Going bananas or easy vegan dessert

From champagne, cream, lemon, saffron and mustard - yellow is the hottest colour this season. The model is wearing bananas in amarillo yellow with deep chocolate spots. Chiquita brand is definitely passé, in are niche brands from independent local sellers. We chose a no-name brand from a small vendor with a stand in the day market in Mae Sot (second one on the right pass the dried shrimp and batlenut sellers coming from Paradatwithi Rd). They are thinner, come in slightly smaller size and their delicate, feminine silhouette and soft curves make them a perfect fit for petite shapes.



This recipe manifests:

• absurdism* -  if you find the wold an absurd place this recipe is for you
• women's body image satisfaction - if you think fashion industry and mass media distort image of female body causing dissatisfaction of women and girls with their bodies this recipe is for you (you don't see what does it have to do with the recipe? Well, we live in an absurd world...)
• anti-consumerism - bottom line buy less, only 3 ingredients for this recipe

How to choose perfect banana bunch
Bananas are available here in various odd places. This is due to the fact that many people have banana trees in their gardens so even if you sell tires you may just as well put out the bananas that has just turned ripe and sell them for couple of baht. If there is no one with a banana tree near you go for the ones that look less perfect. If there are any varieties available choose the smallest ones - they generally have more flavour (yep, that's my technical banana knowledge). And if you lucky enough to find the red bananas you can confidently choose those against any other variety. They are sweet without being bland and have pleasant sour hint. These are available here rarely as everyone prefers to eat them themselves instead selling them but I remember seeing them in WholeFoods

This dessert may not look beautiful or appealing as a matter of fact but is really delicious and dead easy.

Bananas and coconut dessert

Ingredients (serves 2):
- 2 small bananas (preferably red bananas), diced
- 125ml coconut milk
- 1 spoon of palm sugar (jeggery)

Preparation:

1. Turn on some cheesy holiday tune that will remind you of lazy afternoons on the beach under a palm tree, like Kokomo by Beach Boys
2. heat coconut milk in a pan, add sugar and stir in until dissolves
3. add banana pieces and cook until the milk almost evaporates and bananas start to stick to the bottom and become gooey in a toffee sort of way (about 10-12min)
4. transfer to serving cups and enjoy hot or cold

If you live in a place with miserable weather or long winters this makes a perfect dessert for Summer Party to keep you going before the spring - ask everyone to wear their summer clothes, play summer party hits and serve summery foods. Just remember to turn your heating on max at least 12 hour prior to the party...

*Absurdism - a philosophy stating that the efforts of humanity to find meaning will ultimately fail (and hence are absurd) because the sheer amount of information as well as the vast realm of the unknown make certainty impossible and explores how individuals, once becoming conscious of the Absurd, should respond to it.
In search for a meaning in a meaningless world, humans have three ways of resolving the dilemma:
a) suicide
b) religious, spiritual, or abstract belief in a transcendent realm, being, or idea
c) acceptance of the Absurd

Stay tuned to see which way chooses the author of this blog! (no posts my suggest option a)

Twisted pork or sustainable slow food

They all lied. I feel cheated. It was a normal day like any other - I took Friday off work I dropped off my laundry and went to do some shopping at the new Tesco. I picked couple of things that cannot be found nowhere else in town - chickpea, ground coffee, passion fruit juice, then went to the meat section to pick up some marinated pork and headed towards the cashier. At that moment I felt an urge to do something different, something that I've never done before - I went back to the meat section I put the meat back on the shelve. Then I saw them. They were sitting there on the side of the shelve. They were STRAIGHT as straight can be. Pig tails. Eeeeh? All my live I lived convinced that pigs have twisted tails. I didn't make it up myself. What about Piglet and Pepa Pig - were they yet another images of distorted reality that they want us to believe in? Why would they lie like to us that? Well, the truth is that human minds are full of surprises and we will probably never find out why.

From the age that we become conscious individuals the world is feeding us with disappointment uncovering its true image. First you find out that the Santa doesn't exist (and any magic in general) then you graduate and find out that higher education doesn't necessarily open all the golden doors of opportunities and now it's the pigs' tails. That's it. It was a killer. I've had enough. Where are alternative universes when you need them?

Anyway, I decided I'm going to take these pig tails home and cook them in an act of manifesto against mendacity.

What other causes can eating pigtails support?

• food sustainability - eating all parts of the animal supports reducing food waste, so if you are not a vegetarian pig tails are for you
• slow food - pig tails are definitely not a fast food, they need from 1.5 to 2h to cook

Smoked pig tails in wine

Ingredients (serves 2*):
- 2 smoked pig tails
- 200ml of wine
- 1 carrot cut in large chunks
- 1 shallot cut in fours
- 500ml of stock
- salt and pepper
- spoonful of olive oil (adds flavour)
- spoonful of regular oil (prevents burning)
- if you live anywhere in the west you may want to add bay leaf and thyme

1. Sprinkle the tails with salt and pepper and leave in the fridge overnight
2. For this cooking session you will need couple of CDs, I start with Gramma by Lana del Rey
3. Fry the carrot and shallot in the oil mix until brown
4. Add the pigtails and brown from all sides
5. Pour wine and stock and leave simmering and covered for 1.5h
6. Check if the meat is soft if not leave for further 30min, if all the liquid evaporated already at this point simply add water
7. Leave the tails out to cool for 15min or so, remove the fat and peal the meat off the bone (be careful as the bones are quite small an easy to overlook.
8. Serve the meat with gravy from cooking and greens of your liking. I used potatoes and broccoli.
9. Enjoy in a good company with a glass(es) of wine (gourmet style) or beer (Bavarian style)

*it's a gourmet meal so you'll probably need a dessert or a starter to fell full, or both

Home-made Mirinda or think local

I'm sitting naked on my couch with the fun turned on. Drops of sweat are sliding down my neck and then down on my cleavage. The rainy season is about to start - it's sticky and hot. I get in the shower and let the cold water run down my body. I just want to stay there forever. Sadly, I get out. I leave my body wet to maximize the cooling sensation. I turn the fan back on and reach for the fridge. A multipack of Chang soda water is standing at the top shelf in its full glory, shining with a heavenly glow.

Syrian red lentil soup or stop the disckheads

 

View over Syria from Umm Qai, in northern Jordan - this photo was taken in April in it is the closest one can get to Syria for the time being. According to United Nations the conflict in Syria has killed more than 70,000 people and left 1.5 million seeking refuge in neighboring countries. 

Thai Gold on a plate or alternative whisking methods

Golden, ripe and juicy. Excellent with sticky rice and blended in a shake. With rainy season about to start any day now high season for mangoes will soon finish and they will vanish from the market stalls.

Thai style brown rice noodle salad

The greatest inventors came up with ideas and solutions because they weren't afraid to break the patterns and come up with new ways of doing things. It’s ok to do things your own way, even if it’s not the commonly approved way.

Jamming, DIYing, improvising and the such

Living in a small town on Thai-Burma border most certainly will make you resourceful. In my kitchen (maybe you wouldn't even call it a kitchen, especially if you are an Americans in an lucrative government position) there is one hot plate, one pan, one big Thai knife (yes, I love it!), one multipurpose Swiss knife, one small chopping board and one spatula. A chef in Mae Sot need to be robust but if you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere.

I'm a small-town Polish girl but you are not going to find out how to make Pierogi or Schnitzels here. Jamming is what we are going to do here. The limited kitchen equipment requires to improvise but with almost unlimited great local ingredients we'll make the best of it. For sure.