This
must be the only time I have ever sat down directly after eating a Culinisation
meal and done what I’m doing right now. Sometimes it takes a day or two, often
longer. Sometimes I even cook the next country before finding the time to write
up the previous one. After all, we
gotta eat. Naturally enough, in these few passing days, I taste the dish a
little less in my minds mouth.
No
chance of that happening tonight though. Firstly because I literally still have
the taste in my mouth and secondly, because instead of tasting like nothing
I’ve tasted before, Sancocho tastes like everything I have tasted before. I (and everyone in Ireland) practically
grew up on the stuff. Yup, it’s stew. In our house, it was this very recipe – some
pork chops (lamb if you were really lucky), a few sausages, a tin of beans and
some spuds (very likely leftover).
We
ate it. We fought over the sausages. We loved it.
What
makes this stew ‘exotic’ and I use this term so loosely it’s floating around in
space with George and Sandra, is the plantain. I have never been a huge fan of
this African banana. Then again, I have only ever cooked them myself and eaten
them once. Remember ‘No. 34 - Do a twirl and Cameroon to yourself’? Of course
you do. It was the best title to date and who remembers the food anyway? This
time, the plantain could easily have passed as a turnip. Neither delicious nor offensive, just
you know, there. Sancocho is also a little spicier and a little sweeter than your average ‘Irish’ stew.
So
the verdict? Stew is stew.*
Paddy
and Rina have just arrived home after some post work pints and are raving about
it! It clearly has nothing to do with the pints. I don’t know if they even
heated it up. Paddy says he wants to make it every Wednesday (?) and Rina says it
reminds her of the food her parents make at home. They are from Madagascar, close enough (joke), so I’m counting
this as a victory!
I
obviously know nothing about stew. Or countries. Remind me why I’m doing this
again?
Sancocho
There is now a big pot of stew in the kitchen that has had all the meat picked out. Understandable. So I’m going to freeze what’s left over, defrost it on a rainy day, add a few more cooked sausages and keep the party rolling.
Serves
6
6
fat spicy sausages
4
pork chops on the bone, cut into pieces
1
onion, roughly chopped
3
cloves of garlic, chopped
1
red pepper, roughly diced
2 tins
of kidney beans, drained
1
tsp of oregano
1
teaspoon of sugar
1
plantain, sliced
2
sweet potatoes, cubed
1
vegetable stock cube
salt
(paramount) and pepper
rice and coriander to serve
Cook
the sausages in a little oil in a hot frying pan. Once nice and brown, remove
and slice into circles. Pop them in your ‘stew pot’ (we all have one), off the
heat. Brown the chops in the same frying pan you cooked the sausages. Add them
to the sausages. Finally fry your onion, pepper and garlic in the same pan
again (add a touch more oil if necessary). Add them to the pot with the sausages
and chops. Add a splash of water
to the pan and scrape up all that meaty goodness that is stuck to the bottom.
DO NOT SKIP THIS or your stew won’t be worth eating.
You
could of course do all of this cooking in the pot that you’re going to
eventually stew your stew. If you want your meat to brown and not stew
(obviously we want it to stew later but not just yet) you’re better off doing
it in batches.
Into
your ‘stew pot’ add everything else (kidney bean, oregano, sugar, plantain,
sweet potatoes, vegetable stock cube (not authentic but definitely worth it),
salt and pepper. Barely cover with water and simmer until the sweet potatoes and plantain are soft. Then add more salt. I cannot stress enough how important it is
to season this (and all) stews. When it comes to stews, salt is, and forever
will be Queen.
Make like Jamie Oliver and throw coriander EVERYWHERE. Serve
with rice.
A :)
*If I’m ever going to get to the end of this culinary adventure, I’m going to have to come with a lot more interesting things to stay about stew. All comments welcome below.
