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Two years later, guess what? I had craved for battered sausage with mushy peas, pork pie and Branston Pickle. Traditional British foodstuffs that I used to take for granted that are now so far out of reach. I had been able to satisfy other gaps in the culinary voids that exist in West Argentina by reproducing near authentic curries, Danish apple crumble and even Yorkshire pudding. But my attempts at copying chip shop style batter have failed, my inedible home made pork pie was rejected by even the hungry stray dogs and although I have combined all the ingredients listed on a smuggled in jar of Branston pickle, in a variety of combinations, my potent pickle product is nothing like the real thing. I have dreamt of being surrounded by dancing sausages clothed in lavish costumes of crisp golden batter recklessly diving into pools of perfect textured mushy peas. Pork pies so big you could eat the meat from the centre and walk inside the empty luscious hot water pastry shell. And Branston pickle on everything, unlimited supplies of the unique tangy chutney that originated in a village 3 miles from my home town and now sells 28 million jars a year, but not one of them here! Apparently I am not alone. I bought the subject up with my colleagues here in the Escape Artist office. All of them expats like me and all having food cravings. Jessie Baxter our eBook coordinator from the United States told me “I must say that I really miss Conch Chowder. It is a specialty from the Florida Keys and unlike the New England Style, which is a white sauce based chowder, This spicy tomato based thick chowder is to die for:
"My absolute favourite dish during my time in Cyprus, was Moussaka. In the UK people habitually use a cheese sauce in the making, or smother the top with grated cheese – so being allergic to cheese meant I was never able to eat it. Imagine my delight when I discovered the Cypriot version was made with a bechamel sauce and NO cheese. So whenever we went out to a local taverna, that’s what I ordered. I became quite an expert on this tasty and very filling dish. The small home run tavernas always served the moussaka in an individual pottery dish, piping hot from the oven: quite unlike the unappetising square slabs habitually served in England. Moussaka is a traditional eggplant (aubergine) based dish, eaten throughout the Balkans and the Middle East but most closely associated with Greece and Turkey. The word moussaka is from the Arabic musaqqa, meaning chilled - in the Arab world moussaka is more of a cooked salad composed mainly of tomatoes and eggplant, and is served cold. Traditional Greek moussaka consists of layers of minced lamb (sometimes beef), sliced eggplant and tomato, and topped with a bechamel sauce. The Turkish version has sauteed eggplant, green peppers, tomatoes, onions and minced meat all mixed in together. There are many other variations, for example the use of potatoes and zucchini, instead of aubergine but the Cypriot one is my favourite and I used to make it myself thus: A basic bolognaise type sauce, using onions, tomatoes and minced lamb (the lamb is quite fatty so you need to drain off as much fat as possible when preparing). Slices of aubergine sauteed in olive oil make up the bottom layer, followed by a layer of meat, a layer of sauteed zucchini, and sliced potatoes (partly boiled and sliced); you can repeat these layers again depending on the size of the dish you want, and then top with bechamel sauce. I used to put a thin layer of bechamel in the middle sometimes aswell. Put dish in a hot oven and bake for 40 mins or so. It is also very nice as a vegetarian version. Sorry, no quantities listed….I just used to ad lib, but then I am not a great cook!" "Clapshot" said Vicky, in her refined Scottish accent. I reminded her we were talking about food and not vaccinations against sexually transmitted diseases. “Clapshot” she repeated, “you know - tatties and neeps to go with haggis”. Just as I thought she was really going mad she explained this was a hearty dish made by combining mashed potatoes and turnips seasoned with chives. This apparently is served with the most traditional and well known Scottish dishes, the haggis. This is Vicky’s recipe for Clapshot which serves 6. 1 ½
lbs potatoes roughly chopped
Simply boil the potatoes and turnips until tender and then mash together and add the butter, chopped chives and salt and pepper to taste.
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