Kofta

Kofta is a Middle Eastern and South Asian meatball or dumpling. The word kofta is derived from Persian kūfta: In Persian, کوفتن (kuftan) means “to beat” or “to grind” or meatball. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls or fingers of minced or ground meat – usually beef or lamb – mixed with spices and/or onions. The vegetarian variety like lauki kofta, shahi aloo kofta, malaai kofta are popular in India.

The meat is often mixed with other ingredients such as rice, bulgur, vegetables, or eggs to form a smooth paste. Koftas are sometimes made with fish or vegetables rather than meat, especially in India. They can be grilled, fried, steamed, poached, baked or marinated, and may be served with a rich spicy sauce. Variations occur in North Africa, the Mediterranean, Central Europe, Asia and India. According to a 2005 study done by a private food company, there were 291 different kinds of kofta in Turkey, where it is very popular. In Arab countries, kufta is usually shaped into cigar-shaped cylinders.

Early recipes (included in some of the earliest known Arabic cookbooks) generally concern seasoned lamb rolled into orange-sized meatballs, and glazed with egg yolk and sometimes saffron. This method was taken to the west and is referred to as gilding, or endoring. Many regional variations exist, notable among them the unusually large Iranian Kufteh Tabrizi, having an average diameter of 20 cm (8 in).

Koftas in South Asian cuisine are normally cooked in a spicy curry and sometimes with whole pre-boiled eggs. Sometimes the eggs are encased in a layer of the spicy kofta meat so that the final product resembles an Indian Scotch egg. These kofta dishes are very popular with South Asian families and are widely available from many Indian restaurants. In West Bengal, India and Bangladesh, koftas are made with prawns, fish, green bananas, cabbage, as well as minced goat meat.

Apple Butter

The roots of apple butter lie in Limburg (Belgium and the Netherlands) and Rhineland (Germany), conceived during the Middle Ages, when the first monasteries (with large fruit yards) appeared. The production of the butter was a perfect way to conserve part of the fruit production of the monasteries in that region, at a time when almost every village had its own apple-butter producers. The production of apple butter was also a popular way of using apples in colonial America, well into the 19th century.

The product contains no actual dairy butter; the term “butter” refers only to the thick, soft butter-like consistency, and apple butter’s use as a spread for breads. Typically seasoned with cinnamon, clove, and other spices, apple butter is usually spread on bread, used as a side dish, an ingredient in baked goods, or as a condiment. Apple butter is also used on a sandwich to add an interesting flavor, but is not as commonly used as in historical times.

It is mixed with vinegar while cooking to provide a small amount of tartness to the usually sweet apple butter. The Pennsylvania Dutch often include apple butter as part of their traditional ‘seven sweets and seven sours’ dinner table array.

In areas of the American South, the production of apple butter is a family event, due to the large amount of labor necessary to produce apple butter in large quantities. Traditionally, apple butter was prepared in large copper kettles outside. Large paddles were used to stir the apples, and family members would take turns stirring. In Appalachia, apple butter was the only type of fruit preserve normally rendered into fruit leather.

In Europe, apple butter is commonly used in the Netherlands (known as appelstroop (apple syrup) and in Germany (known as Apfelkraut (apple kraut) and frequently eaten on bread with (or without) thinly sliced cheese and with Sauerbraten. A sweeter version, made using pears, as well as apples, is more popular in Belgium, where it is known as sirop de Liège. Other than in Benelux and the Rhineland, apple syrup is a minority taste in Western Europe (in Germany, outside of the Rhineland, it is generally sold in health food shops), and a similar food is produced in francophone Switzerland, where it is known as vin cuit.

Russian Пови́дло (from Czech povidla or Polish powidła or powidło) prepared by the reduction of fruit puree with some sugar and sometimes spices. The final product should contain no more than 34% of moisture and about 60% of sugar. The most popular one is made from apples, but povidlo is also made from apricots, cherries, prunes, pears, and cranberries.

In Jersey, in the Channel Islands, apple butter is known as “black butter” or lé nièr beurre and includes liquorice as an ingredient.

Apple butter can be used as a fat substitute in reduced-fat or fat-free cooking, as well as vegan recipes.

Farmer’s Daughter Burrito

The culture of Mexico has changed rapidly during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.  In this shift, many traditions are becoming forgotten.  An example is that of the De la Fama Hija Burrito, or, the “Farmer’s Daughter Burrito.”

The history of the burrito itself is an evolution well documented and starts with the tortilla.  The Mesoamerican people of Mexico used tortillas to wrap food.  Traditionally, the tortillas were the principal food of the Aztecs, who were the dominant people of Meso-America in 1519.  This was around the time the Spanish conquerors were looking for gold.  They were surprised to also discover corn, a food that was considered unusual by their standards, but evident to be a staple of the Aztec diet.

Corn was used in a variety of ways, eaten raw on the cob, stored dry and ground into corn meal, corn meal could be made into “masa” (which is essentially corn dough), and of course, this dough could be used to make tortillas.  This very corn based diet served to support a nutritional regime that supplied necessary starch while being rich in protein and minimal in fat.

The ancient method of making tortillas remains a process followed even today.  Using a stone slab, the soaked kernels of corn were ground into masa.  The masa could be white, yellow or any color the raw corn is.  The most important quality of the mix, is the consistency, a quality achieved by mixing correct ratios of the ingredients with water of moderate temperature.  Once the masa is made, a golf ball size portions of it are placed between wetted hands.  It must then be pressed into a flat thin pancake.  When the masa is about six to eight inches in diameter, it is placed onto a hot griddle, “comal” to be quickly cooked on both sides.  In Mexico a young girl would spend years learning the secrets to making the perfect tortilla.

This is a key step to the tradition of “De la Fama Hija Burrito,” as it began as a collaborative ceremony completed in conjunction between a newly betrothed daughter of a farmer and her father.  It is a tradition that was intended to articulate the circle of creation and cultivation of the farmer over his crops, a symbol that served to metaphorically represent the raising of the daughter about to be wed.   Conversely, the farmer’s daughter’s creation of the perfect tortilla for this reverent dish served to symbolize her understanding of those traditions and values taught to her by her parents.  The creation of the perfect tortilla served to illustrate her ability to carry these with her when she must manage her own household.

In the farmer’s daughter’s burrito, the father would likewise gather the most vibrant of vegetables and ingredients from his crop in an arrangement that was often made to reflect the father’s daughter’s personal taste.  This was a subtle indication to her betrothed of the preferences he might want to be conscious of in what all hoped would be a harmonious union.

There were many subtleties in the ways different families would manifest the translation of certain symbolism in this tradition and every Farmer’s Daughter burrito varied in recipe from family to family.  Often when you go to a traditional Mexican restaurant, if their agricultural culture is something of which the proprietors are conscious, there will still be a “Farmer’s Daughter burrito” on the menu which serves as a lingering nod to this fading Mexican tradition.

British Dumplings

Savoury dumplings made from balls of dough are part of traditional British and Irish cuisine. Traditionally dumplings are made from twice the weight of self raising flour to suet, bound together by cold water to form a dough and seasoned with salt and pepper. Balls of this dough are dropped into a bubbling pot of stew or soup, or into a casserole. They sit, partly submerged in the stew, and expand as they are half-boiled half-steamed for ten minutes or so. The cooked dumplings are airy on the inside and moist on the outside. The dough may be flavoured with herbs, or it may have cheese pressed into its centre.

After beef stew is finished, a dessert can be created by topping the dumplings and gravy with sugar.

The Norfolk dumpling is not made with fat, but from flour and a raising agent. Cotswold dumplings call for the addition of breadcrumbs and cheese, and the balls of dough may be rolled in breadcrumbs and fried, rather than cooked in a soup or stew. Vegetarian dumplings can be made with vegetable suet, a type of shredded vegetable fat.

When sweetened with dried fruit and spices, dumplings can be boiled in water to make a dessert. In Scotland, this is called a clootie dumpling, after the cloth.