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has added a new journalIf anyone is into Vietnamese food and/or Thai food, please let me know! I have a few questions about some dishes. emaail me - wicked 76 at gmail dott com.
Thanks!!
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has added a new journalBy Vijita Fernando
Freelance Journalist - Sri Lanka
Harnessing the Sun in Sri Lanka
A Sri Lankan Non Governmental Organization (NGO)
has come up with the innovative idea of cooking with sunlight using energy from solar power. The process is simple. It needs a wooden box called a solar box cooker.
This simple contraption is exposed to the sun with uncooked food placed inside it for 2 to 4 hours and the food is ready!
"Cooking food in a box is not an idea that people find easy to accept," says E.M. Abeyratne, Director the NGO, EMACE (Environment and science, Manpower and skills, Adult parenthood assistance, Childcare and women's rights, Education and culture).
The initial stages of the project and the testing took place at Hambantota, a township in the south of the country with plenty of sunlight. Several workshops and demonstrations later, the solar box cooker is now being accepted in many areas.
EMACE helps the most marginalized people in the country with projects in income generation, health care and education. The need to find alternative methods of cooking was linked to health care, science and women. Abeyratne contacted a global company, Solar Cookers International, for information on how the idea of harnessing the sun for cooking could be put into actual practice.
"About the same time, 2 Canadian volunteers, Lee Sentes and Kathleen Manion, had completed a solar cooking project in Madagascar and Solar Cookers International requested them to contact me," says Abeyratne.
The link was made, and in 2000 EMACE began their project in Katubedda, a town about fifteen miles to the south of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.
Five models were tested before it was decided that the box was the most suitable for the country's homes. Six skilled staff were trained to produce, manufacture and maintain the box cookers. Workshops were then set up and training was given to villagers from other areas of the country, Anuradhapura in the north central region of the country, Kurunegala and Puttalam on the fringe of the Dry Zone.
Uncooked food, in covered, black-painted aluminum pans, is placed inside the base of the box and allowed to rest on a thin metal sheet balanced on small objects to allow the heat to circulate, thus making the cooking process quite fast.
"There is no big science involved," says Abeyratne, explaining that the box is positioned facing the sun with its reflector lid kept open. Sunlight reflected on the lid falls directly onto a transparent sheet of glass beneath which is located the food in the covered aluminum pots. The well-insulated base containing the trapped hot air begins the cooking at 85?C almost immediately. As long as the lid is kept open, the food stays warm.
"My wife has been using one for about two years and her cooking, especially of fish in the box cooker, is delicious," says an appreciative Abeyratne.
The cooker can be used to cook two meals of rice and curry. The cooker can be used to cook two meals of rice and curry, the Sri Lankan staple food, for a day. It is also capable of turning out pastries and cakes.
"One must remember that there can be no cooking at night, nor when it rains or when the skies are threatening with clouds. The best times are between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on a bright sunny day of which we in Sri Lanka have plenty!" says Abeyratne.
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has added a new journalThis salad is a specialty of southern region of Nice in France. Nicoise derived from the town of NICE.
This type of Salad is composed of raw vegetables.
Contrary to what is sometimes seen in restaurants, the classic Salad Ni?oise does not contain rice or cooked vegetables.
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Recipe for 4:
Have you ever had a Salade Ni?oise that did not include Tuna? Until recently, all the ones that I had ever ordered or had a recipe for included tuna and in most cases small, boiled potatoes.
Ingredients:
/2 lb / 250 g green beans
12 anchovy fillets or 2 thick slices of fresh tuna
3 medium potatoes, cooked and cut into chunks
2 tomatoes , cut into wedges
2 green bell peppers
2 hard cooked eggs, cut into wedges
10-12 black olives
Handful of capers
Salad DRESSING
3 tbsp lemon juice/ 2 lemons
1 1/2 tsp / 7 ml dijon mustard
1/2 tsp fresh or dried basil
1 chalote or 2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup / 125 ml olive oil
Salt
Pepper
To make the Dressing: Whisk the lemon juice, mustard and garlic cloves together with a small pinch of salt and pepper. Continue whisking while slowly pouring in the oil.
METHOD:
Brush fresh tuna with a little dressing then broil.
Combine all dressing ingredients; mix well.
In saucepan of boiling water, cook green beans until just tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water; drain well.
Toss beans and potatoes with small amount of the dressing. Just before serving, mix beans, potatoes, tuna, peppers, capers, chalot, eggs and olives. Drizzle with remaining dressing.
Toss all the ingredients except the tomatoes into the bowl. Drain the tomatoes, re-salt lightly and add to salad. Refrigerate before serving.
Lynfasi
sure :P