CupcakeQ

My proudest moment this Christmas was the slicing of my very first turkey. I was so terrified of screwing it up, and so happy to see a perfectly cooked Christmas bird, that I forgot to take a photo.

I am only just beginning to learn how to cook meat as I learned most of what I know about food when I was a vegan. Truly there is no group in the first-world more obsessed with food than those who once freely ate eggs, dairy and meat but chose to give it up for the sake of animals. A vegan thinks about breakfast, lunch and dinner before they even get out of bed. They must determine where they will be, and what food they will have access to before they leave the house, because there are so few vegan options readily at hand. Aside from trawling Kosher supermarkets for dairy-free treats, the only option for those craving practically anything, from cake to casserole, is to make it yourself using animal-friendly substitutes like tofu, soy milk and the vegan champion of margarine – Nuttelex.

It has been many years since I was a vegan but I’ve been slow to cook meat for myself. Hence the decision to roast a turkey, in someone else’s kitchen, away from all my beloved cooking implements, for my entire family, for Christmas, was a little ambitious. As usual I over-researched, reading every recipe, blog post and forum thread on the topic, and eventually selected Curtis Stone’s recipe for turkey in brine. It was the simplest, requiring no basters or meat thermometers (although I bought both just in case) and only 2 hours to roast. The result was fantastic and I will probably use the same method for roasting chickens too.

The other slightly ambitious Christmas mission was to make some traditional Colombian food for the lovely boy, to thank him for spending his Christmas with my family in Australia. On the menu: tamales and arepas. The latter, a Colombian flat bread, was not too difficult. The recipe was in English on the back on the packet of maize we found and I at least had an idea of what they should look and taste like. Every time someone arrives in Singapore from Colombia they carry a suitcase full of food from various mothers to their children. These suitcases are like Red Cross food boxes for homesick Colombians, and usually contain vacuum packed arepas and ajiaco, a chicken and vegetable broth.

The tamales on the other hand were quite a task as I had never seen, let alone tasted, them before. The boy, who’s cooking experience extends to scrambled eggs, had no idea of the production process and couldn’t advise me if I was doing each step correctly. I followed his Grandmother’s recipe as closely as I could and, I’m told, the results were pretty close. A lot more salt and a little more cumin was all that separated my tamales from those on tables throughout Colombia this Christmas.

The boy, of course, remembered to take photos, so here is the evidence of my efforts to be a good girlfriend:

Hot Tamales!

Ready to eat tamales - meat and vegetables layered between cooked maize

Boxing Day Dinner - BBQ & Arepas

Abuela Marina’s Hot Tamales (adapted for an Australian kitchen)

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound of Harina de Maiz Amarilla (we found this in the Iberico grocery store on Johnston St Fitzroy, you could probably substitute Polenta if you can’t find this ingredient)
– salt, pepper and cumin to taste (the Colombian taste is a lot of all 3)
- 5 sprigs of spring onion, 4 chopped and 1 whole
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped finely
- 1/2 pound of pork belly (I used pork ribs which worked just as well)
- 1 roasted chicken (I bought one already cooked from the supermarket)
- 1/4 pound of peas
- 1/2 pound of potatoes
- 1/4 pound of peeled carrots
- 2 boiled eggs
- A stack of banana leaves
- Natural string for tying

Cook the maiz in 3 cups of water, seasoned with the salt, pepper and cumin. Stir until it’s a thick consistency and set aside.

Remove the fat from the pork but leave the skin. Fry the pork fat with the chopped spring onions with a little garlic and oil. Combine the onion mix and the peas with the maiz, cover with a lid and let rest for an hour.

In another pot, poach the skin of the pork belly in some water with the whole spring onion stalk for 20 minutes or until the meat is tender.

Whilst letting the maiz rest, slice the potatoes, carrots and eggs into 1/2 cm thick slices.

When the maiz is ready, lay out 2 or 3 banana leaves and lightly oil the top one. Create a square of maiz about 15 cm square and 1cm thick. On top of the maiz add a layer of chicken and pork and a layer of vegetables. Add another layer of maize on top of this and press down. Wrap the tamales, either by pulling the sides of the banana leaves to make a pouch, or by folding them over the make a tightly wrapped square. Tie together firmly with string. Repeat until all the mix is used – I managed 6 big tamales with this recipe.

Pack the wrapped tamales into a steamer, and cook on a low heat for 2.5 hours – keeping an eye on the water level. Serve wrapped with scissors to untie on the plate.