PolitiCook.net

Cha Cha Cha I

One of the best and most lively restaurants in San Francisco is ChaChaCha in Haight Ashbury. It is a Cuban/Puerto Rican/Chinese tapas place that is a feast for the eyes (Santeria alters on the walls) as well as the palate. If you can find the cookbook on Ebay, it’s well worth the purchase price. Here’s a good accompaniment to BBQ meat this summer. I usually add some black freshly ground pepper, too! Read more »

African Peanut Soup

For Biscuit:
I heard this recipe many years ago on an NPR interview of an African matriarch. She was really personable and made sure that the reporter got the recipe right! Read more »

What’s for Brunch? My Curry Edition

I don’t know what attracted me so much to curries such that they now constitute the only dishes I cook for myself on a regular basis. This makes me an oddity in my home (Puerto Rico) where spicy (hot) food is not normally a part of the traditional menu. I guess I can trace it to the West Indian side of my family where what passed as “curry” was that ubiquitous powder you used to purchase ready made in a little plastic envelope. I remember eating “curry goat” as a child and even curried rice. It wouldn’t be until much later that I came to learn of the true origins of curry, as well as the reasons why it is an enormous injustice to reduce the term to one simple mix in a ready made plastic envelope. Join me over the jump for an extremely brief incursion into the concept accompanied by a hybrid recipe of my own.

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Could It Be Better?*

Preface to the First Edition:

“But for life the universe were nothing: and all that life has requires nourishment.” Read more »

Receta para Helado de Dulce de Leche

 Summertime and the livin’ is easy, fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high….

                                     Recipe for Dulce de Leche Gelato

For this recipe, there’s the gelato base, and then there’s dulce de leche, which is just folded into the finished gelato or drizzled over the top. It’s really yummy! Read more »

About Rosemary

In the South of France rosemary grows in huge hedges, like laurel and the colorful oleander.

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How to Make Vinegar

Back in my Sydney cooking days, I used to make my own vinegar. All you need is a “mother” (I’ll explain below), a large vat with a small tap at the bottom, and lots of leftover wine, red preferably.

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The World of Tapas

Barcelona happens to be my favorite city for a number of reasons (though Paris, not the idiotic girl, comes a close second). I love its architecture, the energetic Catalan people, the wondrous food, the pungent wines, and above all I love to stroll along the Ramblas, looking for new Bodegas (a Bodega is a wine cellar where barrels of wine and fortified wine are kept).

Las Ramblas is a 1.2 Km walkway through the very heart of the city center. Here you will see all sorts of stalls, restaurants, bars and street performers along with the many thousands of people that promenade up and down the Ramblas until the early hours of the morning (do pay attention to your wallet as pickpockets abound).

This  diary, btw, was posted on DKos, and it is reposted here by popular demand for certain Kossacks! You know who you are! Read more »

Frugal Recipes from Wartime Europe

Reading from my vast collection of world food stories, I came across a slew of recipes from wartime Europe. I had heard stories, of course, of meat shortages, rationed dairy products etc but I never really did pay any attention as to how they accommodated their meager provisions.

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In defense of potatoes, eating cheaply.

Spuds, which my departed Dad used to call them, are nutritious and good food. His favorites were fried potatoes and onions and potato soup. They were simple but delicious. That was essentially all he knew how to cook, but Mom was good at that part and did the rest. I was well fed as a child.

I eat cheaply because I have to, I’m poor, and also have a couple of habits I’d rather not give up. So, I eat cheaply. One of my favorites is a simple potato-gravy dish I make almost every day. The potato is done in the microwave, no problem, the gravy is a simple and cheap dish that I adapted to my own tastes. This turns out very like a mashed potatoes and gravy dish with very little effort. The soy sauce adds a bit of a savory taste, as you might experience when the gravy was done with meat drippings. It gives a “fullness” to the flavor. Soy sauce does contain MSG, so be careful if you are sensitive. Read more »