But we didn’t do that, so into the pan they went!<\/p>\n
Sure looks like a pancake, doesn’t it?\u00a0 Tasted like one, too, although the sesame seeds on top gave it a slightly different crunch.\u00a0 Didn’t stop us from putting maple syrup on the leftovers the following morning. (Pictures of the fully cooked version down below.)<\/p>\n Our other side dish uses much less expensive ingredients than the main dish. Beans, tomatoes, cumin, coconut milk… wait, HOW much saffron?<\/p>\n Never mind.<\/p>\n This curry actually calls for pigeon peas, which we’ve used on previous occasions.\u00a0 But we have reached peak legume storage capacity in our kitchen.<\/p>\n You can decide for yourself if this is an argument we have between the two of us, or if this is just my inner monologue.\u00a0 Either way, “cook the beans you have” won this time, and we decided to use black eyed peas, which are a staple in many African dishes, and therefore ruled by the judges (our cats) to be a valid substitution.<\/p>\n The peas get a quick cook in the instant pot, and then somewhat mushed up with the back of a ladle.<\/p>\n Next they get tossed into a pot with coconut milk, cumin, tomatoes, and…\u00a0how much<\/em> saffron?<\/p>\n It’s quite a bit – that’s the ONLY source of the color in this picture, and you can see it’s a really stunning shade of yellow.<\/p>\n The ingredient list also calls for a tomato, but completely neglects to mention when to toss it in.\u00a0 Since we didn’t notice until we were ready to eat, we just tossed it in raw.\u00a0 This is probably not authentic, but it was actually really tasty that way – the acidity was a nice contrast to the richness of the beans and coconut milk.<\/p>\n Time for the main event!\u00a0 Leigh’s one request was that I NOT bring home a big live lobster and murder it in the kitchen.\u00a0 While I personally believe I have it in me to do the dirty deed, it turns out not to be the right choice for this dish anyway.<\/p>\n There’s two kinds of lobsters you can generally find for sale in North America – whole North Atlantic lobsters, and lobster tails from rock or spiny lobsters.\u00a0 The whole ones are what you think of when you think about New England lobster dinners – big suckers with claws full of meat.<\/p>\n Well guess what?\u00a0 Those things aren’t native to the Indian Ocean. Instead, the lobsters you find there are much closer to Pacific spiny lobsters.\u00a0 When you buy those, you only ever get tails, rather than whole lobsters.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Why are we denied spiny lobster claws?<\/p>\n Because they don’t have any, that’s why. (Photo by Marty Silverman, from his article in Dive Training Magazine.\u00a0<\/a> Used without permission. Marty, if you have an issue, let me know, and I’ll take it down.)<\/p>\n Marty’s a much better photographer than I am, but here’s what our Pacific lobster tails looked like before cooking:<\/p>\n In case you weren’t aware, the only turn red AFTER they’re cooked.\u00a0 But since that only takes about 5 minutes under the broiler, we better get cracking on the sauce!<\/p>\n First we saut\u00e9ed shallots in butter, then added white wine, the seeds from a vanilla bean AND vanilla extract.\u00a0 Scraping vanilla beans is fussy work, but oh so worth it.\u00a0 After this has reduced a bit, in goes heavy cream.\u00a0 The sauce reduces until the lobster is ready, then you strain out the shallots and pour the liquid over the lobster.\u00a0 \u00a0The whole thing is served over wilted spinach.<\/p>\n Here’s our best attempt at food porn for this meal:<\/p>\n Probably not up to Marty’s standards, but it still looks tasty, doesn’t it?\u00a0 Here’s the full spread, with some more of the white wine.<\/p>\n This was a luxurious meal, no two ways about it.\u00a0 Vanilla cream sauce over lobster, accompanied by beans with saffron.\u00a0 We are well aware that we are super privileged to be able to do this, and we certainly wouldn’t do it every day.<\/p>\n But man… it sure was good. Vanilla and lobster are both amazing flavors, and neither one makes the other worse, that’s for sure.\u00a0 And the beans were rich and delicious.<\/p>\n So what about dessert? Well, that turned out to be yet ANOTHER case (three out of four, if you’re keeping track at home) where the recipe seems to have failed us a bit. We decided to make an Indian inspired sweet called a Ladu<\/em>, which is made with rice flour on the continent.\u00a0 THIS version, on the other hand, called for ground raw rice. ?? OK, let’s go with it.\u00a0 First, you cook the rice in ghee “until it is cooked well.”<\/p>\n I’m not sure how long that is, but I’m also not sure it’s actually achievable without, you know,\u00a0water<\/em>.\u00a0 I don’t think rice can become fully cooked with\u00a0just<\/em> fat.\u00a0 This rice\u00a0certainly<\/em> didn’t.\u00a0 Other commenters on the internet have made the same observation.\u00a0 The problem is that while there are a number of sites that have a recipe for Comoran Ladus, they all have the\u00a0same<\/em> recipe, clearly cut-and-pasted from some Platonic ur-recipe only glimpsed by the people in the cave in the story of the cave by the Greek guy. (no one knows my plan…<\/a>)<\/p>\n Anyway.<\/p>\n Moving on, the rest of the ingredients aren’t too complicated – powdered sugar, cardamom and a surprising amount of black pepper. Mix into balls, and refrigerate, because there’s nothing else holding them together but ghee and prayer.<\/p>\n Taste-wise, we have to admit they’re pretty good.\u00a0 Cardamom and sugar are a winning combination, of course, and the black pepper adds a fun biteyness. However the texture was… well, it was ground up, uncooked rice.\u00a0 We ate them, because they were tasty, but it was “lose a filling” Russian Roulette each time we did.\u00a0 So far, we’ve won, but we probably won’t play again after this batch is gone.<\/p>\n And that’s Comoros! We hope they enjoy a bit more political stability soon, because their food is delicious, if unevenly documented.\u00a0 Next off we’re off to the Republic of the Congo, which is more or less equally as democratic (i.e., not terribly) as the Democratic Republic of the Congo next door.<\/p>\n Recipes: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s pretty easy to see why this blog has been updating a lot more recently of late – after the world ended in March, we aren’t spending every weekend officiating roller derby.\u00a0 With everything shut down, there’s just a lot … Continue reading ![\"Comorran](\"https:\/\/fnerk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/20201122_180911.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nBroiled Lobster Tail With Vanilla Sauce<\/a>
\nMkatra Foutra<\/a> (Comoran Flatbread)
\nPigeon Peas in Coconut Milk<\/a> (In French)
\nLadu<\/a><\/p>\n