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CY National Food and Drink

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CY National Food and Drink

Postby bill cobbett » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:29 pm

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes... a couple of days ago in response to a suggestion that threads in Chat sould be a little more informative or interesting or humourous I thought I'd re-start a thread on CY National Food and Drink as my little contribution.....

KOLOKASI

English Name .. Taro
Latin Name ... Colocasia esculenta

Warning - kolokasi contains poisonous calcium oxalate which is broken down in cooking. Do not eat raw.

I thought I'd start with Kolokasi as I believe it's coming in to season (?).Not to everyone's taste I know. A bit like Marmite, it's either loved or loathed. I am very fond of it in that tomato rich red sauce with bits of fatty pork or chicken.

Here is the Wiki for its use in CY.....

"Cyprus
In Cyprus, taro has been in use since the time of the Roman Empire. Today it is known as "kolokassi" which is similar to the name the Romans used: colocasia. It is usually stewed with celery (and sometimes meat) in a tomato sauce"
------

One of my old villages is in the Occupied Karpas, which was (perhaps still is) noted for its production of this National Delicacy. Apologies to those from the Kokkinochoria where I know a lower quality product is still grown.

Here's a picture of what it looks like above ground...

Image

... and here is a picky of the corms....

Image

In CY, as far as I know, only the corms are eaten but in other parts of the world the leaves and stems are also eaten.

Other parts of the world? Grown and eaten far and wide. Here's a list from Wiki .... Nigeria, Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh, Spain, China, Polynesia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, USA, Turkey (where it seems to be cultivated on the South Coast in Mersin (presumably including Mersin 10!) and Antalya) and in Hawaii where it is particularly liked to the extent that it has become a Nation Dish of sorts and where it seems to be grown in wet ponds called "l'oi" , almost paddy field like.

Here is a recipe for the pork version (apologies to tissy friends) from grouprecipes.com ....

"Ingredients
1 kilo pork loin, cut in portions
2 medium taros (kolokassi)
2-4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 can of whole tomatoes with juice blended in multi
salt & pepper
olive oil for frying

Directions
To prepare the kolokassi, cut the ends and peel the skin. Hold it with a paper napkin taking care that you do not soil rest of kolokassi.
Do not wash but towel dry.
With a sharp knife, cut across (1 ½ cm thick) halfway then break off. Repeat to the end. (I am not absolutely sure why this has to be done but If I remember correctly if this procedure is not followed and slices are cut all the way across without breaking off, this vegetable has a mucilaginous, sticky juice which will be released and the kolokassi will melt while cooking).
Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the kolokassi on both sides. Transfer to saucepan.
Sauté the meat and when turning over add the onions and sauté as well for a few minutes and then transfer all together including oil to sauce pan. Add the celery, salt and pepper and the tomatoes.
Add water, cover pan and reduce heat. Simmer for about an hour until both meat and kolokassi are tender and sauce is ready and thick.
Serve hot and you'll need a lot of pita bread to mop away the tasteful sauce."
-----

I'm reminded of an important point that an elderly relative told me about, that when prepering kolokasi in to chunks, don't cut it all the way through with a knife. Make a start with a knife and then break off in to chunks.

Well, hope you found the above interesting and informative, the humourous bit follows (and please, please take this with a pinch of salt) ......

Next time I'll bring you a potted history and a recipe for a dish from the distant past... spit-roasted tissy baby and for our tissy friends the grissy baby variant.

( Did I say take this with a pinch of salt? Better of course to use a handful if you want decent crackling. )
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Postby umit07 » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:42 pm

Kolokas! Image I hate that stuff, fried bullez is OK though
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Re: CY National Food and Drink

Postby insan » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:47 pm

bill cobbett wrote:Anyway, where was I? Oh yes... a couple of days ago in response to a suggestion that threads in Chat sould be a little more informative or interesting or humourous I thought I'd re-start a thread on CY National Food and Drink as my little contribution.....

KOLOKASI

English Name .. Taro
Latin Name ... Colocasia esculenta

Warning - kolokasi contains poisonous calcium oxalate which is broken down in cooking. Do not eat raw.

I thought I'd start with Kolokasi as I believe it's coming in to season (?).Not to everyone's taste I know. A bit like Marmite, it's either loved or loathed. I am very fond of it in that tomato rich red sauce with bits of fatty pork or chicken.

Here is the Wiki for its use in CY.....

"Cyprus
In Cyprus, taro has been in use since the time of the Roman Empire. Today it is known as "kolokassi" which is similar to the name the Romans used: colocasia. It is usually stewed with celery (and sometimes meat) in a tomato sauce"
------

One of my old villages is in the Occupied Karpas, which was (perhaps still is) noted for its production of this National Delicacy. Apologies to those from the Kokkinochoria where I know a lower quality product is still grown.

Here's a picture of what it looks like above ground...

Image

... and here is a picky of the corms....

Image

In CY, as far as I know, only the corms are eaten but in other parts of the world the leaves and stems are also eaten.

Other parts of the world? Grown and eaten far and wide. Here's a list from Wiki .... Nigeria, Ghana, Nepal, Bangladesh, Spain, China, Polynesia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, USA, Turkey (where it seems to be cultivated on the South Coast in Mersin (presumably including Mersin 10!) and Antalya) and in Hawaii where it is particularly liked to the extent that it has become a Nation Dish of sorts and where it seems to be grown in wet ponds called "l'oi" , almost paddy field like.

Here is a recipe for the pork version (apologies to tissy friends) from grouprecipes.com ....

"Ingredients
1 kilo pork loin, cut in portions
2 medium taros (kolokassi)
2-4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 can of whole tomatoes with juice blended in multi
salt & pepper
olive oil for frying

Directions
To prepare the kolokassi, cut the ends and peel the skin. Hold it with a paper napkin taking care that you do not soil rest of kolokassi.
Do not wash but towel dry.
With a sharp knife, cut across (1 ½ cm thick) halfway then break off. Repeat to the end. (I am not absolutely sure why this has to be done but If I remember correctly if this procedure is not followed and slices are cut all the way across without breaking off, this vegetable has a mucilaginous, sticky juice which will be released and the kolokassi will melt while cooking).
Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the kolokassi on both sides. Transfer to saucepan.
Sauté the meat and when turning over add the onions and sauté as well for a few minutes and then transfer all together including oil to sauce pan. Add the celery, salt and pepper and the tomatoes.
Add water, cover pan and reduce heat. Simmer for about an hour until both meat and kolokassi are tender and sauce is ready and thick.
Serve hot and you'll need a lot of pita bread to mop away the tasteful sauce."
-----

I'm reminded of an important point that an elderly relative told me about, that when prepering kolokasi in to chunks, don't cut it all the way through with a knife. Make a start with a knife and then break off in to chunks.

Well, hope you found the above interesting and informative, the humourous bit follows (and please, please take this with a pinch of salt) ......

Next time I'll bring you a potted history and a recipe for a dish from the distant past... spit-roasted tissy baby and for our tissy friends the grissy baby variant.

( Did I say take this with a pinch of salt? Better of course to use a handful if you want decent crackling. )


Thx for the humourous and informative article abt Golagaz, very dear; bro Bill.

I'd like to add some information regarding the species of this plant.

Species of Colocasia
Colocasia affinis (syn. C. marshallii)
Colocasia bicolor
Colocasia coryli
Colocasia esculenta (syn. C. antiquorum) - Taro or Elephant-ear
Colocasia fontanesii
Colocasia gigantea - Giant Taro
Colocasia lihengiae
Colocasia macrorrhiza
Colocasia menglaensis
Colocasia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Palpifer murinus and Palpifer sexnotatus.

One of the species of this plant is called "golagaz çiçeği" in Northern regions of Cyprus. It has a very similar look with golagaz but iactually it's only a flower, cannot be eaten.
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Postby bill cobbett » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:50 pm

umit07 wrote:Kolokas! Image I hate that stuff, fried bullez is OK though


Thank you and Bless you for reminding me mate. I was going to make a mention of Bullez, but forgot. A major ommission by me. Unlike me you must have been reading my mind. How did you do that?

Anyone know the English word for them?
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Postby insan » Sun Sep 13, 2009 6:55 pm

Indian descendant Cypriots has just only one video available on youtube guiding abt frying golagaz; the national food of Cys.

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Postby bill cobbett » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:05 pm

Gosh Insan. That was a totally different way of cooking it. Very Indian, loads of herbs and spices and I'm sure I saw some chillies going in there.

Two other things I saw .. the corms were pretty small and she sliced them all the way through.
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Postby fig head » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:28 pm

huh! always expected women to know that much about cooking!!.. interesting tho !
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Postby RichardB » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:41 pm

Boullez = Okra or Ladys Fingers
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Postby insan » Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:55 pm

RichardB wrote:Boullez = Okra or Ladys Fingers


:lol: I thought u r a well knowledged, gibro-bridanigo chef; Richard the Liona Heart. :wink:

Here's how ur crazyaunt purl fries Okra.

http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives/2 ... okra_1.php

Image
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Postby kafenes » Sun Sep 13, 2009 8:15 pm

RichardB wrote:Boullez = Okra or Ladys Fingers


Bamies= Okra or Lady's Fingers!

Boulles are the little shoots from the Gologasi.
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