World food ingredients Q&A

[RomComPhooey]

So, I do a lot of cooking from scratch and like experimenting with new ingredients. I was in a real Alladdin's cave of a grocery store today which seemed to stock a properly eclectic mix of middle eastern stuff and east European stuff. I'd love to branch out a bit & thought MN might be place to get ideas about how to use unfamiliar ingredients - particularly spices and flavourings - and how to know whether you're buying good quality stuff.

To get the ball rolling, what is sumac and what is the best way to use it?

Oh I've got pomegranate molasses in the cupboard after I saw Rick "yawn, fry everything in olive oil and add a squeeze of lemon" Stein branched out on his latest food tour - bought the book and have still never made whatever it was that prompted me to buy it!

I'm a bit jealous of all you people that have local ME shops, none round here - I've never got the hang of tofu either, the stuff I can buy in the supermarket is slimy and disintegrates but the stuff I have when I'm eating out is sort of fluffy and firm (deep fried maybe) I'll be watching this thread with interest.

clara my pomegranate molasses came from ocado, I have a lot of West Indian food shops round here but not many other world food shops. My local supermarket has a fairly big Polish section though.

That Polish snack could be obwarzanek, a bread twist with poppy/sesame seeds or salt. There are stalls dotted all over Krakow selling them.

OK, what can I do with a saucepan full of what I think is boiled yam? I thought it was a more purple than usual sweet potato but it was whitish inside and it's now green mush!

clarazabel you need firm or extra firm tofu and then wrap with kitchen roll or clean tea towel and press it with a weight on a plate .
Then cut and marinate... and then fry.

OnyK - Thanks for that, all I can find is the silken stuff around here and I have no clue what to do with it to make it edible. There must be somewhere I can find the firm stuff mail order - I'll have a look online.

This is a very popular recipe in our house that uses sumac:

chefindisguise.com/2012/09/20/musakhan/

I often just grill the chicken on kebab sticks if we're bbq-ing and then add the onions/pine nuts mix to a pita with a bit of yoghurt and cucumber. It's really tasty and if you feel adventurous add some red chilli powder and sesame seeds to the sumac mix. Yum!

I second pomegranate molasses on salad, particularly fattoush but also on sliced and grilled or fried eggplant/aubergine slices with some greek yoghurt (can be served warm or cold).

Right, now I'm hungry! Off to raid the fridge....

Clarazabel Can you get a delivery from Ocado?
If so, try Taifun Organic (plain) tofu.

There is gorgeous Persian dish called Fes an June that uses pomegranate molasses/paste and is served with meat balls.

Fry onion and when softened add the meatballs and a teaspoon of turmeric.

Once the meat balls have been browned, add half a bottle of the pomegranate molasses/paste, two small packets of ground walnuts and seasoning.

Simmer for at least half an hour and then serve with steamed rice.

Trust me it's delicious! a big thank you to my Persian MIL for teaching me how to make it.

The dish I mentioned can be made with chicken instead of the meatballs as well.

BIL loves sumac sprinkled over lamb fillet that has been BBQ'd.

What about barberries?

They are dried sour berries and I have used them in cous cous and also mixed with sugar/butter which is then served with steamed rice (another Persian dish...served with roasted chicken).