Cinnamon is the name of a small evergreen tree belonging to the family Lauraceae, native to Sri Lanka, or the name of the spice obtained from the tree’s bark.

Cinnamon has been known from remote antiquity; the first mention of a particular spice in the Old Testament is of cinnamon – where Moses is commanded to use both sweet cinnamon and cassia in the holy anointing oil; in Proverbs, where the lover’s bed is perfumed with myrrh, aloe and cinnamon; and in Song of Solomon, a song describing the beauty of his beloved, cinnamon scents her garments like the smell of Lebanon. It was so highly prized among ancient nations that it was regarded as a gift fit for monarchs and even for a god.

Cinnamon is harvested by growing the tree for two years and then coppicing it. The next year, about a dozen shoots will form from the roots. These shoots are then stripped of their bark, which is left to dry. Only the thin (0.5 mm) inner bark is used; the outer woody portion is removed, leaving metre-long cinnamon strips that curl into quills (rolls) on drying; each dried quill comprises strips from numerous shoots packed together. These quills are then cut into 5–10 cm lengths for sale.

Cinnamon bark is widely used as a spice. It is principally employed in cookery as a condiment and flavouring material. It is also used in the preparation of chocolate – especially in Mexico, the main importer of true cinnamon. Cinnamon is also used in the preparation of some kinds of desserts, such as apple pie, donuts and cinnamon buns as well as spicy candies, tea, hot cocoa and liqueurs. In the US, cinnamon and sugar are often used to flavour cereals, bread-based dishes and fruits – especially apples. A cinnamon-sugar mixture is even sold separately for such purposes. Cinnamon can also be used in pickling.

Cinnamon is also very high in antioxidant activity, it’s believed that one teaspoon of cinnamon contains as many antioxidants as half a cup of blueberries.

Reference: wikipedia

Modern Norwegian cuisine, although still strongly influenced by its traditional background, now bears the marks of globalisation, however. Pastas, pizzas and the like are as common as meatballs and cod as staple foods, and urban restaurants sport the same selection you would expect to find in any western European city.

The one traditional Norwegian dish with a claim to international popularity is the smoked salmon. It is now a major export, and could be considered the most important Norwegian contribution to modern international cuisine. Smoked salmon exists traditionally in many varieties, and is often served with scrambled eggs, dill, sandwiches or mustard sauce. Close to smoked salmon is gravlaks (literally “dug salmon”), which is salt-and-sugar-cured salmon seasoned with dill and other herbs and spices. Gravlaks is often sold under more sales-friendly names internationally. A more peculiar Norwegian fish dish is Rakfisk, which consists of fermented trout.

People will gather for krabbelag (“crab party”) feasts, either eating ready cooked crabs from a fishmonger, or cooking live crabs in a large pan. This is typically done outdoors, the style being rather rustic with only bread, mayonnaise and wedges of lemon to go with the crab. Crabs are caught in pots by both professionals and amateurs, while prawns are caught by small trawlers and sold ready cooked at the quays. It is popular to buy half a kilo of prawns and eat it at the quays, feeding the waste to seagulls. Beer or white wine is the normal accompaniment.

A typical Norwegian brunch spread
Photo by: Katrine Anker-Nilssen

High cuisine is very reliant on game, such as moose, reindeer duck, and fowl. These meats are often hunted and sold or passed around as gifts, but are also available at shops nationwide, and tend to be served at social occasions. Because these meats have a distinct, strong taste, they will often be served with rich sauces spiced with crushed juniper berries, and a sour-sweet jam of lingonberries on the side. Preserved meat and sausages come in a bewildering variety of regional variations, and are usually accompanied by sour cream dishes and flat bread or wheat/potato wraps.

Lamb’s meat and mutton is very popular in autumn, mainly used in fårikål (mutton stew with cabbage). Pinnekjøtt, cured and sometimes smoked mutton ribs that is steamed for several hours, is traditionally served as Christmas dinner in the western parts of Norway. Another Western specialty is smalahove, a smoked lamb’s head.

Fruits and berries mature slowly in the cold climate. This makes for a tendency to smaller volume with a more intense taste. Strawberries, blueberries, lingonberries, raspberries and apples are popular and are part of a variety of desserts, and cherries in the parts of the country where those are grown. The wild growing cloudberry is regarded as a delicacy. A typical Norwegian dessert on special occasions is cloudberries with whipped or plain cream.

Cheese is an export, in particular the plain-brand favourite Jarlsberg cheese. The sweet geitost or brown/red cheese (not a true cheese, but rather caramelised lactose from goat milk or a mix of goat and cow milk) is very popular in cooking and with bread.

Norway has a particularly strong affinity with coffee, and is according to Nationmaster the world’s leading coffee consumer, with the average Norwegian drinking 160 litres, or 10.7 kg of coffee each year. Coffee plays a large role in Norwegian culture, and it is common to invite people over for coffee and cakes, and to enjoy cups of coffee with dessert after the main courses in get-togethers. The traditional way of serving coffee in Norway is plain black, usually in a mug, rather than a cup.

Both industrial and small-scale brewing have long traditions in Norway. Restrictive alcohol policies have encouraged a rich community of brewers, and a colourful variety of beverages both legal and illegal. The most popular industrial beers are usually pilsners and red beers (bayer), while traditional beer is much richer, with a high alcohol and malt content. The ancient practice of brewing Juleøl (Christmas beer) persists even today, and imitations of these are available before Christmas, in shops and, for the more potent versions, at state monopoly outlets. The climate has not been hospitable to grapes for millennia, and wines and more potent drinks are available only from the wine monopolies.

Distilled beverages include akevitt, a yellow-tinged liquor spiced with caraway seeds, also known as akvavit or other variations on the Latin aqua vitae – water of life. The Norwegian “linie” style is distinctive for its maturing process, crossing the equator in sherry casks stored the hull of a ship, giving it more taste and character than the rawer styles of other Scandinavian akevittar.

… Now, get hold of a bottle of akevitt, some smoked salmon and cured Norwegian game meat, and have a merry, wonderful Christmas Eve full of peace, joy and happiness!

Norwegian Fenalår

Photo: www.apertif.no

Reference: wikipedia

The edible fig is one of the first plants cultivated by humans. Nine subfossil figs of a parthenocarpic type, dating back to about 9400–9200 BC, were found in the early Neolithic village Gilgal I – in the Jordan Valley, 13 km north of Jericho. This find predates the domestication of wheat, barley and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture.

Figs were also a common food source for the Romans. The fruits were used, among other things, to fatten geese for the production of a precursor of foie gras.

Figs can be eaten fresh or dried, and used in jam-making. Most commercial production is in dried or otherwise processed forms, since the ripe fruit does not transport well, and once picked does not keep well.

Figs are one of the highest plant sources of calcium and fibre. Dried figs are richest in fibre, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamin K. They have smaller amounts of many other nutrients, and also have a laxative effect and contain many antioxidants.

Reference: Wikipedia

The national dish of Brazil is feijoada; a meat and black bean stew rooted in the ingenuity of African slaves working in the plantations of colonial Brazil.

The cuisine of the North region, which includes among others the states of Amazonas and Pará, is heavily influenced by indigenous cuisine. Within the state of Bahia the predominant cuisine is Afro-Bahian, which evolved from plantation cooks improvising on African, Indian and traditional Portuguese dishes using locally available ingredients. The Southeastern region, comprising mainly of the states of  Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, is the industrial heart of Brazil, and home to several distinctive cooking styles for which Brazil is probably best-known.

Generally, rice and beans is an extremely popular dish – considered basic at table; a tradition Brazil shares with several Caribbean nations.

Salgadinhos are small savory snacks. Similar to Spanish tapas, these are mostly sold in corner shops and a staple at working class and lower middle-class familiar celebrations.

Pastéis are small half-moon shaped pastries with a wide variety of fillings – sometimes also shaped big and in a squared form.

Açaí and many other tropical fruits are shipped from the Amazon all over the country and consumed in smoothies.

When it comes to eating out, a simple and usually inexpensive option, which is also advisable for vegetarians, is comida a quilo or comida por quilo restaurants – where food is paid for by weight. Another common style is the all-you-can-eat restaurant where customers pay a prix fixe. In both types customers usually assemble the dishes of their choice from a large buffet.

As for drinks, cachaça is Brazil’s native liquor – distilled from sugar cane. Cachaça is the main ingredient in the national drink; the delicious Caipirinha. Limes (or lemons) and sugar are the other two ingredients in this refershing drink – which is popular worldwide.

Reference: www.wikipedia.org

Many supermarkets stock spring onions when they are in season, and they can also easily be grown at home; you can even use bulbs from the supermarket as a starter for your own spring onions. They are normally sold in bunches and should be firm with crisp white bases and undamaged green tops.

Spring onions have a strong flavour and may be cooked or used raw. They are commonly chopped and diced and used in salads, omelettes, mashed potatoes or when preparing salsa. They are also used to garnish fish and noodle dishes.

Store your spring onions in a plastic bag in your fridge, or upright in a small glass of water. When cooking, toss quickly and be careful not to burn them.

References:
www.wisegeek.com
F&H Magazine

Water chestnuts are unusual among vegetables for remaining crisp even after being cooked or canned – they do this because their cell walls are cross-linked and strengthened by certain phenolic compounds.

When boiled water chestnuts have a firm and somewhat crunchy texture. The flavour is very mild and slightly nutty in taste – however it’s easily overpowered by any seasonings or sauces it’s served or cooked with.

Water chestnuts are often combined with bamboo shoots, cilantro, ginger, sesame oil and snow peas, and common in pasta or rice dishes. They are a popular ingredient in Chinese dishes especially, hence the name Chinese water chestnut.

Unpeeled water chestnuts can be stored in a plastic bag in the fridge for several weeks, and once peeled they can be frozen with no loss of texture or flavour. Ground into a lumpy flour and fried, water chestnuts can make a beautiful, crisp, delicate crust.

After tasting fresh water chestnuts, the canned version will never be the same again. The lively, fresh, crisp, juicy texture might stay, but the subtly sweet taste of the water chestnut tend to vanish after it’s been canned.

Reference: www.wikipedia.org

Spices are used extensively in Moroccan food. While spices have been imported to Morocco for thousands of years, many ingredients, like saffron from Tiliouine, mint and olives from Meknes and oranges and lemons from Fez, are home-grown.

The structure of meals in Morocco is quite interesting. The midday meal is the main meal, with the exception of the holy month of Ramadan. The typical meal begins with a series of hot and cold salads, followed by a tagine.

Tagines in Moroccan cuisine are slow-cooked stews braised at low temperatures, resulting in tender meat with aromatic vegetables and sauce. They are traditionally cooked in the tagine pot, whose cover has a knob-like handle at its top to facilitate removal.

Bread is eaten with every meal – Moroccans almost always eat with their hands and use bread as a utensil.

Often, for a formal meal, a lamb or chicken dish is next, followed by couscous topped with meat and vegetables. A cup of sweet mint tea is commonly used to end the meal.

Beef is the most commonly eaten red meat in Morocco. Lamb is preferred, but is not as common due to its higher cost. The breed of sheep in North Africa has much of its fat concentrated in its tail, which means that Moroccan lamb does not have the pungent flavour that Western lamb and mutton can have. Poultry was historically used and the importance of seafood is increasing in Moroccan food.

Sweets are not usually served at the end of a Moroccan meal – sasonal fruits are typically served instead. However pastries are very popular – such as kaab el ghzal, which means gazelle’s horns and is a pastry stuffed with almond paste and topped with sugar.

The most popular drink is of course green tea with mint. Traditionally, making good mint tea in Morocco is considered an art form and the drinking of it with friends and family members is one of the important rituals of the day. The technique of pouring the tea is as crucial as the quality of the tea.

Reference: Wikipedia

The fruits are generally dried and ground, or pulped and baked into cakes – which are then ground and sifted to make the powdered spice known as cayenne pepper.

Most cultivated varieties of cayenne can be grown in a variety of locations and need approximately 100 days to mature. Peppers prefer warm, moist, nutrient-rich soil in a warm climate. The plants grow to about 60-120 cm of height and should be spaced about 90 cm apart. Chilis are mostly perennial in sub-tropical and tropical regions; however they are usually grown as annuals in temperate climates. They can be overwintered if protected from frost, and require some pruning.

Cayenne is a popular spice in a variety of cuisines. It is employed variously in its fresh form, dried and powdered, and as dried flakes. It is also a key ingredient in a variety of hot sauces – particularly those using vinegar as a preservative.

Cayenne peppers are also known for their healing powers; not only for the entire digestive system, but also for the heart and circulatory system. Cayenne can rebuild the tissue in the stomach and the peristaltic action in the intestines, and is said to be unequal for its ability to boost circulation and increase heart action.

References:
www.wikipedia.org
www.cayennepepper.info

Gooseberries are today best known for their use in desserts such as Gooseberry Crumble and in some countries, like Portugal, gooseberries are appreciated as a beverage - mostly mixed with soda, water or milk. In Britain homemade gooseberry jam and pies are very popular.

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