North African Tabouleh

Very common in France, but much more difficult to find in the UK, a tabouleh is a (cold) fresh and summery salad with a base of couscous. Very easy to make, it has very fresh minty notes and can be easily taken to a party or a picnic.
In the middle east, boulghour is used instead of couscous grain.


You will need for 4:
- 300g couscous
- The same volume of boiling water as that of couscous grain.
- 4 tomatoes cut in dice
- 1 diced white onion
- 1 bunch of parsley chopped finely
- 1 bunch of mint chopped finely
- the juice of a lemon
- 10cl oil
- salt, pepper.

Mix the couscous grain with the oil, salt, then add the boiling water, and set aside for 1/2h.
Then add the other ingredients, then leave in the fridge for a while.

Serve cool.

Easy no?
North African cuisine is completely integrated in French cuisine and kitchens, and you will find the dishes cooked in French homes as well as in restaurants everywhere. It is a very fragrant, fresh and full of flavours.

Enjoy the tabouleh whilst the good weather lasts!

Source: Photography, me , and recipe, the one I tend to make.

Malva Pudding

The other day, I was having lunch with a friend and we orderer the soup of the day which happened to be a South African soup called Sousbountje, a hot and sour soup made with tamarind, mustard seeds and red kidney beans (I migh try to make this one at some stage!).
We both loved the soup and started on that subject. My friend then mentioned a dessert he'd tried in South Africa. He seemed so enthusiatic that I asked him if he knew the name, as I might like to look into it. He said: better, I can get you the recipe! So he sent a text to a friend and tadaaa... In the afternoon he emailed me the recipe.

One day later, I made the recipe...
The quantities were all in strange units, so I had to adapt them which was not too hard.

This recipe serves 2
For the Pudding
- 1/2 coffee cup of sugar
- 1 egg
- 25g butter
- 2 spoons smooth apricot jam (I used Mirabelle plum jam - Mirabelle is a round and yellow type of plum quite common in France and a specialty of the region I come from)
- 1 coffee cup of flour (I used soya flour, which is gluten free) flour
- 1 coffee cup of milk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar( I used white wine vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the Sauce
- 50g butter
- 1/2 coffee cup sugar
- ½ coffee cup water
- 1 coffee cup cream or milk (I chose the evil option: double cream - I don't regret it!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Making the Pudding:
1) Mix the sugar, egg, butter and jam together well
2) Add the flour and milk. Mix well
3) Add the bicarb and vinegar and mix again
4) Pour in earthenware, bake at 180°C, covered, until set

Making the Sauce:
1) Melt together the butter, sugar and water
2) Add the cream or milk and bring to the boil
3) Remove from the heat and add the vanilla essence

Once the pudding is baked, remove from the oven and pour the warm sauce over the pudding.

Enjoy as is, or serve with custard or vanilla ice cream.

My verdict? ok, my friend told me how good it was, but I did not expect it to be THAT FORMIDABLY great, not a diet cake for sure, but now ranking sky high in my favorites. It was absolutely delicious, the texture is a bit like a sticky toffee pudding and the taste is, well let me find the word,.. UNEARTHLY!!!!
And it is a doodle to make, so easy!

Yes I will do it again, and no later than wednesday as I have friends over!

Other useful info from wikipedia: 'The pudding's name is derived from Malvacea wine from Madeira. The dessert and dessert wine used to be served together after main course at Cape tables. It is of distinct Cape Dutch origin with many unique additions which my differ from one area to the next eg. ginger, apricot jam. There are also many variants of this dessert namely the Cape Brandy Pudding which also include brandy and dates and the Tipsy Tart which contains only brandy'

Source: Cheryl Labuschagne

African cat fish

An African dish, not North African! if you can find salt dried cat fish of course....
Apart from soaking the fish overnight, this recipe is pretty rapid, especially if you steam the vegetable whilst you prepare the fish....

- Count 100g of salt dried African cat fish per person
- 1 can of coconut milk (I always use chaokoh, even for an african dish!) but you can use creamed coconut and add milk.
- 1 broccoli steamed (reserve a bit for the presentation)
- couscous grain for 4 (100g per person for a good ration) coeliacs use rice
- boiling water, same volume as the couscous grain
- 1 tbl spoon of oil
- 1 tbl spoon fish seasoning powder (contains pepper onion, celery, paprika)
Do not add salt: the fish is already salty enough!

Soak the catfish overnight to de-salt it.

In a pan, heat up the coconut until you can see little bubblets of fat forming on the surface. Then put the fish in.

Cook until the mix becomes thicker, then add the broccoli, cook together for a minute or two

In the meantime prepare the couscous. Place the couscous in a bowl, mix well with the oil, then pour the boiling water on top, wait until the water is totally absorbed by the grain, Then separate the grains with a fork, and serve the couscous in each plate
Then serve the dish on the beds of couscous, it's ready!

Source: Bob