to oven), until the top layer looks crunchy and lightly brown.

9. The Börek tastes best fresh and a little cooled-off (lukewarm). Cut into little pieces, it can either be served as a dish, a starter, or finger food. My personal tip: Have some grapes with your Börek, yummm!

5. Spread Mixture B over every one of the sheets/layers, soaking each of them.

Bon appetit!

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Natalia (Nati) Perez Mexico City, Mexico

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Natalia’s Guacamole Snack

Ingredients 4 ready avocados*

*If the avocado yields to firm gentle pressure you know it’s ripe and ready-to-eat. Ready for guacamole avocados would be very brown, very mushy to the touch; it may have deep indentations and have darker yellow or brownish coloured flesh throughout the inside of the fruit.

½ onion very thinly chopped A pinch of chicken broth salt (or seasoning salt)

1 spoonful of lime juice Salt and pepper (to taste) Optional: Green chili Optional: 3 stalks of cilantro Optional: 2 green tomatoes (tomatillo)

Directions 1. Cut the avocados in half and spoon them into a bowl, if you are not serving the guacamole immediately leave one to two avocado pits inside the bowl.

2. With a knife cut the avocado in rough pieces.

3. Add the onion, salt, pepper, chicken broth salt, and green chili and smashing all the ingredients together with the avocado.

4. Try to squeeze out the onion and chili juices into the guacamole -- this will improve the flavor immensely.

5. Grill the tomatillo and blend it with the cilantro in a food processor (add more green chilli to that mix if desired).

6. Incorporate the blended mix to the guacamole and enjoy!

Cook’s Notes Guacamole is a very typical Mexican side dish that has been deeply explored.

There is not one but a thousand different ways to do guacamole and this is my very own and personal way that is very well liked among my friends and family. Feel free to use what works for you and let go of whatever you want.

Serves: 4-6 Prep time: 20 minutes

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Hibiscus Tacos Main Dish

Ingredients 1 tbsp coconut oil* *or your favourite oil

1 cup dried hibiscus flowers**

**you can find them with Mexican product retailers

5 cups water 1 onion, julienned

½ cup cilantro, chopped ½ agave or sugar 8 corn tortillas 1 tsp salt (or to taste) Optional: ½ an orange and toppings of your choice, like cashew cream, salsa, guacamole or avocado

Directions 1. Infuse the flowers in boiling water for 5 minutes, turn down the heat and cover for another 2 minutes to steep.

2. Drain the flowers and keep the tea, you can add sugar and enjoy it hot now. Or, you can put it in the fridge and add sugar and water to your taste later for a nice hibiscus cooler.

3. Rinse the leftover flowers under running water as they tend to trap a lot of soil (just make sure it is not grainy).

5. When they are cooked caramelize both the hibiscus and the onions with sugar or agave, (you may add juice squeezed from an orange in with the flowers), add cilantro and season with salt.

6. Heat corn tortillas in a pan or directly on the stove fire and fill with your hibiscus flowers and favourite toppings.

7. You can serve it with guacamole, salsa or just avocado.

4. Sauté the onions at medium-high heat until they are brown, add the rinsed hibiscus flowers and cook them for 8 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Cook’s Notes This is a vegan recipe that is considered somewhat gourmet. The hibiscus is a plant that would usually be used for tea but we use it to make ‘agua fresca’ (fresh water) a sort of ‘Mexican lemonade’ and usually after using it we would throw away the flowers, but some genius discovered you could actually reuse them for tacos.

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Fish Tacos Main Dish

Ingredients Fish cod 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/8 - 1/4 tsp smoked paprika or chipotle powder 1 tsp of garlic powder 2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Serving 12 corn tortillas (3 tacos each)

Slaw or salad of your preference: shredded carrots, lettuce‌

Sliced avocado Lime wedges Mayonnaise

All-purpose Salsa 1 purple onion, julienned 1 cup of vinegar (or lime)

Any fresh chilli pepper you like

Cook’s Notes This recipe is not so personal, but it is easy and I do it all the time. The way Mexicans eat seafood might not be conventional yet the mixture of flavours is very delicious in the end.

Serves 4 Cooking time: 40 min

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Directions 1. Combine the flour, salt, pepper, and paprika in a shallow container. Pat the fish in the flour mixture until evenly coated.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy (preferably cast iron) pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the fish in a single layer, working in batches if needed.

Cook undisturbed until golden-brown on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a flat spatula, carefully flip the fish, but don’t worry if it falls apart a bit. Continue cooking until the second side is golden brown and the fish is opaque and flakes apart easily in the thickest part, 2 to 3 minutes more. Take out the fish and cut into large chunks; keep warm.

3. Heat the corn tortillas, one by one in a pan directly on the stove. Alternatively, wrap them in a clean kitchen towel and

warm them in the microwave for a few seconds. Keep them in the kitchen cloth and bring them to the table to keep them warm.

4. For the spicy sauce: Slice the purple onion into julienne strips and soak them into the vinegar with small bits of the fresh chilli pepper and leave it for 20 min or more.

5. Serve the fish next to the tortillas, serving all the ingredients and salsa.

Everyone can assemble their own taco with the tortillas adding a thin layer of mayonnaise, then some bits of fish, slaw or carrots and avocado. To that taco, you may add lime and salsa. These tacos are meant to be made and eaten immediately.

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Paola Leenhouts Madrid, Spain

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Greek Style Eggplants with Tomato Sauce and Feta Cheese Ingredients

Main Dish

1 eggplant/aubergine

1 tsp salt

Olive oil for baking

Pepper (to taste)

80 grams feta cheese

1 tsp sugar

Âź cup olive oil

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

5-6 cloves of garlic, sliced

Parsley or basil (to taste)

1 can chopped tomatoes

Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 200Âş celsius 2. Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and score it all over in a criss-cross pattern (without cutting through the skin) 3. Then brush the eggplant with a generous amount of olive oil, sprinkle with a bit of salt and then bake each half face down in little separate baking dishes (or side by side in a slightly bigger baking dish) for about 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft.

4. Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil on a medium heat in a pan with a large surface area, then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes (don’t brown the garlic)

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5. Then add the chopped tomatoes, herbs and salt and pepper.

6. Half fill the empty tomato can with water and add that to the pan, too.

Let simmer for about 15 minutes, then remove the herb sprigs. Add the sugar and balsamic vinegar and stir in.

7. Pour the tomato sauce over the aubergines, then crumble over the feta.

Bake for about another 15 minutes or until the tomato sauce is bubbling. Add parsley.

Bulgur

with Mushrooms and Cashews

Main Dish

Ingredients 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup quick-cooking bulgur

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

½ cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 tbsp unsalted butter 6 oz. white mushrooms, chopped

½ cup toasted, chopped unsalted cashews 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley

Directions 1. Bring the vegetable or chicken broth to a boil in a 3-quart saucepan. Stir in the bulgur, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 12 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat.

3. Add the mushrooms and cook, undisturbed, until golden on the bottom, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, about 5 minutes more.

4. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

5. Once the bulgur is cooked, stir in the Parmigiano, then toss with the mushrooms, cashews, and parsley.

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Robern Padasas Manila, Philippines

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Chicken Adobo Main Dish

Ingredients 2 lbs chicken cut into serving pieces 3 pieces dried bay leaves 8 tbsp soy sauce 4 tbsp white vinegar 5 cloves garlic, crushed

3 tbsp cooking oil 1 tsp sugar ¼ tsp salt (optional) 1 tsp whole peppercorn Hard boiled chicken or quail eggs (optional)

1 ½ cups water

Cook’s Notes A quick go-to dinner dish of Filipinos away from the comfort of their mom’s homemade cooking. With influences from the Spanish cuisine, adobo is considered the unofficial national Philippine dish because it’s easy to cook and can be made in bulk (Pinoy huge family clans, you know it). Adobo is a stew with meat marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic, then sautéed, and simmered in the marinade. Unsurprisingly, this dish is usually served on top of rice. Perfect for lazy student nights, international dinner parties, or just as a plain beer pulutan (snack accompanied with liquor).

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Directions 1. Combine chicken, soy sauce, and garlic in a large bowl. Mix well. Marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour. Note: the longer the time, the tastier it gets.

2. Heat a cooking pot. Pour cooking oil.

3. When the oil is hot enough, pan-fry the marinated chicken for 2 minutes per side.

4. Pour-in the remaining marinade, including garlic. Add water. Bring to a boil.

5. Add dried bay leaves and whole peppercorn. Simmer for 30 minutes in medium heat, adding Add vinegar. Stir and cook for 10 minutes.

6. Put in the sugar, and salt to taste. Stir and turn the heat off. Serve hot.

7. Optional: toss in hard boiled chicken or quail eggs for more happiness.

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Sanila Pradhan Kathmandu, Nepal

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Hearty Salad Ingredients

Side Dish

Main Dish

1 can of black/kidney beans rinsed with water

1 tsp of vegetable oil (for pan frying halloumi)

1 cup of pitted olives, cut in half

1 handful of parsley, chopped

½ cup of diced cucumber

Salt and pepper (to taste)

8 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 pinch of paprika powder

1 red bell pepper, chopped roughly

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 large lemon, juiced

½ cup of cubed halloumi

Cook’s Notes When I used to live with my parents, I took every meal for granted. There would always be wonderful food around thanks to my lovely mom. I used to help her a lot in the kitchen but never bothered to make a complete meal on my own. But after moving out, I was dumbstruck with horror as anything I attempted to make tasted like ‘something is not right’. Then I got curious and starting experimenting with ingredients. Along the way I realized that I love meals that are simple, colorful, healthy(ish) but bursting with flavor.

The ‘Hearty Salad’ is the first salad I made that I was proud of as it kept me full for really long - a hard feat to achieve. The ‘Mom’s Unpretentious Pumpkin Soup’ is an unpretentious recipe from my mom. It is so simple to make it is just mind blowing. Anyone can attempt to make these two recipes!

Directions 1. Pan fry the halloumi until browned a little on all sides. Cool for a bit.

2. Dump all the ingredients together in a pretty bowl or not-so-pretty bowl if you don’t have a pretty one. There you go, simple!

Serves: 2 (hungry), 3 (average)

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Tip: If you don’t want to touch the stove at all, substitute the halloumi with feta. If you want to keep it dairy-free, follow the same steps but substitute halloumi with diced firm tofu. Make sure you make them crispy and golden brown when you pan fry them so they don’t get too soggy.

Main Dish

Side Dish

Mom’s Unpretentious Pumpkin Soup Ingredients

1 kg of sweet pumpkin, peeled and cut into small chunks

A dash of paprika

Milk (get the entire milk carton just in case)

2 tbsp of vegetable/olive oil (doesn’t really matter)

1 tsp of dried rosemary

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Cook’s Notes You will need to use really sweet pumpkins (not bland watery ones) or any other sweet variety from the pumpkin family otherwise the soup will turn out tasteless. How to know if the pumpkin is sweet? When you cut it open, it should be really orange in the inside and should have dense consistency. So maybe you should be a bit lucky.

DO NOT USE HALLOWEEN PUMPKINS! They are usually watery and tasteless - been there, done that!

To keep it dairy free, substitute milk for soy/oat milk.

Directions 1. Bring a large pot of water to boil 2. Carefully drop the pumpkin in the water, wait until it comes back to boil, then let it boil until the pumpkin is tender.

3. Once it is tender, drain the water and let it cool for sometime (just for safety). Use an immersion blender to make a puree or simply use a blender to blend in few batches.

4. Heat up the oil in a deep pot, pour in the blended pumpkin. Add salt, pepper, paprika and the rosemary. Simmer for few minutes in low-medium heat. Be careful, the mixture can get explosive sometimes. (I had a blop of that mixture explode near to my eye and boy it was hot -- that’s why try to use a deep pot)

5. Then grab your milk carton and start adding milk little by little until you get the consistency you like (I usually like mine nice and creamy).

6. Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.

Get a spoon, taste it and adjust salt and pepper. It should be nice and sweet. So, it’s basically a sweet pumpkin soup.

7. If you think it could use some more sweetness, add a little sugar (hello, a little sugar is not unhealthy) or maple syrup or honey! It’s yummy with some nicely toasted bread and some salad on the side.

Serves: 3-4

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Alexandra (Sasha) Tarkhanova Moscow, Russia / Toronto, Canada

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Russian Salad (Olivié) Side Dish

Ingredients 8-10 large potatoes 3-4 carrots 1 can of peas (250 grams) 5-6 eggs 1 white onion 300 grams of boiled ham*

1 large green apple (sour ones, e.g. Granny Smith, are the best here) 1 small jar of marinated pickles 200 grams of mayonnaise 100 grams of sour cream

*any type you can find but not spiced; in Russia we use a specific one, called “the Doctor’s ham”; Mortadella is a really good alternative

Cook’s Notes What in many countries is known as “Russian salad”, we call “Olivié”, after the name of the French chef who invented it. This is a must dish on every table on New Year’s Eve (which in Russia is the equivalent of Christmas in European cultures). But we also make it regularly for big gatherings because it’s so easy to cook and weirdly satisfying! As always with popular national dishes, every family has their own (aka “the best”) version, so this is just one way to make it - and you can adjust it easily to your taste!

Serves 10

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Directions 1. Peel and boil the potatoes and carrots with a bit of salt. The carrots shouldn’t be too soft so they keep a nice solid shape when you cut them. With the potatoes, I do exactly the opposite: boil them for a little longer than necessary; when you mix them with other ingredients, the upper “over-boiled” mushy layer makes everything creamier – so you don’t need to use as much mayo 2. Hard-boil the eggs.

3. Cut the onion into small cubes and cover with hot water for 5-10 minutes (to take away the strong taste and smell).

4. Cut all ingredients (boiled potatoes and carrots, eggs, ham, green apple, pickles) into more-or-less similar-sized cubes. Drain and add the onions. Add canned peas after washing them with cold water. Add salt and black pepper to taste.

5. The base is ready! You can add the mix of mayo and sour cream immediately and keep the salad in the fridge – or just before eating. But mix everything well, mayo needs to cover each piece!

6. Tip: Russian salad kept overnight in the fridge is the best remedy for morning hangover.

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Crema Pasticcera Dessert

Ingredients

5 large egg yolks

500 ml whole milk

100 grams sugar

1 lemon

50 grams all-purpose white flour

1 vanilla bean (optional)

Cook’s Notes This is a very easy and delicious base for many Italian desserts. For me, it’s a taste connected with many happy moments, and something I always make myself when I get Italy-sick. Many ways to enjoy: you can bake a tart crust, fill it up with this cream and berries for a crazy-good dessert; you can put it on top of any other sweet pastry, fruit salad or ice-cream; or just eat a few spoonfuls with your morning coffee.

Serves 4

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Directions 1. Warm up the milk with the peel of the lemon (the amount depends on how intense you want the lemon flavour to be – but 7-8 large pieces are good enough). You can also add the vanilla bean (cut lengthways) if you prefer a sweeter taste. Don’t let the milk boil: turn it off when it starts to simmer.

2. Beat the egg yolks with sugar until the mixture turns lighter in colour and increases in volume. Mix in the flour.

3. Discard the lemon peel and vanilla bean from the milk. Add a few tablespoons of warm milk to the egg mixture and mix well; add a few more if needed – the mixture should become liquid and homogenous.

4. Add the egg mixture into the pot with remaining milk. Keep the gas very low and continue mixing, until the cream starts to set and change colour back to yellowish; it will happen quite fast, so take care, otherwise the eggs will overbake and turn into an omelette.

Take the pot off the heat as soon as the cream reaches the right density (silky and viscous), continue mixing for another minute to make the cream cool down faster.

5. It’s ready! If your willpower is strong enough, conserve the cream in the fridge for later, but cover it completely with clingfilm: otherwise, contact with air will produce a crust on the top of the cream.

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Serafina Van Godtsenhoven Brussels, Belgium

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Macaroni met Hesp en Kaashesp

Main Dish

Ingredients 500 grams macaroni

1 cube chicken or vegetable broth

100 grams butter

8 slices of ham or vegetarian ham*

1 liter milk*

(sliced into small square pieces)

2 heaping spoonfuls flour

300 grams grated Emmental cheese

Salt and pepper (to taste)

*Note from my grandma: always use the best possible ham and whole milk

Nutmeg (to taste) Basil (to taste)

Cook’s Notes I had to think a bit about all of these, since most of the defining dishes of my youth were with meat so I tried to find some that can be altered to a vegetarian version. Coincidently they have exactly the same ingredients, I don’t know what this says about Belgian cuisine.

For the real meat lovers I would recommend trying to make Stoofvlees met frietjes, which is a kind of beef stew made with Belgian dark beer and fries, or Vol-au-vent another meat based dish consisting of chicken, little meatballs, a mushroom cream sauce and a puff pastry, also, of course served with fresh fries.

The first dish is from my grandmother and it really represents my childhood, I think it can actually be considered a form of ‘branding’, as the dish in itself is nothing special, but we were only given it on birthdays, New Year and other family occasions, making us absolutely crave it.

Directions 1. Melt the butter in a pot on low heat 2. Stir in the flour 3. Slowly pour in the milk while stirring the whole time 4. Add in the spices and the broth

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5. When the sauce starts to get thicken add in the cheese and afterwards the ham.

6. Cook the pasta and add to the sauce 7. Serve

Main Dish

Snack

Witloof met kaas en hesp

Endive (2 per person)*

*also known as witloof or chicory!

Ingredients

Salt and pepper (to taste) Nutmeg (to taste)

250 ml milk

1 tsp sugar

200 grams grated cheese

1 lemon, juiced

White Roux

Cook’s Notes The second one is a dish every Belgian kid hates, I remember my niece even put hers behind the heating once and it took my uncle several weeks to find out where the rotten smell came from. ‘Witloof’ is however, a typically Belgian vegetable, it’s bitter taste makes it unpopular with young children, but it’s the kind of thing you learn to appreciate when your older. It’s also a very easy thing to make, for the vegetarian version you just replace the ham by vegetarian ‘ham’.

Directions 1. Rub the endive with a bit of butter or olive oil 2. Stew them for 20 minutes on low heat in a covered pot 3. Season with pepper, salt, nutmeg, sugar and a little bit of water 4. Take the endive out of the pan, keep the juice.

5. For the sauce: add milk to the juice from the chicory and ‘white roux’ (it’s a kind of binder for sauces, I don’t really know how common it is, but we use it for everything)

6. Taste it, season it and put half of the grated cheese in, as well as the juice of a lemon.

7. Roll the endive in the ham or vegetarian alternative, pour the sauce over it, as well as the other half of the grated cheese. Put 10 min in the oven under the grill (check from time to time so it doesn’t burn) 8. Serve with mashed potatoes. (Which you make with butter, milk and nutmeg as well, important)

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Speculoos Dessert

Ingredients

200 grams butter

750 grams flour

450 grams brown sugar

30 grams almond powder

1 pinch of salt

15 grams cinnamon

1 tbsp of fluid honey

100 ml milk

1 egg

Cook’s Notes And last but not least: speculoos. As the 6th of december is approaching, Sint-Niklaas will be visiting all children in Belgium and bring them mandarins and speculoos. (You probably all know it from the small cookies that you got with your coffee in Brussels, but traditionally it’s made in wooden forms with typical flemish symbolism).

Watch out because the dough needs to rest for a night in the fridge so make sure to anticipate your cravings!

Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 180° celsius

5. Leave it for a night to rest

2. Mix the butter in a bowl with the brown sugar and stir with the hand mixer until you have a homogeneous mass (never use an electric mixer for pastries and cookies, you gotta work out if you want those sweets)

6. Put flour on your working table, roll out the dough (1cm thick), and use a cookie cutter or just cut out rectangular shapes.

3. Add salt, egg, and honey together with the milk, keep on stirring 4. Sieve the flour, the almond powder and the cinnamon over the mixture and stir

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7. Put a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray and put the cookies in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, check from time to time 8. Leave it to cool

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Simon Unternährer Lucerne, Switzerland

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Swiss Alpine Macaroni Main Dish

Ingredients Topping 2 onions

2 cloves of garlic (optional)

Macaroni 400 grams firm potatoes (not the ones that are squishy after cooking) 250 grams pasta (tubes) 500 ml vegetable stock 200 ml semi-fat cream

60 grams grated Gruyère (or other aromatic cheese) ½ tsp of salt A dash of pepper A palmful of love

Directions 1. Cut onions into rings and garlic into slices 2. Dice potatoes 3. Roast onions and garlic in a buttered frying pan until golden brown, remove, set aside.

4. Mix vegetable stock with cream in a pot and bring it to boil 5. Add potatoes and pasta and cook it on low heat “al dente” (approx. 10 minutes, most of the liquids must be absorbed) 6. Add grated cheese and mix all together 7. Serve it with garlic-onion mixture on top Serves: 4 Prep time: 35 minutes Tastiness: outstanding

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Recommendation: Eat the macaroni together with apple puree!

Bon Appetit!

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Sloane Pretto Porto Alegre, Brazil

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Feijoada Bean Stew Main Dish

Ingredients 500 grams black beans (or kidney if you want to follow my gramma’s version)

2 tbsp of chopped parsley 1 pinch of paprika

200 grams smoked meat

1 pinch of cumin powder

200 grams calabresa sausage

1 orange

200 grams pork ribs

Bay leaves (2 or more)

150 grams bacon

Chili pepper (to taste)

1 onion, chopped

Salt and pepper (to taste)

1 clove of chopped garlic

Olive oil (to taste)

Cook’s Notes Brazil is a huge country with a diverse culture, as result there are a few recipes that can be considered typical throughout the entire country, feijoada is one of them. Even though it can be made slightly different in each region, it’s THE national dish. My gramma makes feijoada with brown beans in a wooden stove, normally in winter, it’s a very heavy dish with almost an entire pig inside, here I translated the original version, with black beans and meat but also a vegan version. We normally eat it with a lot of friends/family for lunch on Sunday. Enjoy!

Sorry for the meat festival, you can also do a delicious vegan version using the following ingredients: Meat substitutes: 250 grams of smoked* firm tofu, in large cubes *if you want to use normal firm tofu you can let it marinate for at least one hour in bit of water seasoned with curry paprika, salt, pepper or any other seasoning of your choice.

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1 large carrot, chopped in circles 2 large potatoes, in medium cubes 1 large red bell pepper, chopped into fine strips

Directions 1. In a sieve, wash the beans and transfer them to a bowl. Add plenty of water and soak for about 12 hours, changing the water at least once.

2. Cut the bacon into large cubes. Separate a small part for the stew and cut into small pieces. Cut the pork rib into pieces, using a sharp knife, cut the meat following the line between the bones. Keep for later.

3. Drain the water from the beans and place them in a large pan. Cover the beans with plenty of water, put two bay leaves (or more), and bring to a high boil. While waiting for the boil, wash the orange very well under running water.

4. When boiling, lower the heat and add the whole orange (with peel).

5. The beans will need more water to cook, so be careful not to let them burn.

When the water reduces to the point of being close to the same level as the grains add more water!

6. After 30 minutes, add the ribs1. After another 30 minutes, add the smoked meat2. Remove the orange and discard.

Then add the whole sausages and bacon.

Let it cook for another 90 minutes or until the meat and beans are soft3.

7. Chop the onion, garlic and parsley.

Bring a large frying pan to low heat, drizzle with a little olive oil and add the chopped bacon. Then add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another 1 minute. Add the parsley, cumin, paprika, chopped chilli pepper and stir well.

8. Take a ladle full of soft beans, without the broth, from inside the bean stew and place on a plate. Knead with a fork, forming a paste. Put the bean paste in the frying pan with the sauté and stir well. If necessary, add a little broth from the stew.

9. Transfer the sauté with the bean paste to the feijoada pan, mix and let it cook for a few more minutes. Taste the beans and check if you need to add salt and pepper.

10. Remove the sausages from the pan and cut them into thin slices and place the slices in the feijoada pan4. Wait for the beans to warm up, the broth needs to thickens a little and then serve.

11. To accompany, serve with white rice, sautéed cabbage, farofa (prepared cassava flour), and slices of orange.

Subnotes: 1Add carrots instead of ribs for the vegan option 2Add potatoes instead of smoked meat for the vegan option 3Before starting the next step add the bell peppers for the vegan option 4If everything is ready, add the tofu for the vegan option

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Avocado Cream Sweet Avocado

Ingredients 1 avocado

Dessert

Snack

Sugar (to taste)

1 green lime

Directions 1. Smash the avocado and mix with the juice of 1 lime and add sugar to your taste. It’s ready!

2. Serve right away

Cook’s Notes A very typical easy and fast dessert is the sweet avocado. In Brazil avocados are eaten more sweet than salty, this is my childhood desert and as kid I would never think about eating avocados with salt, until I fell in love with guacamole, these two ways were how I would normally eat avocados. I think they are perfect for an afternoon snack.

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Avocado Mousse Sweet Avocado

Dessert

Snack

Ingredients

1 avocado

Cocoa powder (to taste)

100 grams of yogurt

Sugar or honey or maple syrup (to taste)

Directions 1. Smash the avocado and mix with the yogurt, you can use a blender or a hand mixer to make it smoother.

2. Add the cocoa powder and your choice of sweetener and enjoy.

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Classic Pão de Queijo Cheese Breads Snack

Ingredients 300 grams of sour cassava starch 160 grams of sweet cassava starch 200 ml full-fat milk

85 ml vegetable oil 1 tsp salt 2 eggs 260 grams grated mozzarella

100 ml water

Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 170º celsius 2. Put the milk, oil, water and salt in a pan to boil.

3. In a bowl mix the two types of cassava starch.

4. Pour the whole mixture of boiled milk over the mixed starch and mix with a wooden spoon.

is completely uniform. Add the second egg and repeat the process.

6. Add the cheese and mix in the dough.

7. Make small balls (rubbing oil on your hands helps not to stick), put them in a tray and bake in a preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or freeze and bake whenever you prefer (they last up to 3 months in the freezer)

5. Stir the mixture until very smooth. Let it cool down and then add the first egg and mix it well with your hands until it

Cook’s Notes Another Brazilian favorite is the cheese balls. They are great snacks, done from cassava flour, eggs, and cheese. The cassava starch you can normally find in stores that sell African products. For the lactose and egg intolerant there’s also a version that is very good.

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Vegan Pão de Queijo Cheese Breads Snack

Ingredients 125 grams sweet potato, cooked and kneaded ½ cup sour cassava starch 2/3 cup sweet cassava starch

1 tsp salt 2 tbsp olive oil ¼ cup water Rosemary (to taste)

1 tbsp chia

Directions 1. Preheat the oven to 180º celsius.

6. Make little balls with the mixture.

2. In a bowl mix the dry ingredients (both starches, chia seeds, salt, and rosemary).

7. Put the balls in the freezer for 30 minutes.

3. In a pan, heat the water and the oil (no need to boil).

8. Separate them on a tray and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the rolls are golden.

4. Pour the whole mixture of heated water and oil over the mixed starch and mix with a wooden spoon.

5. Add the sweet potato and mix until a homogeneous dough is obtained.

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Soheon Kim Seoul, South Korea

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Dubu Jorim Fried Tofu in soy sauce Main Dish

Ingredients Base 250 grams firm tofu (not soft / silken)

Cooking oil

10 grams green onion, thinly sliced

Optional: any vegetable you want (onion, zucchini, aubergine, etc.)

2 tbsp soy sauce

½ tsp sesame oil

1 tsp sugar

¼ tsp minced garlic

1 tsp sesame seeds

Optional: 1 tsp chili pepper (if you enjoy spiciness!)

Sauce

Cook’s Notes Tofu is one of my favorite ingredients, which you can find in any Asian supermarket in Europe. My family used to be vegetarian for about 10 years, during which my mom made tofu at home with a special appliance as it’s high in protein. Tofu was nearly everyday on the dinner table and this recipe is my favorite way to enjoy it - very easy and quick but also tasty, therefore perfect for a student meal for sure! One last thing: make sure you also have a bowl of rice to be served with (well, Asians always have rice at home 24/7/365).

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Directions 1. To make the seasoning sauce, simply mix all of the ingredients together.

2. Take out the tofu from the packaging and drain off the water. Gently pat dry the outer layer of tofu with some kitchen paper. Cut the tofu into bitesized pieces. (You can cut it into small cubes or cut into medium-sized rectangles, whichever you like).

3. Preheat a (non-stick) frying pan on high heat and spread the oil across the pan.

4. Add the tofu and pan fry both sides until they turn golden brown (about 2 mins each side on high heat).

5. Optional: if you add vegetables, panboil them until cooked before adding tofu 6. Pour the seasoning sauce over the tofu and leave it for 4-5 minutes on medium heat until the tofu gets a nice brown color.

7. Serve with rice :D

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Victoria (Tori) Campbell New York, NY

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Chocolate Chip Cookies Dessert

Ingredients 2 ¼ all purpose flour

(or your favorite gluten-free flour alternative)

1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter

(or ½ cup vegan butter and ½ cup coconut oil)

¾ cup brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 large eggs

(or 2 tbsp ground flax or chia seeds with 6 tbsp water)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or extra dark chocolate with no milk fat)

¾ cup granulated sugar

Cook’s Notes Homemade chocolate chip cookies are a very simple dessert, but one of the snacks that I missed most while in 4Cities. The perfect cure to homesickness, I often found myself lamenting my tiny ovenless European apartments on cold nights when the United States felt far away. However, if you do have the pleasure of access to an oven I highly recommend whipping up a quick batch! These cookies are nearly impossible to mess up and they are the epitome of comfort food. They are one of the first things my mom taught me to make and taste just like rainy Sunday afternoons at home with your family.

Sidenote: this recipe is sturdy enough to accommodate dietary restrictions -gluten-free and vegan alternatives are provided below the original ingredients

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Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375ยบ fahrenheit (roughly 190ยบ celsius) 2. Soften butter. Beat softened butter, both sugars, and vanilla extract together. Add eggs one at a time to combine until creamy.

3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the butter mixture. Stir by hand until there are no clumps of flour remaining.

4. Add in semi-sweet chocolate chips and stir until combined. (feel free to also add nuts, seeds, or dried fruits!)

5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until lightly browned.

6. Let cool on baking sheets for a couple of minutes and then use a pancake flipper to put on a wire baking rack (or plate if no baking rack is available).

7. Congratulations, now your home smells amazing and you have delicious hot cookies! Enjoy!

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Varvara Borodkina St Petersburg, Russia

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Vegan Zucchini-Potato Pancakes Ingredients

1-2 medium zucchini 2 tablespoons of flour 2 potatoes Salt Vegetable oil

Directions 1. Peel zucchini and potatoes 2. Grate them on a medium grater 3. Add flour, salt and spices to taste.

4. Add finely chopped greens and mix everything.

5. If there is excess fluid, you need to drain it.

6. Pour a little sunflower oil onto a hot frying pan 7. Reduce the temperature to medium, with tablespoon drop four pancakes into skillet; press lightly to flatten.

8. Close the lid and fry on both sides until golden (approximately 2 minutes/side)

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Main Dish

Optional: parsley, dill, cilantro, green onions or garlic Non-vegan option: sour cream for a sauce

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Vincent Boannor Kumasi, Ghana

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Jollof Rice Main Dish

Ingredients 4 large yellow onions.

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/3 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tablespoons, divided (80 mL)

½ teaspoon mixed dried herbs

6 large fresh tomatoes/14 oz diced tomato, 2 cans (395 g) 6 oz tomato paste, 1 can (170 g) 1 teaspoon each of ground white and black pepper

3 chicken bouillon cubes, crushed 2 ½ cups long grain rice, rinsed (500 g) 1 cup frozen mixed vegetable (150 g)

2 teaspoons curry powder

500g of beef or chicken (Optional and in case you are vegan ignore)

6 cloves /1 teaspoon garlic

1½ cups water (360 mL)

Cook’s Notes There is no one way to prepare any cuisine, and surely Jollof Rice, as well as Plantain with Beans Sauce (Red-Red, check-check etc. as known locally), is no exception. However, following the recipe given below should guarantee nice and tasty meal.

Serves: 4-6

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Directions 1. Wash and rinse unprocessed ingredients thoroughly under running tap. Once all is done, follow these steps for the preparation.

2. If you would like to cook with beef or chicken, prepare and cut them to size as preferred and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes. Strain meat when cooked and fry in deep pot to preference. Remove the meat from the oil and keep the oil in the pot for latter use.

3. Dice 2 onions, tomatoes, garlic (if not powdered), add 2 tablespoons of oil to a blender and pulse until smooth.

Transfer to a bowl.

4. Heat the oil used for the frying in the large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the oil is simmering, cut and add the remaining 2 onions into the oil, stir for few moments until onions slightly turns brown.

6. Pour the rice in a bowl, add water, wash and drain the water. Repeat the step was if necessary and add the rice and the missing vegetables to the sauce. Stir thoroughly to mix well and add 1.5 ml water. Cover with lid and bring it to boil under medium heat for about 5-10. Check to see if the water has dried up, add about 1 cup or more water depending on the hardness, stir gently to mix evenly and cover the pot with foil and a lid. Continue to cook on low heat for 30 minutes or until rice is perfectly cooked.

7. Finally, put off the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Serve with the meat or chicken. Enjoy!!

5. Add the blended sauce to the oil on heat. Cook for 5 minutes, add the tomato paste and cook for another 5 minutes. Add ginger, white and black pepper, crushed bouillon cubes.

Continue to cook under moderate heat and stir occasionally for about 10 to 20 minutes until the water has cooked out and the puree is starting to turn brown or deep red. Make sure it is seasoned strongly because rice will later be added to this sauce.

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Plantains with Beans Sauce

Main Dish

Ingredients

Beans Sauce 4 medium tomatoes (blended/diced/massed)

Salt to taste (Âą 1 seasoning cube)

1 large onion (chopped)

1 teaspoon of ground ginger

1 clove of pressed garlic

500g black-eyed peas or red beans

100ml red palm oil or vegetable oil 2 chilies (optional)

4-6 eggs (boiled) (fried fish/ meat/chicken) 2-3 avocados

Plantains 4 very ripe plantains Vegetable oil (for deep frying)

Recipe for a serving of 4-6

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Salt (to taste)

Directions for the Bean Sauce 1. Wash and soak beans in water for 1 hour. Then, in a large pot and using 2 litres of water, boil the beans. The pot should be partially closed. After 15 minutes, reduce the heat and simmer the beans for 2 hours, or until they are soft (mushy even). If you need to add more water during the boil, add only boiling water. When the beans have cooked, drain in a strainer and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in another pot and add the chopped onions, garlic, chilies and ginger. After 2 minutes, stir in the diced/mashed/blended tomatoes and add your salt and pepper and/or seasoning cube. Add small amount of water and cook for about 10 minutes.

3. Add in the beans and stir the sauce.

Continue to cook and stir intermittently for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce is much thicker. It is ready for serving with the plantain.

Directions for the Plantains 1. To peel the plantains, wash or rinse with water and cut both ends and cut just through the skin/cover across length. Now unwrap the skin/cover to peel. Cut into diagonal pieces or slices. Season with a bit of salt (in salt solution).

2. Heat the oil until it is hot, put in the sliced plantain to fry. Toss/turn them occasionally to ensure all cook well.

When they are all brown, remove and strain with colander. Serve a plate with the beans sauce and the slice plantain with the eggs and sliced avocados.

Enjoy!!

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Embers These, are embers Remains of flames, soon to be ash They settle on wood, and gradually, Fuse, die out, or wither, away from the fire This withering, I wonder, must lead to some place else, to soil and mud in a distant land, or a hill Even the rain, where them embers Find new life, a new meaning.

For this new meaning then, like life Takes one beyond what was at rest During the original fire, But these flames, very much like life, never die For these embers remind us, that we are very much like them, dying out now, only to become, something else, and yet remain embers.

-Anhad Imaan, 2019