AN UNUSUAL MENU

Some ethnic recipes
Chinese, Arabian, Greek, Indian, Mexican and many others.
The ethnic take-away shops and restaurants are now everywhere in Turin, ready to offer exotic and unusual food delicacies. So, in order to approach "Turin's new cuisine", we asked Mei Chen Chou (born in China of a Chinese mother and a Milanese father), Nham Fatna (who came from Morocco some years ago), Flor Vudoaurre (from Peru, but just like a trueborn Turinese today) and Ionela Sîrghi (from Rumania) for recipes and secrets of their typical dishes.

From China

Almond chicken
Recipe by Mei Chen Chou

Mei Chen Chou was born in Zhe Jiang, near Shangai, but she has been living in Turin since 1979. Italian blood flows in her veins: in fact her grandmother was born in Barletta (in the south of Italy) and her father in Milan. Her mother is Chinese. The Chous used to have a restaurant, "The Golden Dragon" in corso Regina Margherita.

. 500 grams of chicken breast
. 100 grams of almonds
. half an egg white
. 4 teaspoons of potato starch
. salt
. 1 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate
. 4 teaspoons of sunflower oil or soy oil
. 1 tablespoonful of light soy sauce
. 2 tablespoonfuls of white wine
. 1 of a glass of water

Cut the breast into 1 cm. cubes. Put the ingredients (half an egg white, 2 tablespoonfuls of potato starch, a big pinch of salt, the glutamate and 2 teaspoons of oil) into a large bowl.
Mix everything, add the chicken cubes and let them marinade for a few minutes. This technique is used in China for all types of meat, just to make it more tender and tasty.
Take a wok or, if you don't have one, a normal pan; heat the wok carefully and add 2 teaspoons of oil.
When it starts frying, add a pinch of salt and put the meat and its stock. Roast it brown and then add the soy sauce and the white wine. Stir until it starts boiling.
Add some water and let it cook for a few minutes, but don't let it dry up. In the meantime dissolve the remaining teaspoons of potato starch in half a teacup of water.
Slowly pour the thick sauce you have obtained on the chicken, while it is cooking, until the stock turns into a creamy sauce. Follow the cooking and check for salt. If you think the sauce is too clear, add some more soy sauce.
Meanwhile, fry the almonds, with or without peel (it's up to you), in a lot of oil, in another wok.
When the chicken is nearly ready add the fried almonds, mix it up and serve the dish while it's still smoking and frizzling.

CURIOSITIES FROM CHINA

Monosodium glutamate is beyond doubt a fundamental ingredient of Chinese cuisine. It may be compared to the Italian stock-cube, but even tastier. You can find it at any Asian market, often sold by weight.

The wok is a particular kind of pan used by the Chinese; it is a very large and deep pan, ideal for frying and cooking easily.

The rice saucepan is an electric casserole, like a kettle, made of steel. Pour the rice and cover it with a little water, then switch the device on and here it is: your rice is cooked in 2 minutes.

Meal times in China differ slightly from ours. In the morning they have potzu, a rice soup, for breakfast. Lunch, usually small and frugal, is at about 12 o'clock, while dinner is at about 6.30 PM. The most eccentric habit is the midnight snack, usually a rice dish: to eat it you will be shaken awake in the dead of night even if you are having sweet dreams.

From Morocco

Cous cous
Recipe by Ilham Fatna

Ilham has been living in Turin for 2 years, her husband, on the contrary, for 13. She often cooks cous cous and other Moroccan specialities, but she loves Italian cuisine.

. 1 kilo of cous cous
. half a kilo of veal meat
. 4 onions
. 1 teaspoon of pepper
. 1 teaspoon of ginger
. 1 pinch of salt
. 1 pinch of saffron
. 1 kilo of carrots
. half a kilo of pumpkin
. half a kilo of courgettes
. half a kilo of turnips
. 3 tomatoes
. 1 pepper
. parsley
. oil

Two special kitchen tools are fundamental for the success of this dish: the kasraia and the barma. Wash the meat and cut it into mediumsized pieces. Put it in the lower part of the barma. Add the spices, the onion cut into slices, two tomatoes, some parsley and oil. Roast for about 10 minutes.
Then add one and a half litres of water and all the vegetables except the pumpkin. Cook until the water is completely absorbed. In the meantime put the cous cous into the kasraia, with some oil and water, according to the quantity shown on the coucous packet (it may vary slighlty according to the brand of millet used).
When the cous cous starts to swell, put it in the upper part of the barma with half a glass of water.
Steam it until the water is absorbed. Then put the cous cous into the kasraia again: this process must be re-peated three times. In the meantime the vegetables and the meat will be nearly ready. Add the pumpkin and, if you like, a pepper. Cook everything. Pour the cous cous into the kasraia, for the last time. Finally, add the seasoning and stir.

CURIOSITIES FROM MOROCCO

The barma is a particular cooking utensil used in Morocco, but you can also find it in Italy. It's a sort of pot with a colander. It is divided into two parts, an upper and a lower one. The bottom of the upper part has holes in order to facilitate steaming.

The kasraia is a very big and large earthen bowl, about 15 cm. high.

Cous-cous is eaten directly from the kasraia, which is put in the middle of the table. Never use forks! You must use your hands, making small balls! It is usually eaten on Fridays at lunchtime, after the prayer in the mosque. It is a one-course meal and you must have it in company: that's why the kasraia is so big!

In Morocco meal times are more or less like ours. For breakfast they often have tea with bread. Lunch is at about 1 o'clock. In the afternoon they have a snack: a sort of flat bread with honey, a real delicacy! For dinner they prefer something light.

From Peru

Coconut flan
Recipe by Flor Vudoaurre

Flor Vudoarre has lived in Turin for 18 years and now works for "Associazione Almaterra". When she invites friends for dinner, she cooks Peruvian dishes, but she usually tends to avoid them because she says that Peruvian cuisine needs a lot of time and care.

. 125 grams of coconut
. 250 grams of sugar
. half a litre of milk
. 4 eggs
. mezzo limone verde
. 2 tablespoonfuls of cognac
. 1 tablespoonful of flour
. 10 grams of butter

Butter a blancmange mould. Melt 75 grams of sugar in a saucepan and pour it into the mould so that it is equally distributed on the bottom.
Grate the lemon peel; dissolve the flour in a little milk. Pour the remaining milk into a pot, add the remaining sugar and boil; add the grated lemon peel and the milk previously prepared. Mix, take it away from the heat and cool.
Heat the oven at 170° C. Beat the eggs and pour them into the milk. Grate the coconut pulp, sprinkle it with cognac and add it to the mixture. Mix well and pour it into the mould; cook it in a bain-marie with a little water. Put it into the oven for about an hour, until the flan has reached the right firmness. Remove from the oven, cool and let it rest for at least two hours before serving.

CURIOSITIES FROM PERU

On Sundays and other festivities, lunch is postponed to the early afternoon, at about 3 o'clock, because on these days you take your time doing everything. Peruvians usually stay seated around the table for a very long time: this is a moment for socialization!

From Rumania

Sarmale
Recipe by Ionela Sîrghi

Ionela comes from Bacau, in the north of Rumania. She has been in Turin for 2 years. Her mother always cooks sarmale every time she goes back to Rumania.

. 1 glass of rice
. 1 kilo of mince, half pork and half veal
. 5 onions
. 2 carrots
. wild fennel
. pepper
. salt
. tomato sauce
. 2 eggs
. 1 tablespoonful of white flour
. large Savoy cabbage leaves

Chop the onions and the carrots and put them into a pan. Add the mince, the pepper and the wild fennel. Fry everything with a little oil, until it is half cooked. Take the pan away from the heat and let it rest until you can touch it without getting burnt! Now add the beaten eggs, the rice, the tomato sauce and a spoonful of white flour just to bind everything. Mix and... who will be brave enough to taste it?
Parboil the cabbage leaves choosing the largest and most resistant ones: it is important that they don't break. Then open them wide and with a teaspoon fill them with the mixture of meat and rice. Roll them up and close them in little parcels. Take a pan and coat the bottom with the leaves of the raw cabbage to prevent sarmale from burning. Put the cabbage rolls on the leaves and cover everything with a lid, a bit smaller than the pan, so that they don't open. Add water and lemon juice. Slowly cook or bake for about an hour. From time to time, taste the rice: when it is cooked, sarmale is ready.
Serve the cabbage rolls warm, pouring a little cream on them.

CURIOSITIES FROM RUMANIA

Sarmale is a complicated dish that is eaten mainly during festive meals and on special occasions.

The cabbage leaves can be substituted with peppers. Often, in winter, when no cabbages can be found, they use vine leaves, collected during the summer and preserved with salt and water. In Rumania they tend to lengthen the meals, just for socializing. During the meals, in fact, people chat, listen to music, mainly Manela, a typical Rumanian music genre.

There are no established hours: you eat when you feel like it. Often, during the feasts, they decorate the tables with some flowers.

CHEF KUMALE’

To taste all these specialities cooked properly you should be invited to dinner by our foreign friends... or simply go to the many ethnic restaurants in Turin. To discover the best ones, follow the suggestions of Chef Kumalè (www.kumale.net), nickname of Vittorio Castellani, the major expert of ethnic cuisine in Turin.