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.

Fried Noodles - Mauritian Style

I can't remember exactly the first time I had fried noodles but I think it might have been on a school trip once when a friend lets you try a forkful of her lunch, and as is usually the case with other people's food, it always seems to taste better than yours, especially if you've got a boring sandwich...or it might have been that one time at my friend Priscilla's house. She's Chinese, you see, and her aunt made some yummy fried noodles....anyway, I was pretty young then and fried noodles have always been in the top ten in my list of favourite foods since. My mum never really had the knack for making fried noodles...sorry mum but it's true...so whenever I ate out, it would be fried noodles at the Chinese. Since I am now quite good in the cooking department...and I am being modest here ;)...I thought I'd share with you my fried noodles recipe. There's just something about Mauritian fried noodles that's much tastier than regular noodles so here's the secret...

It has just crossed my mind what a funny word 'noodles' is...or is it just me?

Fried Noodles with Pak Choi (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

Noodles (1 packet fresh or 2 squares of dried)
Chicken (or any other meat that takes your fancy); cubed
1 egg
Dried shrimps (2 Tbs) or fresh prawns
2-3 cloves of garlic; crushed
2 carrots; cut in strips
Mushrooms; sliced
2 spring onions; chopped
2 pak choi
Dried chilli flakes (according to taste)
Soy sauce
A bit of wine, red or white
Oyster sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Firstly, prepare the noodles. If using fresh, you don't have to do anything. If using dried, then cover the noodles in a pan with boiling water and leave it to loosen up. This usually takes less than 5 minutes but keep checking the noodles. You don't want them to become too soft. Once ready, drain and keep aside.

If using dried shrimps, then pour some boiling water on the shrimps in a bowl and let them rehydrate. Clean the shrimps by removing the vein and give them a good wash. If using fresh prawns, then also clean and remove the vein.

Heat a wok or similar pan. We need to lightly stir fry a few things. Add some oil. First stir fry the drained shrimps for a couple of minutes until they become golden brown. Remove, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible, and set aside. Same with the fresh prawns but this may take slightly longer to cook. A good tip when cooking prawns is to add some butter to the oil and sprinkle some garlic.

Next, break the egg directly onto the pan and with a wooden spoon, give it a good stir. Break it into small pieces with the spoon. Once cooked, set aside with the shrimps.

Then, put some oil in the pan and once hot, add the cubed chicken. Season and stir fry until cooked. Remove and set aside with the other cooked ingredients.

So now, everything's ready.

Maybe add some more oil in the pan if you need to. Put some of the crushed garlic then add the carrots, mushrooms and spring onions. Season lightly and stir fry. Add the egg, shrimps and chicken and mix it all together. Next, put in a tablespoon of soy sauce just to give it some colour. Once the vegetables have cooked, mix in the noodles (fresh or as prepared above). Add more soy sauce, salt and pepper, a couple of glugs of wine and some oyster sauce. Mix it up and stir fry for a few minutes until cooked.

Now, for the pak choi. I prefer cooking it separately as you can incorporate more flavours. This can also be used as a side dish for any other meal. Firstly, cut the pak choi sideways just at the point where the leaves begin. Wash thoroughly and cut out the base to remove the hard bit. Leave the stems connected though and cut into strips. Also, take the leaves in a bunch and make one or two strips lengthwise. Don't cut them too thin. In a flat pan, heat some oil, then add the remaining garlic and chilli flakes. Then add the stems first as this will take a bit longer to cook than the leaves. After a few minutes, add the leaves and pour some oyster sauce. You can put salt if you want to but there is no need really as the flavours in the noodles will balance it out. Mix it all up and turn off the heat after a couple of minutes. The stems should be cooked but still have some bite to it.

Serve the fried noodles with the pak choi on top. Eat immediately with chilli and/or garlic sauce (Mauritian style!)

Enjoy!