Bringing the World To Your Kitchen

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Bringing the World To Your Kitchen

Written by: Cristina Deptula

Photographer : Wikimedia Commons, Julo, The Spruce Eats, Vilalali, Lea-Kim Chateauneuf, Ceeseven

TrooRa Contributors’ Favorite Cultural Recipes

We’re serving up some memorable foods from the lives of some TrooRa staff members in this article, with the recipes and the stories behind them. This piece includes Polish czarnina (duck blood soup), comfort food chicken spread sandwiches, Haitian griot and pikliz, Pakistani chicken pulao, and Venetian Risotto al Nero di Seppia.

It’s possible to travel right within your kitchen! Here are some recipes with stories from TrooRa staff that serve as a passport into others’ lives, experiences, and cultures.

Czarnina from Lindsay Heiman

Lindsay Heiman, a contributing writer on the TrooRa team, recommends Polish
Czarnina. From Lindsay:

“So I have a fun story that apparently stems from Old Poland (easily as far back as the seventeenth century), but the ingredients are rather… interesting. And probably hard to find. Basically, in the olden days, when a man would ask a woman’s father for her hand in marriage, the girl’s family would have him over for dinner to inspect him before giving their seal of approval.
Oftentimes, the father would not approve of the suitor, and apparently, there was a Polish tradition of how to ‘politely’ decline his request. Soup is a very common appetizer/dinner in Poland. The girl’s mother would place a bowl of black soup in front of the suitor. This way, without having to explain themselves or go into detail, the suitor got the hint that the girl’s family was displeased or not interested in his advances. The recipe for this soup includes duck blood (something of an acquired taste, I’m sure, but apparently, they sell it at certain butchers). Anyway, it’s called ‘Czarnina’ and is very well-known in Poland.”

Here’s a Czarnina recipe: https://polishfoodies.com/czarnina-polish-duck-blood-soup-recipe/

Czarnina soup was a way to use every part of a duck raised for meat, including the blood. It’s a traditional rural comfort food that also contains root vegetables and dried fruit and is more common in northern than southern Poland.

Czarnina soup

Bowl of Czarnina, Wikimedia Commons, ℅ Julo

Czarnina soup

Bowl of Czarnina, Wikimedia Commons, ℅ Julo

Chicken Spread Sandwiches

Chicken Spread Sandwiches ℅ the Spruce Eats

Bowl of Czarnina, Wikimedia Commons, ℅ Julo

Chicken Spread Sandwiches from Sikander Siddiqui

Sikander Siddiqui, another writer here at TrooRa Magazine, recommends chicken spread sandwiches. From Sikander:
“When you move from one country to another, you can never tell when your warmest memory is going to pop up. It always happens out of the blue for me, and some of the best memories I have as an immigrant (from Pakistan to Italy) are the times I spent at home with my mother and my two siblings.
Snack time was always special for us, and one particular snack, which my mother prepared for us, has never left my side to this day. It’s super convenient to make. You don’t need a lot of ingredients, and well for me, eating this snack feels like a cozy hug from my mum.”
These are chicken spread sandwiches, and here’s how you make them.
The recipe includes ½ kg of boneless chicken, salt to taste, pepper to taste, mayonnaise/kewpie mayo, ketchup, sriracha (optional), and white bread.
To prepare the sandwiches, you boil the chicken breast until it is fork-tender. Then you can let it cool for a few minutes and shred it with forks or an electric beater. Once the chicken is shredded, put it in a bowl and add four tablespoons of your favorite mayonnaise and as much ketchup as you like. Then, add as much salt and pepper as you like.
Mix all these ingredients until you have a spreadable mix. Then, take some white bread and slice off the edges so only the white part remains. Then, make little sandwiches from the bread and the chicken mix.
That’s it! Now you dig in! And if you’ve made extra sandwiches to snack during the middle of the night, then you can just cover it with saran wrap and refrigerate them.

Chicken Spread Sandwiches

Chicken Spread Sandwiches ℅ the Spruce Eats

Haitian Griot and Pikliz

Trystanne Cunningham, our editor-in-chief, recommends everyone try some delicious griot and pikliz (pork shoulder and vegetable slaw) from her native country of Haiti.

Marinated in citrus, the pork is tender and crispy. The vegetable slaw, which usually contains cabbage, onions, bell peppers, and carrots, is tangy with vinegar.

The recipe can be eaten as a snack and is often served with plantains, rice, and beans. It’s often considered Haiti’s national dish!

Here’s a recipe to try: https://tasty.co/recipe/haitian-griot-and-pikliz

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