Summer sizzlers, marinades and Pestle & Mortar

Summer is at our doorstep and with the last Bank Holiday weekend of good weather, gardens and BBQs are ready to please.

What to do with those fresh herbs that are growing in the garden or on the windowsill?

As nice as they are one feels that they need to have a purpose and be put to use...so how about using them for cooking? You can add them to a potato salad or to a green salad... yes, but...how about making something a little more creative, something that makes them gorgeously delicious and un-recognisable... something like a MARINADE.

They are used all the time in Eastern cuisine and they create the most intricate flavours out of simple ingredients like herbs and spices.

All you need is fresh herbs, some spices, a Pestle and Mortar and a recipe or your imagination.



Pestle & Mortar

If you are a novice in making a marinade and using a Pestle & Mortar, here are some very easy recipes to get you started and put you in the mood.

Pesto:
Put a large bunch of basil leaves, 2 tbsp. pine nuts, 2-3 cloves of garlic, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper in the mortar and start crushing them to a pulp with the pestle while slowly adding olive oil.  You want to have a paste that is not too runny and at the same time is loose enough to coat your linguine pasta. When you have the right consistency, add 2-3 tbsp. of  grated parmesan and mixed together (don't bash it with the pestle) mix it gently.
Cook your linguine as directed from the packet and when drained mix the pesto, you might want to add a little olive oil if too sticky.
Eat and enjoy!

Marinade for pork:
Mix together in your Mortar 4 garlic cloves, 2 tbsp. freshly grated ginger and add a tsp. of 5-spices powder. When  you have worked the pestle to make the garlic and ginger and spices into a paste, add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, 2tbsp. of clear honey and 2 tbsp. of sunflower oil.
Put the marinade onto some pork ribs and let it sit for several hours.  Cook on the BBQ. [Recipe from Chef Bill Granger]

Guacamole:
Place a small red onion, finely diced, 1/2 chilli pepper, 1 clove of garlic in your mortar and use the pestle to slowly mash together the ingredients. Add some coriander leaves and 2 ripe avocados.
When these are all amalgamated into a thick paste add 1/2 yellow onion, grated & its juice, the juice of a lime, salt and freshly grated black pepper.  You might also want to add a splash of tabasco sauce.
This is an easy and quick recipe to make and can be served with tortilla chips.

These are only some of the recipes you can make with your Pestle & Mortar. Use the pestle in a circular motion to grind the ingredients to a smooth paste.  The whole process is very soothing and it kind of takes you back to the primitive way of preparing food, or the way it is still produced in some cultures.

I have read that you can also prepare your own chilli paste with a Pestle & Mortar and that it is far better in taste than the mixtures you buy in a tin or jar.

If you don't have a Pestle & Mortar yet, this is easy to remedy. There are a lot of types on the market. I prefer the wood ones, in particular those made with Olive Wood. I like the feel of the wood and the fact that the ingredients and the Pestle & Mortar have all been live, earthy products.
Pestle & Mortar made in Olive Wood are also very cheap to buy and will provide a long lasting addition to your kitchen.

With Father's Day fast approaching (16th June) a Pestle & Mortar could provide the perfect, unusual present that will leave you with money in your pocket to buy food to marinade and put on your BBQ. What a great way to spend Father's Day! 

 Does your Dad already have a Pestle & Mortar, how about a Wine Bottle Holder then?

 

Moroccan humour or trying it on? Little artisan man

This is where cultural barriers might make it hard to communicate...

Last year (2011) my friend and I spent a w/e in Marrakech and to this day we are still wondering if the guy in the video tried it on or it was really his ‘Moroccan’ sense of humour.

My friend was looking for Xmas presents and wasn’t very impressed with the Moroccan selling style and took the view of approaching and buying only from people/sellers that were not harassing her. 
This is how we came across this artisan, who very quietly was going on with his business in a little alley of the Marrakechi Medina. 
We went around his place of business in the course of two days. Yes, no, yes, maybe, shall I buy it, or maybe not? My friend found the choice of goods available in Marrakech overwhelming and making a decision on what to buy & who for became a major decision-making choice (which was driving me mad!!)... Eventually she decided on some wood boxes.
Goods were checked, price agreed, goods wrapped and paid. Then little artisan man decided to produce a little something which – according to him – was a purveyor of good luck if placed in the bedroom (we never got to discover how it would bring good luck!). I stood aside, not wanting to be a disruptive element in my friend's purchasing process or the carving of such ‘lucky’ charm. 
Once all was concluded, items purchased, charm carved I was all ready to move on. ..But no, little artisan man decided he wanted me to have a lucky charm too; he insisted I sat down next to him and watch him as he was doing the carving. 
My friend and I swapped seats. As I started watching him I thought I might as well make a short video of it. I asked little artisan man for permission to film him and he agreed, so I proceeded to take the video. While he was carving various people passed by and stopped to take pictures. As you will see from the video all was amicable and relaxed.....

(Now watch the video)

You can imagine my shock at his request! Hence the sudden termination of the video as I stood up and left, soon to be followed by my friend – who told me later - had her jaw to the floor by the surprise of the request!

Our next stop was another artisan, known by me for his leather notebooks, and where my friend had decided she was going to purchase some lovely boxes covered in brightly coloured leather. We got to this other shop a few lanes away in the Medina and a few minutes after we got there little artisan man (the one of the wood carving) joined us and gave me the lucky charm he had finished carving in the meantime.  And all seriously he told me "it was all a joke"!

To this day I am not sure if it was a joke or not.   Watching the video and listening to the conversation again, I realised he asked for Euros and not Dirham (Moroccan currency).   So maybe it was a joke. On the other side why not saying something right away as he saw our reaction? And all the time he was ever so serious! I am still not convinced it was a joke....but maybe...? If it was, it certainly show the difference in cultures, even in the way we joke and make humour, as we certainly did not take it as a joke!

You can make your mind up and let me k now what you think.

Cedar Wood

Where does Cedar wood come from

Cedar wood comes from different trees that grow in different parts of the world and it’s used in different ways.
Most Cedar wood is aromatic, decay-resistant, fragrant, insect-repellent, and light-weight, primarily used to protect clothing from insects.

Cedar Tree

The Atlas Cedar is native to the Atlas Mountains in Algeria and in Morocco (the Rif, Middle Atlas and in the High Atlas). The Atlas Cedar is cultivated because it is more tolerant of dry and hot conditions than most conifers.
Cedarwood is now made into small items: boxes, tee-light holders,… the wood is very aromatic due to the high percentage of essential oil it contains. Wood carved balls placed among clothes are an excellent insect repellent.
From Cedar wood is distilled the essential oil which has calming & soothing properties, it is helpful in deepening meditation and strengthen focus (it is often used by Buddhist monks in Tibet).
The aroma of cedarwood is also believed to dispel gloomy thoughts, diffuse fear, dispel anger/ aggression and give courage.

Interesting facts on Cedar:

Cedar is a Semitic word: meaning the power of spiritual strength, and it represents a symbol of constant faith. It is one of the oldest aromatics used as temple incense. Cedarwood may also possibly be the first essential oil to have been extracted from a plant. The Egyptians used this oil extensively, particularly in the process of embalming and mummification, in cosmetics and by impregnating papyrus to protect them from insects. The wood was regarded as a symbol of strength, dignity and nobility; it was made into jewellery, furniture, sarcophagi and ships’ mast. The wood was so valued that Lebanon – main producer of the cedrus libani in antiquity - was incorporated into the Egyptian empire to ensure a regular supply.

Fatima Hand Trivet in cedar wood