A Selection of Starters and Dips from around the world (Greek, Italian, Indian, Mexican and Mauritian)

These simple dishes are a great way to start a dinner party or serve as an accompaniment to a barbeque. They are influenced from my worldly culinary discoveries and can be eaten with a few slices of rustic French bread or ‘bruschetta’ drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. These two ingredients, as many food lovers will no doubt be aware, are vital in any kitchen as they can transform any simple dish or salad. The best olive oil is usually of Greek or Italian origin and the authentic balsamic vinegar has to be from Modena in Italy. Stay away from cheap alternatives. Nothing beats good quality produce!

Beetroot Salad (Greek)

I prefer using the pre-packed cooked beetroot which I chop up as it saves time cooking the beetroot. But it is also possible to boil the beetroot and chop it up or eat it raw, just slice in finely and add a sliced red onion, a good drizzle of olive oil, some lemon juice, salt, pepper and a good portion of chopped parsley.

Tomato Salad (Italian)

Chop up some of the best quality ripe tomatoes, usually the sweetest ones, or quarter some ripened cherry tomatoes. Add a sliced red onion, salt, pepper, some parsley and drizzle some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You can also crumble some goat’s cheese over the salad if that takes your fancy and give it a good mix. Leave for a while to allow the juices to infuse with the tomatoes. Eaten with a few slices of grilled bread, this is simply heaven!

Cucumber Raita (Indian)

Remove the skin from the cucumber, quantity of which depends on how much raita you wish to make. Finely chop the cucumber (do not grate the cucumber as that has a tendency to release much of the cucumber’s juices) and add a few tablespoons of yoghurt, preferably greek yoghurt, salt, pepper, a sliced red onion and chopped fresh mint leaves.

Tzaziki (Greek)

The recipe is similar to Indian raita except replace onions with crushed garlic and mint with parsley.

Guacamole (Mexican)

Guacamole is my favourite dip and is so easy to make. Take one ripe avocado and using a sharp knife, cut the avocado in half. Don’t cut through the seed but slide the knife around it. Gently give the avocado a twist and the two halves should come apart with the seed intact in one half. Carefully remove the seed and peel the avocado. Chop it up and put in a bowl. Also chop up a ripe tomato, a small onion, a green chilli and coriander leaves. Add to the avocado. You can either mash it all up roughly or blend until smooth. I prefer mashing it up with a fork for a more rustic feel. Add some salt, pepper, olive oil and squeeze the juice of half a lemon (this helps to delay the guacamole becoming grey).

Aubergine pâté (Mauritian)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius. Use a plump and firm aubergine which you cut into four large pieces. With the tip of the knife, make 1cm slits into all sides of the aubergine. Peel 3-4 garlic cloves and cut each into small pieces. Insert the cut garlic into the aubergine slits. Place the aubergine onto a tray and drizzle some olive oil so that it coats all sides. Bake aubergine skin side up first and turn after 10-15 mins. Let cook until all sides are soft. In the meantime, chop up a red onion, 1-2 green chillies and a large bunch of coriander leaves. Remove the aubergine from the oven and mash up the flesh together with the cooked garlic. Chop the skin as fine as possible and mix together with the onions, chillies, coriander, salt and pepper.

Greek Pastichio

Living within a Greek community for several years has introduced me to some of the most delicious foods from the Mediterranean. It may be the case that mere mention of Greek food conjures up images of lamb roasting on a spit and that is certainly part of Greek food but there is much more to it! The Greeks love their meat and on a good day, there is quite a queue at my local Greek butchers which, while also selling barbecue grills in summer, does a fine range, including lamb's head, poussins, Greek sausages, sheftalia and even pheasants whenever it is the season!

The local cafes and restaurants that serve Greek food are exceedingly good, so much so that on a recent trip to Cyprus, it became evident that I get much better food in North London than in the Cypriot restaurants. I recently discovered this Pastichio dish, also called 'Macaronia tou Fornou', considered Greek lasagna, which has layers of macaroni, minced meat and bechamel sauce. A simpler version is to just cook the meat separately and mix it with the cooked macaroni after cooking, which I prefer as it's quicker and, although easy to make, no fussy bechamel sauce. This is a dish that can be rustled up in a few minutes if doing the simpler version or if you prefer the lasagna version, can be slow-cooked to perfection. Note though, I haven't seen Pastichio served in restaurants, it is more of a home-cooked dish.

I will give you the simpler version.

Greek Pastichio (Serves 2)

Ingredients: 

1/2 pack of the long macaroni (broken in 2-3 equal lengths)
400g mince meat (preferably pork, but lamb can also be used)
Olive oil
1 red onion (chopped)
2-3 gloves garlic (crushed)
300g or 3/4 can chopped tomato
Huge bunch of parsley (chopped)
A few sprigs of thyme
A thumb-size piece of cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 vegetable stock cube
Water
Salt and pepper

Method:

In a large pan, cover the pasta with boiling water and leave to cook until 'al dente', that is, cooked with a slight bite. You will know if it is overcooked if it becomes mushy. The general rule for cooking pasta is until 'al dente'. One trick is to take a piece of pasta out of the pan and throw it on the wall. If it sticks, then it's cooked. I know for a fact this works with spaghetti but remains to be seen with other pasta. Once cooked, drain and keep aside.

Heat some olive oil in a pan, add the onions and let them cook until they become slightly translucent. Add the garlic and minced meat. Break the meat into pieces with a wooden spoon and let it brown well. Add the thyme and crush the stock cube over the meat.

Once the meat has browned, add the tomatoes, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, salt, pepper and the parsley. The parsley is the vital ingredient in this dish so be generous. Add the chopped stalks as well as this will cook and add flavour. Mix it well. Add some water and leave to simmer. Note that this should not become a tomatoey sauce as you would cook an Italian pasta dish, you want it become dry.

Continue stirring. Once all the water has evaporated, turn off the heat and mix it with the cooked pasta. Serve with a sprinkling of cheese.