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Event: BM #44, Around the world (A - Z Series)
Choice of Country: The Eastern Republic of Uruguay
Capital City: Montevideo
Official Language: Spanish
It is the turn of alphabet 'U' today in the "Around the World in 30 days", an alphabetical based global culinary tour. I chose to go to Uruguay, a southeastern nation of South America for a yummy treat. The Uruguayan cuisine is heavily influenced by European cooking, especially from Italy, Spain, Portugal and France. The European pastas, sausage and desserts are commonly found in Uruguay. The most famous and exquisite dish from this nation is asado - a grilled version of beef and nation's beverage is mate (pronounced maa-tay). These garrapiñadas are a favorite streetfood among Uruguayans.
Garrapiñadas pronounced 'Gur-ra-pin-yaadas', are nothing but caramelized nuts with a hint of vanilla, when simply put. This recipe is very popular in Uruguay though the recipe is shared by Argentina as well. This yummy treat is very commonly sold in small bags in the shape of tubes on the streets of Uruguay. Maní in the recipe title refers to the peanuts used. Peanuts can be replaced with almonds, hazelnuts and so on. The almond ones are called almendras garrapiñadas. Honestly, I didn't realize that
I was preparing candied nuts until I tasted them. I buy candied nuts
now and then for my kids, especially during holiday season when one
can't avoid noticing them at stores, in beautiful tins and bags. I had no idea that preparing them at home would be so easy and the only skill you need for this yummy preparation is stirring. :) And these were a hit with my kids.
The sugar syrup formed during the cooking process is let to undergo a 'sugar inversion' while making garrapiñadas. When the sugar syrup is cooked further, the sugar recrystallizes leaving behind the nuts with a sugar coating. And next the sugar caramelizes, creating a crunchy, sweet texture that is characteristic of garrapiñadas. It was fun making them and seeing the sugar recrystallize in front of my eyes.
Ingredients:
1 cup roasted, skinned peanuts
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 to 2 tsp vanilla
* Heat sugar and water in a wide, non-stick pan.
* Keep stirring the mixture until all the sugar melts.
* Next add peanuts and vanilla to the pan and keep stirring occasionally for the next 6 - 7 minutes. However keep an eye on the pan even though you are not stirring.
* You will start to notice white foam after cooking for about 3 minutes (that is after the sugar has melted.). The below image is after 5 minutes of cooking.
* After 10 minutes of cooking, you notice that the syrup has thickened and is all foamy. Turn off the stove at this point.
* Stir continuously for few seconds and you would notice sugar recrystallizing back and all the peanuts are covered with a sugar coating. Also there would be lumps of dry sugar.
* At this point, turn on the stove again and start reheating the mixture. The crystallized sugar will start to caramelize in about 2 -3 minutes.
* Cook only until the syrup turns an amber color but not beyond where the syrup/peanuts may burn.
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Event: BM #44
Choice of country: Argentine Republic
Capital City: Buenos Aires
Official Language: Spanish
I am going on a culinary, global tour this month as part of the blogging marathon #44 group. There are no special rules
or themes of this marathon except that the names of the countries we are going to
chose to cook from will go in an alphabetical order. I would be posting each day of this month except on Sundays and dishing out about 26 culinary delights for my readers, virtually.
And I chose to go to Argentine Republic / Argentina on the first day. Thanks to my elementary school social-studies teacher who taught us about South America, I had always associated the term "ABC" to countries Argentina, Brazil and Chile. My attention naturally shifted to Argentina when I was looking for countries starting with the letter A. Argentina is located in the south eastern region of the South American continent and almost covers the southern tip of that continent. It is the eight largest continent in the world and up until the early parts of twentieth century, it was one the wealthiest, developed nations. The name "Argentina" comes from the Latin "argentum" meaning silver. It is in association with a legendary myth that a silver treasure is located in south America, which was widespread among the first European explorers of the region. The country's cuisine is a cultural blend of the native American and Mediterranean influences. The country has a large immigrant population and naturally the cuisine is diversified. Beef is the most loved meat here.
Argentine National Congress Palace, Buenos Aires (Image:Wikimedia commons)
I was looking for some desserts from the region and the first dish that caught my attention was tortas fritas. Tortas fritas - The fried pies / cakes are popular both in Argentina and the neighboring country of Uruguay and these are served traditionally on a rainy day as an accompaniment to yerba mate (pronounced mah - tey), a caffeine rich beverage popular in the region. This is one traditional dish influenced by the simple, nomadic life
style of Gauchos and has nothing to do with the hotchpotch of dishes that involved due to both the native and European culinary influences. The "gauchos" (Argentinean version of cowboys) led a nomadic life on the vast pampas with limited food sources and sometimes they would fry up these tortas fritas with the basic ingredients they had on their hands - the flour, salt, lard and water (rain water.). Gauchos would live on beef cooked on an open fire and yerba mate herding their livestock. And when it rained, they would make these tortas fritas as a quick alternative to their usual cooking since they could not keep the fire up going for longer periods and they would use the rainwater to prepare the dough. The present day versions may contain butter (instead of lard), eggs or leavening agents.
I was in luck and landed up with an authentic version provided by an Argentinean grandmother here. The dish is simple to prepare and tasted very good, somewhere along the lines of Indian badushah / balushahi in taste. Mine did puff up slightly and were flaky too. Everyone at home loved this and I recommend this for a quick and yummy treat.
Ingredients: (yield about 5)
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp. melted butter
Scant 1/4 cup water
Oil to fry
Granulated sugar to sprinkle on top
Method:
* Combine flour, baking powder, salt and melted butter in a mixing bowl. Add water gradually as needed to form a soft, pliable dough.
* Flour the work surface if necessary and knead the dough for a couple of minutes until it is smooth. Cover and let it rest it for about 20 minutes. Divide the dough into 5 or 6 pieces and roll them into balls.
* Dust with flour or grease the work surface if needed. Flatten the dough ball with your palm. Pat each ball into a thin circle of about 1/8 inch thickness using the heel of your hand. (Remember these are rustic and gauchos used hands).
If you are finding it hard to do with your hands, use a rolling pin. Poke a hole in the center using your fore finger or cut a small X at the center using a sharp knife.
* Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan, on medium flame. To check whether the oil is hot enough to fry, drop a pea sized dough piece into it. If it sizzles and comes to the surface immediately, it is ready for frying. If it doesn't, heat oil for a few seconds more. However don't bring the oil to a smoking point.
* Gently drop the rolled out circle into the oil. Fit as many as your pan can hold without overcrowding. I was preparing a small quantity and so used a small pan and fried one at a time.
* Fry on low medium flame until it turns golden brown through out. They turn slightly puffy during the frying and remain so even when they are cold. Remove it using tongs and drain on absorbent towels.
* Repeat the process with the remaining dough balls. If frying a large batch of tortas fritas, increase the heat if needed in between.
* Sprinkle sugar on the warm tortas fritas and serve them immediately.
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