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The food lovers' suitcase

February 28, 2014 9 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

My inspiration for cooking comes from my travels. In the past, the only time I could afford to eat out when was travelling. I get thrilled by new ingredients, new dishes, discovered abroad. Often travelling cheaply, in self-catering or hostels, I learnt to pack some essential tools and provisions, to enable me to cook while on the road and some much loved condiments, especially Marmite, for that taste of home while on a long journey. Recently, a spice company (@spicekitchenuk) sent me a pretty flowered drawstring bag with small packets of cumin, coriander, cassia bark, cardomom, turmeric, chilli powder, cloves, enough to throw together a makeshift curry. I wrapped it in a plastic bag to ensure that my clothes don’t stink of masala.

But even in London, I always have a few items in my handbag in case I should come across a bland meal, god forbid. I was intrigued to hear, and to me this was one of the more delightful nuggets of the awful gossip fest that her court case turned out to be, that Nigella Lawson habitually carries mustard in her bag. If ever I have sample sizes of food or drink in a press goodie bag, they get put aside for later use as a pocket book condiment. At present my handbag contains a small envelope of Maldon salt, a teeny bottle of tabasco, and one square of dark chocolate. In the past I’ve carried cloves of garlic, lemons, limes, miniature bottles of creme de cassis to add to particularly acidic or cheap glasses of white wine or bubbly.

I spent a year backpacking around South America, and, assuming I would be trying out great coffee from the Amazon to the Andes, I took a tiny Italian coffee maker, lodged in the side pocket. It was a shock to discover most South Americans drank Nescafé. Still I was popular at backpackers hostels, other travellers forming an orderly queue to use it.

Nowdays I’m lucky enough to have food, drink and travel as a job. I’m an addictive homeware buyer, trawling the markets and the shops for new kitchenalia, justifying it all as ‘props’ for photos. (By the way, one of my food travel pictures is a finalist for the Pink Lady Food Photography awards this year!)

My South African suitcase (so far)

On this trip I’ve gone a bit mad: two heavy-weight cookbooks, a turquoise whisk and rubber spatula, two glass bowls (how am I going to get those home in one piece?), several types of rooibos and a frankly ridiculous large ‘mat’ made of twigs and wire which I can’t fit into my suitcase. I also have some mango pickle but that has been doubled bagged in a plastic ziplock.

I’ve come up with a list that will help the enthusiastic travelling cook below. But what would you add to it? What do you always take with you either to eat or to cook with? It might be a cocktail shaker, or a portable bbq or a cigarette lighter electric kettle…

Cooking: Swiss knife, a set of cutlery, a cup. In the old days everyone had a knife and a tankard hanging off their belt. Ziplock bags for saving things. A flat rubber bowl? (Although I remember being impressed when I camped in Patagonia, Argentina, I saw an Israeli couple, straight out of the army, who, lacking implements, used a thick plastic bag as a salad bowl to accompany their meat barbeque.)

Food: Marmite, salt, lemons or limes, (easier than vinegar), chilli sauce, teabags, mustard, spices, garlic, fresh chillis, herbs, a spill proof small bottle for olive oil (I lost an expensive camera due to carrying around a bottle of vinaigrette in the same bag).

Posted with Blogsy so there will be typos and extreme frustrationPosted with Blogsy so there will be typos and extreme frustration

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Comments

  1. James

    February 28, 2014 at 8:53 am

    I'm sure that suitcase doesn't really look that neat irl! 😉

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      March 9, 2014 at 10:17 am

      haha. It started off neat and gradually turned into a hot mess.

      Reply
  2. Cate

    February 28, 2014 at 9:26 am

    Any advice of what to bring to Germany? I'm moving from Australia and am thinking vegemite and bacon but I'm customs is pretty strict…

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      March 9, 2014 at 10:17 am

      Ooh I don't know. It's been ages since I went to Germany. But vegemite should be fine in your checked in baggage?

      Reply
  3. Cate

    February 28, 2014 at 9:27 am

    I also strongly recommend zip lock bags, soy sauce (especially in China where you are more likely to get vinegar) a cork screw.

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      March 9, 2014 at 10:18 am

      Corkscrew, deffo, but I figured the Swiss knife would have one on. Is that true about China? they don't give soy sauce? Interesting

      Reply
  4. Kate@whatkatebaked

    February 28, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    I used to find travelling with corkscrew and bottle opener was guaranteed to help make friends. And those 'Sporks' and 'Foons' (spoon/fork/knife combinations) seem to be super popular. A recent holiday to France led to a whole host of goodies being brought back through customs- I do love the exoticness and thrill of a trip to an overseas supermarket

    Reply
    • theundergroundrestaurant

      March 9, 2014 at 10:19 am

      Me too. And I've written in the past about the fabulousness of French motorway shops. Have a look in the lorry drivers section. Basically you can plug a whole kitchen into the cigarette lighter facility of your car or truck.

      Reply
  5. Anna Louise

    August 6, 2014 at 10:01 am

    Great post Kerstin and glad to see I'm not the only one who takes food stuffs on holiday 😀 I never leave without a box of oats, loose leaf tea and a strainer. Always surprised how hard it is to get a bowl of Porridge for breakfast and a good cuppa. Tho I'm usually rewarded by the interesting foods I bring back.

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
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Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
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