Ethnic recipes anyone?

The wonderful discussion about Judaism here on the Recipes forum has inspired me!

Would anyone like to join me in telling about your ethnic heritage and sharing a recipe or two?

I'm Italian.  All four of my grandparents are from the same town in Abruzzi - Chieti.  So my family recipes are specific to one region of the country.  I'd be happy to share them if anyone else would like to join in.

What a great thread. And, caldo gallego is one of my favortes, and your recipe was super.

My favorite food: Mexican. Unfortunately, Mexican food, especially my beloved tex-mex, usually falls pretty low down on the healthy eating scale. But I make a taco soup (my Mom's recipe) that's a very good mix of carbs, protein and comfort food, without lots of fat. You will need a big pot, as I could never figure out how to halve the recipe. I just make a bunch and freeze half.

Fry (and crumble) 2 lbs. of lean ground beef with one large chopped onion. Drain fat. Add 2 packages taco seasoning mix, one package ranch dressing, 2 15 oz. cans of chopped tomatoes, one can Ro-Tel tomatoes (I like the original, but you could use mild), 2 cans pinto beans, 1 can hominy, 1 can crunchy corn niblets, and three cans (about 15 oz. each) water. Simmer till all ingredients are heated through. Best I could calculate, it gats an A, with 323 calories for 8 filling ounces, fewer than 5 grams of fat, and lots of fiber and protein.

Enjoy!

I grew up wondering why the tea and coffee houses never offered Melktart as a tea option.  My parents immagrated from South Africa a few years before I was born and then I lived with my relatives there in highschool, we had tea every afternoon my whole life and this dessert was a staple.  Throught college I hunted for a place that served Melktart because it tastes so good and I couldn't find anyone who knew what it was.  It wasn't until then that I found out it wasn't a staple in everyone's house.

I found this recipe recently.  It doesn't taste quite right.

Melktert
SOUTH AFRICA


South African Melktert or Milk Tart is a variaton of an egg custard pie which originated with the Dutch settlers who came South Africa in 1652
Melktert was then modified and made a purely South African creation by the Cape Malays who were brought to South Africa as slaves

INGREDIENTS

½ lb puff pastry
1 ½ tsp butter
good pinch salt
1 stick cinnamon
3 cups boiling milk
2 tsp custard powder
3 tsp corn flour
3 tsp cake flour
2 tbsp cold milk
½ cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
½ tsp almond essence
cinnamon and sugar
Melktert a traditional South African Custard Pie Recipe

METHOD Preheat oven to 400o F Line the bottom and sides of two pie plates with the puff pastry and make a raised edge for each.
To make the custard pie filling, add the butter, salt and cinnamon to the boiling milk.
Mix the custard powder, corn flour and cake flour to a paste with the cold milk and then stir in a little of the hot milk mixture.
Stir the custard mixture into the hot milk. Add 4 tbsp of the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring continuously.
Remove from the stove when the mixture has thickened and discard the cinnamon. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar.
Beat the egg yolks lightly and add a little of the custard mixture to the egg yolks.
Then stir the yolk / custard mixture into the main custard mixture and add the almond extract. Fold in the egg whites, being careful not to beat but add with a gentle folding motion. Pour the mixture into the pastry cases and bake for approximately 10 minutes.
Lower the temperature to 350o F and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes or until the filling has set. Cool slightly and sprinkle the top of the custard pie with cinnamon and sugar. Serve cold. South African farm wives compete with each other regarding the reputation of their custard pie or 'melktert'

hopesclan, thanks so much for sharing this recipe.  I'd never heard of it, but it's exactly what I had in mind when I started this thread.  I think that every country and culture have traditional dishes that the rest of us haven't experienced.  It's like traveling while staying in the kitchen - my favorite place.

I'm hungarian, and wether to add tomatoes, or not, is regional.  Actually, no 2 hungarian cooks make goulash the same way.  BUT it is a soup.  What american's refer to as goulas is called 'porkolt' in hungarian, which is just pretty much braised stew meet, with a few vegetables and of course hungarian paprika served over egg noodles.

I usually cook some spatzle (called galuska or nokedli in hungarian) and add to the goulas soup.  I pretty much use the same recipe as mentioned above.

The Hungarian gent I got the recipe from acted as if he would come to blows with anyone who made it any differently!  I bet there are some interesting regional variations and that all of them are the "right way" to make it.   Doesn't matter - it's all delicious!

Now I need to go look up porkolt!  I feel like I'm traveling the world!