Germany 0 - Spain 1

The last of the semi-final matches and the choice of countries who's cuisines to cook from are seriously limiting now. Tall bloke put together one of my favourite rustic Spanish dishes: arroz al horno or rice in the oven. This recipe came from a book I bought for the tall bloke last Christmas called Cook Simple by Diana Henry. Here goes:

Serves 6

Ingredients:

8 tbsp olive oil

salt n pepper

12 chicken thighs

2 red peppers de-seeded and sliced

250gms chorizo cut in small chunks

1 large onion roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves crushed

3 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp of chilli flakes

1.3 litres of chicken stock

375gms of Spanish rice (paella rice)

2 tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley

Juice of a lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a shallow pan, season and brown the chicken thighs on all sides. Take chicken out of pan and set aside. Add peppers and chorizo to the same pan and saute on medium heat until all is softened. Throw in the onion and garlic, then cook until soft. Stir in the paprika and chilli and cook for a minute. Add the chicken stock, return the chicken, cover, simmer on a gentle heat for 15 minutes. Transfer chicken, veg and stock to big, oven-proof dish. Pour the rice around the chicken and season well. Place in the preheated oven on 180degrees. Cook for 20 minutes until stock has absorbed and top is golden. When cooked, cover the dish with foil, leave for 5 minutes, scatter with parsley, lemon juice and an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with lemon segments.

Argentina 0 - Germany 4

Saturday night saw a surprise crash out for Diego Maradona's Argentinian side from the tournament, as Germany soldier on to the semi-final, with a decisive 4-nil win. The tall bloke thought this was going to be a good match to watch, so we enjoyed a simple (aka quick to prepare) meal of hot dogs - or rather Frankfurters. We do enjoy this meal together a couple of times a month - it is not the most nutritious, but the fried onions and smear of mustard with extra ketchup, is particularly yummy.

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."

Whilst researching tomorrow's dinner menu, I came upon this quote from Physiologie du Gout by Brillat-Savarin, 1822. My search through Australian, Serbian and German recipe websites, left me with one question: how much does what I eat, reflect where I am from?

The Australian cuisine takes its origins from the waves of European and Asian immigrants, such as the tradition of tea drinking (proximity to China) and roast lamb. Serbian cuisine is also a reflection of historical influences of the area, where Oriental and Slavic tastes are dominant. The Romans were the probably the first to make any significant comment on German food. Latin literature records that German cuisine was a simple affair, consisting of a lot of meat and a lot of mead (sausage and beer!). Both France and parts of Italy were later conquered by the Germans and with this came Charlemagne's rule, as did Switzerland and Austria.

I think these excerpts illustrate the connection between food and identity beautifully:

The Visit Serbia website welcomes, but warns: "The prices are low for western visitors, so go ahead, indulge yourself. Be aware though, if you are a vegetarian Serbia might not be the right place for you!"

The Australian Cooking website writes: "...more overseas tourists have probably eaten kangaroo than have Australian-born people."

The German website informs: "...until the Middle Ages, the German diet mainly consisted of meat and their by-products i.e. milk and cheese. Smoking, marinating and salting techniques were developed to store the abundance of meat, a practice which has survived and is evident with their myriad of sausages and preserved foods.".

And after all that, the tall bloke chose Algeria so he will be serving: couscous, Djedj b'L-Qasbour (chicken) and spiced potato cakes. Watch this space!