Frenchie, Food and my weekend of Free cooking lessons

Late last year I took a trip to France. It was a much anticipated trip, as I had only briefly visited Paris on a stop-over to England a few years ago. During my travels in Paris, I met a local foodie, P. P is a friendly and quirky Parisian around my age who lives and breathes food. I was excited to find out that P was in the process of relocating to Sydney. There is never enough foodie friends in the world, I was cheering.

With the blink of an eye, my month-long vacation to foodie heaven was over. The trip has inspired my quest to learn more about the rich culture (food and otherwise) France hides behind her 21^st century veil. 3 months after my epic trip, P landed down-under to start a new life. I invited P to spend a weekend in my ‘hood’ and cook together. 

I had been operating  under the assumption that I already know enough about French food to feel good about myself. Unsurprisingly, P, being as out-spoken as he is, challenged THAT assumption, and promised to teach me how to make ‘real’ French crepes to start my French cooking education 101. While my initial thought was “surely I know how to make crepes, who doesn’t?”, I suspected that there might be something P knows that I don’t. P laid out the list of ingredients on my kitchen bench, and I was slightly baffled by the presence of a potato, sliced in half. What on earth would you  need a potato for? To test the temperature of the pan? To add to the crepe batter? It turns out that the potato half is traditionally used to evenly spread the cooking oil in the pan! How ingenious! P combined plain flour, sunflower oil, eggs, milk, cooking rum and vanilla sugar (caster sugar infused with vanilla bean pods) to create a runny crepe batter and left it on the bench to ‘rest’ for an hour. When the batter is well rested and slightly thickened, P used the potato to spread some sunflower oil evenly in a non-stick pan. I was intrigued like a kid in a science class – watching P cook brings me back to the Christmas markets on the Avenue of Champs Elysees in Paris, where food markets stretch out for miles, and cooks and food producers proudly showcase their specialty. There are various kinds of foods on display, from donuts, crepes, churros and sausage sandwiches, to foie gras, pates, salami sticks, etc – every stall is a heavenly mouth-watering experience.  Just as I was off with the food fairies, dreaming and drooling over Paris, P tapped on my shoulder to inform me that crepes were ready. I AM THERE! On my plate sat a delicate crepe filled with a rich dark chocolate and banana mixture.  Being a greedy person that I am, I felt compelled to add strawberries, cream, icing sugar, sugar syrup, and whatever delicious things I can find to stuff into the crepe. Luckily, P stopped me in due course before I turned the crepe into a 3-course dinner, and advised me to learn to appreciate simple flavours as they are. Initially unconvinced, I rolled my eyes and took my first bite into the chocolate and banana-filled crepe. Hmmm…the soft crepe with a hint of rum, and dark chocolate and banana filling, is a marriage made in heaven. It might be a marriage of a couple of simple ingredients, but that, in no shape or form, discounts the quality of the union. It was simple but heavenly. They might just be crepes, and there might just be chocolate and banana, but they taught me a valuable lesson in cooking (and life in general): do not always try to overload your crepe, learn to appreciate the simple things, as they are beautiful…

Poor men eat better - smokey BBQ pork ribs

As a food enthusiastic, I have eaten all kinds of things at all kinds of places. One important lesson I have learnt is: poor men eat better! While a large juicy sirloin or wagyu steak does get my blood pumping, NOTHING beats the likes of spicy buffalo chicken wings or smokey BBQ pork ribs. As a matter of fact, I find cheaper cuts of meat more tantalising, probably because the bone keeps the meat moist. One of my favourite ‘cheap’ cuts is American-style pork ribs, and here is one of my favourite pork ribs recipes:

Ingredients (for 4 hungry adults):

·         4 full racks of American-style pork ribs

For the spice rub:

·        Chinese five spice (if you are unable to find the Chinese five spice ‘blend’, use ground cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star aniseed and black pepper, as these are the five spices that make up the blend)

·        Salt and black pepper

·        Cayenne pepper

·        Olive oil

·        Light soy sauce

For the smokey BBQ sauce:

·         Melted honey (or brown sugar, although honey works better as it blends in better)

·         Tomato ketchup

·         Worcestershire sauce

·         Smoked paprika and/or liquid smoke (I bought my natural hickory smoke online. If you are unable to find this ingredient, just use smoked paprika instead)

·         Salt and black pepper

·         Light soy sauce

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, add one tablespoon of the five spice blend and cayenne pepper, a generous dash of light soy sauce, a sprinkle of salt and pepper (to taste) and olive oil. Mix well to create a ‘wet rub’. NOTE: you can adjust the ratios of the ingredients to your taste
2. Trim the fat off the pork ribs and poke holes in the meat with a fork. Place in a large tray
3. Pour the wet spice rub over the ribs and give them a good massage. Marinate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better)
4. Pre-heat the oven to 150C
5. Place the marinated ribs on an oven rack and pour some water in the tray underneath. The idea is to NOT let the meat be exposed to direct heat. Bake the marinated ribs at 150C till tender. NOTE: this should take approximately 1.5 hours, however, time depends on the thickness of the meat and oven quality. If you wish to speed up the cooking process, cut the full rack into half racks
6. In the meantime, make the smokey BBQ sauce by combining all the ingredients. The best method is ‘trial and error’: try combining 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, and a couple of drops of liquid smoke (OR 1 tablespoon of smoked paprika) and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to begin with, and adjust to taste. The BBQ sauce should be sweet, savoury and slightly tangy, but the flavour profile should suit individual taste. If you wish to make more sauce, just increase the quantity of each part. Combine well and set aside
7. When the ribs are baked to tender in the oven, take them out and smoother them with the BBQ sauce. Leave some to brush over them. Turn the oven to 200C and put ribs back in. NOTE: alternatively you could grill the ribs on a barbecue to achieve better results. Continue to ‘base’ the ribs with the BBQ sauce and cook on both sides until caramelised. If the grill/oven gets too hot, turn the heat down to avoid burning
8. When both sides of the ribs are coated with the sauce and nicely caramelised, take off the heat and rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. Before you devour them all, make sure to wear a bib or at least change into a black shirt!