Enjoying new foods is one of the serendipities of travel. ITN asked if there is a favorite recipe that you discovered overseas (outside of North America). If so, we requested that you send it in, also telling us where, how and when you found it; whether you have any trouble gathering the ingredients or not, and the results of any variations you've tried.
In addition, we asked if there is a spice, herb, extract or flavoring or an ingredient of any type that you discovered overseas and now use occasionally when cooking at home. We wanted to know when and where you discovered it and where you can buy it.
Following are some of the responses we received. The recipes have not been tested by the ITN staff. (ITN can forward mail to any reader if the envelope is addressed to that person, c/o ITN, 2120 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818.) If you have something to contribute, yourself, write to Favorite Foreign Recipes and Seasonings, do ITN.
Many years ago, on our first trip to HUNGARY, I found an interesting-looking spice called Vegeta in a small grocery.
Vegeta is manufactured in Croatia and imported by the wholesaler Indo-European Foods, Inc. (Glendale, CA; visit www.indo-euro.com. To learn where to purchase it in your area, call 818/247-1000 or e-mail info @ indo-euro.com).
A teaspoonful of Vegeta enhances the flavor of almost anything from fish and fowl to soups and stews.
I was delighted to find it recently at Central Market in Fort Worth and imagine it now is available in almost any gourmet food shop.
-- Muriel P. Dowe, Fort Worth, TX
A favorite FRENCH seasoning mix that I have come across in my travels is Herbs of Provence, or Herbs Provencal.
Two of the ingredients are rosemary and oregano. The others are peculiar to Provence. I use it to season gravies and stews and also pulverize it for putting on pizza.
In France, the brand I buy is Les 4 Vents. In the U.S., Herbs Provencal can be purchased at Williams-Sonoma (for store location nearest you, call 877/812-6235; order a catalog at www.williams-sonoma.com) as well as at most gourmet food shops and some cookware shops.
I wouldn't cook without it.
-- Lee R. Bishop, Las Vegas, NV
While in SOUTH AFRICA a couple of years ago, we discovered Coleman's Worcestershire Sprinkle Powder. It is a dry Worcestershire sauce. It is delicious on baked onions and also can be used in many other recipes calling for liquid Worcestershire.
We rationed it sparingly, but it finally ran out We have not been able to locate this product in the States. Can anybody help? Please write to me at rburns@sleekcom.com.
-- Russell Bums, Brookhaven, MS
I saw the request for recipes and seasonings and just had to share this easy one that all my guests rave about. I am embarrassed when I tell them how easy it is to make.
Although I have traveled THAILAND many times and know a Thai cook well, I got this recipe from a young man while traveling in Central America. He said he makes this when he cooks for a date and wants to impress her (and it always works).
It's a hot peanut sauce made with country-style red or green curry mix (a product of Thailand that comes in a plastic container and can be purchased in any oriental food store). It does not need to be refrigerated even after it's opened.
I mix this with crunchy peanut butter and plain yogurt. I use nonfat to keep calories down, but regular can be used.
Vary the amounts used of each for consistency and taste -- the more curry mix used, the hotter the sauce. I like to serve it warm on top of cooked cauliflower, but it can be used on other vegetables as well.
Anita Lees, Vista, CA
Oh, yes, I have both a favorite recipe and a seasoning for you. First, the recipe. I do not have the exact ingredients, but you can experiment on your own.
* At Les Belles Rive restaurant on the shores of FRANCE'S Lac d'Aiguebelette, in 1999 I was served a salad that was just perfect -- European mixed greens with a vinaigrette dressing (on the tart side). Heaped up on top of the greens were some small pieces (maybe half a cup) of cut-up cooked chicken livers, butter-sauteed gently and still warm.
The combination of the tart vinaigrette and the smooth sweet taste and textures of the chicken livers is indescribable!
* Second, the condiment. Nestle's version is called Saladessa, and the great SWISS Migros store's Pikant seems to be about the same thing: a mustard- and vinegar-based "salad condiment."
It is the base for all kinds of sauces, salads and vegetables, for basting roast chicken, for making dip, etc. It can be mixed about 50-50 with a wide array of liquids: oil, water, bouillon, sour cream, yogurt, fresh cream, milk, berry sauces for meats, and anything else your fertile mind can think of.
There is only one drawback I know of: I cannot find it sold in the States. If anyone knows of this type of thing here, please let me know. Otherwise, I am going to make a special trip to Switzerland this summer to buy a couple of cases.
Pikant is completely fat-free and cost about $1.25 per bottle in Switzerland. It comes in about 24-ounce plastic bottles, so a carton can be shipped home (rather than get lugged by me).
Don't cry for my travail and woe -- I want to go to Switzerland anyway. Good eating!
Muncie Marder, Tarzana, CA
This recipe may not have unusual exotic spices, but it was given to us with compliments of the cook aboard the SS Sepik River in PAPUA NEW GUINEA.
In Papua New Guinea, the main (and only) staple is sago palm. Sago palms grow everywhere in this dense jungle country. They are used for building materials. In addition, the interior pulp is ground up with water added to make a paste which is fried over a clay grill into tasteless pancakes. (Yes, we did sample!)
It seems that spices and herbs are not well known there; recipes are practically nonexistent. Sometimes a large pot of sago palm (combined with water) is boiled into a thick soup, with river fish and greens added as protein.
Sago is eaten twice daily. The people appeared healthy.
Sepik River Dip
1 full Tablespoon onion soup mix
1 teaspoon tomato sauce
3 teaspoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix together in a bowl and thicken with mayonnaise.
Lois & Ed Johnson, Beverly, MA
GERMAN cucumber salad is served on the side of many dishes in German Stubes (neighborhood traditional cafes) and goes with both meat and fish dishes. I particularly like to serve it with poached salmon.
This recipe is from the teacher from whom I took German lessons for four years while living in Frankfurt, Germany.
Gurken Salat (German Cucumber Salad)
Peel one English (called burpless or seedless) cucumber and slice into rounds as thin as possible. Salt the slices and allow to "wilt" for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing.
For the dressing, mix together...
1/3 cup of cream
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon dried or fresh dill
Toss the unrinsed slices of cucumber with the dressing. Can be served immediately or keeps two to three days, if refrigerated. Serves four persons.
-- Linda Beuret, Santa Barbara, CA
The ingredients for this salad were given to me by my Spanish teacher, Sra. Rosa Maria Schwarz at Escuela Maya in Antigua, GUATEMALA. It is easily prepared, and all of the ingredients except the beans are to your taste. One 16-ounce can of beans will serve two people.
Black Bean Salad
1 can good-quality black beans, washed and drained
Garlic, chopped
Sweet white onion, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Salt
When I serve this salad, I place wedges of tomatoes on the top and use a good virgin olive oil over all. Serve with tortillas and you have a fast, healthy meal.
-- Jack Malin, Newtown Square, PA
My husband and I were in COSTA RICA a couple of years ago, and everywhere we ate they served a side dish of beans and rice. It was absolutely wonderful, but I was never able to pin anyone down as to a recipe. Not to be deterred, when we got home I called what I thought was the local Costa Rican Tourist Board. It turned out that I was talking with a boy in the tourist bureau in San Jose, Costa Rica.
I explained my pursuit to him. He told me he didn't know how to make the recipe but that his mother did, and he would .ask her to write down the recipe and send it to me. He was as good as his word, and a few weeks later the following recipe arrived. I have transcribed it exactly as written.
This is a traditional Costa Rican dish, and there are many ways to prepare it. Each. cook has his own way to assemble and spice the ingredients. You can use either black beans or red ones.
Gallo Pinto
Onions
Peppers, chopped fine (optional)
Yesterday's beans (of course, you spiced them the day before with sweet pepper, onions, garlic and cilantro)
Yesterday 's rice (you added a small amount of oil plus some consomme, sweet pepper and onions when you cooked it)
Cilantro
