Caramelised

Not Really Kashmiri

Spicefreak2 Comments

Hey folks, welcome to november! I know that national curry week was last month but I just so happened to come into a whole load of bananas and coconut, recently. Inspiring me to look into one of my mother’s favourite curries: The kashmiri.

A sweet, creamy, fruit-based curry from exactly the region that its name implies.

So it was a simple prospect: Research a real kashmiri, put my own little twist on it and, if all went smoothly, write up my results for all of you. Easy content, right? Well, not exactly

As it turns out, an authentic kashmiri curry is based around mangoes and lychees, not bananas. Still fruity, yet very different from what I had in mind.

So, while today’s dish does take a little inspiration from it, in its spices, it also draws upon the malayan and a whole host of more keralan meals, in order to form a truly delightful, caramelised fruit curry with neither an official name, nor any specific region to call its own.

A pan-indian fusion, if you will, which gets its mild heat from a blend of rich and raisin-like, mexican chillies, in order to best complement the banana without adding any extra sweetness. Because, if I’m going off-script already, I might as well go the whole hog.

There’s nothing traditional about today’s recipe but I’m eager to share it, all the same. It’s too good not to.

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Cool’s Hot Chocolate

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Alright, everyone, I just found out that it was world chocolate day on tuesday and I missed it. For some reason, my calendar showed only the rival holiday, international chocolate day, all the way over in october.

So, in order to make up for that, I’m going to bring you a simple sunday recipe, using Daddy Cool’s caramelised bar to make a drink that does anything but live up to his name. A ghost pepper and caramel white hot chocolate:

CoolHotChoc

Plus, I do also have another chocolate review coming up but that’ll have to wait just a little longer.

The weekend is for cooking.

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Cool Chocolates

Spicefreak6 Comments

Hey there everyone, it’s just gone easter but, today, I’d like to look at some chocolate anyway. A couple of bars from a creator we know well but haven’t previously seen any snacks from.

Yes, this week, I’m taking a look at Daddy Cool’s new chocolate line:

CoolChocs

Both white, this time around, but one with cranberries and a hint of habanero, while the other is clearly caramelised, making it the only chilli product of its kind. Both put their flavours first on the label but, on closer inspection of the chocolate, their peppers are also quite hard to miss:

CoolBars

Those spots of orange and red look like very generous hints to me. Yet flip them over and we can see that Daddy Cool’s have been just as generous with the fruit and fudge.

CoolBases

These chocolates are going to be fiery, certainly, but I expect that they’ll also be just as full of flavour.

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Caramelised Chocolate

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Hey folks, it’s white day again. My favourite japanese chocolate-crafting holiday!

Plus, unlike in previous years, twenty-twenty’s white day falls on a saturday. A recipe day.

So, this time around, I’m going to be a little self-indulgent. I’m going to combine three things that I adore – Chocolate, chilli and slow roasting – in order to make some simple yet delicious, ginger and naga-flavoured, salted, caramelised white chocolates.

WChocDone

And I’m going to hope against hope that some of you feel like following suit. Since, despite the ease with which you can whip these rich, sweet, earthy, almost-nutty and entirely decadent treats up, simplicity does not equal speed.

Caramelisation doesn’t occur quickly and my chocolates do have a two hour cooking time. Their flavour is well worth that commitment, of course, but I could still see it putting a few people off.

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Chiltepin Caramel

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Hey folks, it’s sunday and time for another recipe but, as I mentioned in my thursday post, I’ve not been at my wellest this month. In fact, at my worst, I was physically incapable of keeping down anything with a strong flavour.

Yet, as much of an inconvenience as that was, I don’t bring it up just to whine at you. I’m mentioning it because that time led me to appreciate the delicacy of vanilla, egg and nutmeg in a custard tart – The british dish on which today’s little dessert is based. The starting point, if you will, for the recipe that follows.

But, much as I’ve come to love that pudding, this one’s a little bit different and it contains, as you might expect, my own chilli twist.

What you might not expect, though, is the source of that twist: The sonoran desert between the US and mexico. Home of the wild “chiltepin” pepper.

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