National cuisines (recipes welcome!)

[Mervi]

Well that's just odd! I guess they think that commercial/brand samples are "safer" than organic stuff...
Thanks for the info Atthis!

I've been thinking about the bed sheet rule today. I'm wondering if Australia has banned ALL used bed sheets from all corners of the globe, or whether they have something in particular against used FINNISH bed sheets. I mean that would be just insulting! And in any case one wouldn't send unwashed sheets anyway, right? I mean you Australians have heard of soap, right? Even we primitive and savage Fenni know how to use that stuff and you guys are descendants of much nobler nations.

[Atthis]

Soap, what's that? I think you meant S-O-U-P. Yes, we've definitely heard of soup.

Gees sounds like my school ..... in fact I think they did used to alternate teaching Japanese/French with Chinese/German every so often ..... omg maybe we went to the same school !!!!!

I'm a bit scared to ask, but Atthis did you go to school in Melbourne? (if it's not too personal a question! Feel free not to answer)

Ha ha ha! I just saw this. No, I didn't go to school in Melbourne. I went to school in Canberra, and still live here now.

[Mervi]

Mystery solved! I wouldn't want anyone to send me used bed sheets washed with soup either!

So... what sort of soup does everyone eat? Do we have any national specialities here? I'm afraid my compatriots are still quite fond of regular pea soup. And there's nothing wrong with it, it's a warming and filling meal after being outside on a cold winter day, but it's hardly an exciting topic for discussion. So, share your favourites please!

[redchild]

Chinese hot and sour soup. French onion soup. Chicken enchilada soup. New England clam chowder (sh-ow-deeeaAHH? It's CHOWDA!)

I like plain ol' canned tomato soup too.

[Nuytsia]

Atthis if the Australian mushroom industry is brought to its knees by an imported pathogen we'll know who to blame!
Hehehe!!!!
I guess they allow commercial products because there is some laws governing how they are prepared, but if I just put something in a bag who knows what I did? Well that's the theory, don't ask me how it works out in practice!
Hey edible wild mushrooms is another thing I've been wanting to find out more about! I'm sure there's ones you can eat that do grow here? I found this one growing in my property, it looks like SOME sort of bolete?
[Image: 2917_1143067777444_1249962217_372221_4695446_n.jpg]

But as far as I can tell not one you can eat.....
Have you ever tried to grow the porcini mushrooms from spores in the dried ones sent over? (or are they killed by the oven?) I wonder why they don't grow here....

Re the sourdough starter, I am still pretty new to the whole thing, and the recipe I found is basically making Rye Sourdough from scratch - ie just from rye flour and water and some honey. It takes about 3 days I think? (I'll find instructions and post). It seems to work fine, and I have kept a bit of the dough in the fridge for subsequent use but to be honest it seems to work almost as well just starting from scratch. So sometimes I have a 'starter' in the fridge and sometimes I don't! Still experimenting.

---

Re soup, well I just made ...... split pea soup!!!!
To me it was good, not boring at all! I don't normally eat it ...... I just got this recipe book all about miso recipes and the split pea soup was one. It's a good book because the recipes are mostly vegan, and I normally can't cook that type of thing very well!! But these turn out really yummy!

I am not sure that Australia has anything that would qualify as the national soup! Hmmmmmm probably tomato ? I really don't like it! I used to have canned soup but I've gone right off it and now I won't eat (drink?) it!

I like creamy soups like pumpkin, but I'm too darn lazy to get out the food processor to blend it up. I really must get one of those 'wizz' things that you just stick in the soup pot and blend it.

Hehehe CHOW-DA!

Oh forgot to say, I found a book on Finnish cooking on the library website! I'm going to borrow it and hope it has something about bread...... I think I better learn a bit more about how to make it before I ask for bread starter donations!
I was looking on the web to see if there IS anywhere to buy Finnish bread in Australia and I found an interview with someone in the Australian Symphony Orchestra who is from Finland and he said the closest thing he could get here was Swedish Rye Bread at Ikea!!!!!!!!

[Farseer]

I am not sure that Australia has anything that would qualify as the national soup!

No, not that I know of, especially as we're probably more identified with stew than soup (no, we don't eat wombat stew!)? At least, that's what I'd expect given our swaggie/Outback heritage and subsequent overseas image? Either way, I am a huge fan of both, winter or summer!

My favourite soups are always the simple ones, and would include pea and ham (made from scratch with leftover ham bones), chicken and corn (not unlike a chowder) and fresh tomato soup (which I make HEAPS of as we always have a glut of tomatoes in the garden). I always have a plentiful supply of tinned and packet soups in the pantry...tinned pea and ham soup is a wonderful help when my kids have bouts of tonsilitis as it's the only thing they'll eat!

I think I am also addicted to Continental Cup-a-Soups (the chicken noodle kind!) and would probably choose it as a last meal !

[Atthis]

Have you ever tried to grow the porcini mushrooms from spores in the dried ones sent over? (or are they killed by the oven?) I wonder why they don't grow here....

No, I've never tried growing them. As you pointed out, I wouldn't want to be responsible for bringing the "Australian mushroom industry to its knees". Anything that I get goes straight in a pot, and then in my belly! I was browsing the internet for boletus info, and rumour has it that they do actually grow in some areas of Victoria. But their location is a jealously guarded secret. Not fair! Apparently they grow well in New Zealand, too.
Nice mushroom pic, by the way. But I don't know what sort it is. I haven't seen any like that here. The only ones I've picked where I live are the regular button mushrooms, and red pine mushrooms (also called saffron milk caps).

I can't think of a national Australian soup either. My favourite nationality for soups is probably Polish. And I just looove all things sour, so unsurprisingly most of my favourite soups are the ones with some tang. There's a Polish gherkin soup, made with pickled gherkins and root vegetables; a lemon soup, made with whole sliced lemons; and my all-time favourite, a soup made from sauerkraut and (surprise, surprise) porcini mushrooms! This one I only have at Christmas time, though. Polish beetroot soup is really good too.

I wish I could grow enough tomatoes to make tomato soup like you, Farseer! At least my tomato soup is incredibly quick and easy - I just use stock and bought tomato juice. It turns out surprisingly good, if you add a few herbs and spices.

I never eat tinned soups, but I like some of the packet ones. My favourite would probably be Thai tom yum soup (Trident). Takes 3 minutes to cook, and you can add whatever veggies you have in the house. Oh, and a squeeze of lime juice to make it nice and sour. Yum!

[redchild]

How big is that mushroom, Nutysia? It looks MASSIVE in that pic

[Nuytsia]

and fresh tomato soup (which I make HEAPS of as we always have a glut of tomatoes in the garden).

*ENVY* (As my tiny tomato seedlings struggle for life on the windowsill)
You know I don't think I have EVER had tomato soup made from fresh tomatoes!!! Goodness I bet it doesn't taste anything like canned. The closest thing would be one time I made Gazpacho.

I think I am also addicted to Continental Cup-a-Soups (the chicken noodle kind!) and would probably choose it as a last meal !

Wow really? Maybe I should give those things a go!

No, I've never tried growing them. As you pointed out, I wouldn't want to be responsible for bringing the "Australian mushroom industry to its knees". Anything that I get goes straight in a pot, and then in my belly! I was browsing the internet for boletus info, and rumour has it that they do actually grow in some areas of Victoria. But their location is a jealously guarded secret. Not fair! Apparently they grow well in New Zealand, too.
Nice mushroom pic, by the way. But I don't know what sort it is. I haven't seen any like that here. The only ones I've picked where I live are the regular button mushrooms, and red pine mushrooms (also called saffron milk caps).

Ohhh no fair New Zealand! I guess we will survive without them... or find out the secret location in Victoria!

There's a Polish gherkin soup, made with pickled gherkins and root vegetables; a lemon soup, made with whole sliced lemons; and my all-time favourite, a soup made from sauerkraut and (surprise, surprise) porcini mushrooms! This one I only have at Christmas time, though. Polish beetroot soup is really good too.

Wow they sound amazing! I really only eat the 'boring' kind of soups!

How big is that mushroom, Nutysia? It looks MASSIVE in that pic

Heheh it WAS! (well to me). It was going back a while now but I think the cap was about 15-20 cm diameter?

[Nuytsia]

I mean you Australians have heard of soap, right? Even we primitive and savage Fenni know how to use that stuff and you guys are descendants of much nobler nations.

Goodness, you have been misinformed

I thought I better post the rye bread recipe that I have been using. I actually got it out of a book on biodynamic gardening by Maria Thun ! (so it's German).
This is the original recipe, but I wrote it down for my own use only so it's probably not EXACTLY as per the book.

1. In the evening put 1 tsp honey into a glass of warm (50 C) water and stir to dissolve. Mix with 250g fine grained rye meal. Keep warm (26-30 degs) 12 hours (overnight).

2. (12 hours later, next morning) Add another 250g rye flour and another glass warm water. Wait another 12 hours (I assume it still should be 26 degrees??)

3. (12 hours later) Add 500g flour and 'sufficient' warm water. You can always add linseed, caraway or fennel. Leave another 12 hours (overnight).

4. Next morning add salt and finish the dough. When it begins
to rise again the loaves are formed. Let them rise well, put them in a
preheated oven and bake them for a good hour.

To me it was totally vague when it called for things like 'a glass of water' (how big is your glass!) and 'let them rise well' (errrr 20 minutes, 20 hours what??), and best of all 'finish the dough'. What the heck does that mean! And no oven temperature!

Anyway, I have just interpreted it as best I can and it does seem to make nice rye bread. The dough doesn't seem to do much until about step 3 when it starts to get bubbly and smells yum like apple cider sort of.
I must admit I don't always keep it at 26 degrees either!
I am beginning to wonder if there is something quite different about Australian rye flour, as this is not the only recipe I've attempted in which the dough/starter seemed WAY too dry and I had to add a lot more water (or use less flour) than the recipe said.

I'm constantly experimenting with different ratios of water/flour and different temperatures and times. Haven't hit on a 'magic combination' yet.

I did try out this just the other day and it really didn't turn as well as the better loaves I've made using the above recipe and was a LOT more mucking around.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17930/d...-rye-bread

But maybe I should give it more than one go!