The Recipes of Wales Modern and Traditional Foods

When people think of Wales the food is not what they immediately think of. Indeed, much of the traditional cookery of Wales is what might be called 'peasant food'. This is hardly surprising given Wales' history. After all the country has been rich in resources but poor in income for many centuries.

Industry dominated the country, whether predominantly agriculture in the North and heavy industry in the South. But everyone was working for someone else rather than themselves. The pennies had to be eked out and salaries were supplemented with small holdings that grew vegetables, pigs and chickens. Each and every last drop of use was drawn from the food an frugality was the watchword. Thus the traditional food tends to be plain, simple and hearty. In many households this is what the staple fare is like, even today. But as the country grew more affluent and developed a middle class some traditional recipes became entrenched but, in general, there was a move away from the traditional fare to something more exotic. Influences were brought home from across the globe and there was a tendency, even at home, to mix and match. So that traditional ingredients were combined with exotic spices and ingredients to produce something new. A new Welsh cuisine that few people ever get to see. Here I bring you a traditional Welsh dish followed by an example of modern Welsh Fusion cooking. Pastai Oen Cymreig (Welsh Lamb Pie) Ingredients: 675g neck of lamb 4 carrots, sliced 1 onion, chopped 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped 2 sprigs of parsley 250g prepared shortcrust pastry salt and black pepper beaten egg to glaze Method: Remove the meat from the lamb neck and chop the meat into small cubes. Add the bones to a pan along with the onion and whole parsley sprigs. Cover with water, season and boil for 90 minutes before straining the mixture and retaining the liquid Tip the pastry onto a floured surface and roll out. Use half to cover the base of a 1l pie dish. Add the carrots to the base and cover with the meat before adding the chopped parsley and seasonings. Wet the edge of the pastry with water, use the remaining pastry to cover and crimp the edges with a fork. Trim the excess then cut a steam hole in the centre of the pie (this should be large enough for you to insert a small funnel later). Place the pie in an oven pre-heated to 170°C and bake for about 100 minutes, or until the pie is cooked through and golden. When the pie is ready re-heat the stock and use a funnel to pour about 60ml of this into the pie. Serve immediately. Cig Oen â Saws Llus (Lamb with Bilberry Sauce) Ingredients: 4 x 150g lamb leg steaks 1 tbsp olive oil 125g finely-chopped onions 2 cloves finely-chopped garlic 50ml raspberry vinegar 1 tsp cracked black peppercorns 120ml fresh orange juice 120ml dry white wine 1 tbsp tomato purée 150ml water 125g fresh bilberries (or the same weight of blueberries plus 1 tbsp red wine vinegar) 1 tbsp honey 3 strips of orange peel salt and black pepper to taste Method: Add the olive oil to a hot pan, season the lamb leg steaks then and fry until browned on both side then set aside. Add the onion and garlic to the pan then fry until soft. At this stage add the raspberry vinegar and black pepper to the pan and boil until the vinegar has almost completely vanished. Now add half the bilberries, the honey, the white wine and the orange juice and the orange peel. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for five minutes. Now add the water and bring back to the boil. Transfer the sauce to a lidded oven-proof dish and add the lamb steaks to this. Place in a moderate oven and cook for forty minutes. Set the meat aside in a warm place, tip the sauce back into the original pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to thicken then add the remaining bilberries and continue cooking until the skins are just about to split. Spoon the sauce over the lamb steaks and serve immediately.

Recipe for Traditional Swedish Christmas Cookies or Pepparkakor

In any traditional Swedish home, the smell of these home baked cookies will be found wafting throughout the home at Christmas time. The Swedes really love cooking for the holiday season and the Christmas Eve celebration is the highlight of the year.

Don't be worried by the literal translation of Pepparkakor, which means pepper cookies, it may have been that in olden times there was a little pepper in the recipe, but now there's just a tasty mix of spices.

Delicious Cookie

Christmas Spice Cookies or Pepparkakor

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

8 ounces (2 sticks) butter 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 egg 1 tablespoon light corn syrup 1/4 cup orange juice 2 teaspoons orange zest 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 teaspoons ground ginger 2 teaspoons ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 400˚ F.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in egg, corn syrup, orange juice, and orange zest.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir flour mixture into the creamed butter until combined.

4. Roll dough out to 1/8 inch and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the oven. Cool cookies on wire racks.

These are a wonderful cookie recipe for children to make and taste even better when cut out with all manner of shape of cookie cutters!

Enjoy making and eating this traditional Swedish cookie recipe.

Recipe for Traditional Swedish Christmas Cookies or Pepparkakor

For further ideas for Swedish recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com/swedish-recipes.html] and Christmas Recipes [http://www.worldwide-recipes.com], visit our website.

Traditional Cuban Dessert Recipes

If you enjoy South American sweet treats, you will love Cuban dessert recipes. A lot of them are similar to easy Mexican recipes for desserts, which you have perhaps already made at some point. Lots of tropical fruits grow in Cuba, including bananas, mango, soursop, pineapple, tamarinds, coconuts and guava, which means that fruity desserts are especially popular.

Well loved Cuban desserts include rice pudding and merenguitos, which are sweet meringue puffs. Torrejas are like French toast. They are sweet fried bread slices served with syrup and raisins. In Cuba, French toast is served for dessert rather than breakfast. Cubans also like to make cookies and pastries using the locally sourced fresh fruit. Fruit turnovers and parfait desserts are really popular there.

Delicious Cookie Recipes

Flan, which is also known as creme caramel, is very popular in nearly all Spanish speaking countries, including Cuba and Mexico. This delicious egg custard is flavored with vanilla and has a smooth, silky texture.

An Easy Recipe for Boniatillo

This sweet potato pudding is popular during the holidays in Cuba. The pudding is flavored with cinnamon, cream, lime juice, vanilla and more and everybody will love the delicious flavor of this wonderful and traditional Cuban dessert. Chill it for a couple of hours or serve it hot. It tastes great either way! This recipe makes enough to serve four people.

What you will need:

2 cups brown sugar 1 1/2 lbs sweet potato 2 limes 1 stick cinnamon 1 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon salt 3 egg yolks 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon or grated cinnamon stick Water, as needed How to make it:

Peel and chop the sweet potato and cover it with water in a pan. Add a teaspoon of salt and boil it for twenty minutes or until tender. Drain the potato and mash it using a fork, blender, or food processor.

Peel the limes and save the fruit for another use. Put the peel in a big pan with the brown sugar, cinnamon stick, and two cups of water. Cook the mixture over a moderate heat until it reaches 250 degrees F, stirring it all the time. You will need a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature.

Take out the peel and cinnamon and turn the heat down to low. Add the mashed sweet potato and keep stirring the mixture until it is smooth. Take it off the heat. Beat the cream, butter, egg yolks, and a pinch of salt until smooth, and then add this to the sweet potato mixture.

Cook it over a low heat for a couple of minutes, then take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla. If the mixture is too runny, you can mix a quarter cup of cornstarch with a quarter cup of water and add this. Divide the sweet potato pudding between serving bowls and garnish each one with a little ground cinnamon.

Traditional Cuban Dessert Recipes

If you enjoy Cuban food, you will also enjoy making easy Mexican recipes. South American desserts, and Mexican food desserts especially, feature a wide range of delicious ingredients such as chocolate, fresh fruit and more, and they finish off a meal perfectly.

MexicanDessertRecipes.net The Sweet Side of Mexican Food