[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

The month of Food has started, and today is the 5th of September, which means that there are 26 days left until the end of the month. Coincidentally, the number of letters in the English alphabet.

This is why from today on we're starting the "Letter a day dish showcase" thread (this one) that will collect mouth-watering images of different dishes and foods! The only condition is that the dish name you post needs to begin with a corresponding letter of the alphabet, and you can post as many as you like!

Today is the first day, which means letter A! and I'll start with...



Andouille. This pork sausage hails from @GoLLuM13 homeland.

Let's see how many we'll collect by the end of the month!

[GoLLuM13]

Oh no, not me especially pork 😂

From my country, you can find Asida (which is a middle-eastern and North African dessert).It is a lump of dough, obtained by stirring wheat flour into boiling water, sometimes with added butter or honey. It comes in different shapes

There is also Arayech (or Aarayech) it is an Algierian pastry, from Algiers to be precise, it comes in the shape of a propeller with three blades that are curved at their ends with a fondant dough stuffed with almond paste flavored with cinnamon and orange blossom water and coated with icing royal lemony.

[Saka]

@GoLLuM13 Your country seems to have a lot of nice food!

Since the first letter is already covered, I will go with a traditional stew from my country!

Bigos!



It's a mix of cooked cabbage, sauerkraut, meat, spicy sausage and herbs. There can be some regional variations too, for example adding some more vegetables. Common ones would be carrots.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Oh my, @Saka and I were just talking about our mutual love for cookies, but this is another level. I wonder if it's hard to make...

Today I'll add to this with Beijinho de Coco, a dessert from Brazil:



If pork is not your thing, then how about some coconut?

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Bigos looks much like what they make in Germany and Poland. I wonder where the original form of the dish originated before spreading accross?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch There is actually a vegetarian variation of bigos, it has existed for a long time. The meat in there is replaced by mushrooms. Nowadays, there are some fancier recipes using tofu as well. This recipe looks good at least in the pictures.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by DoctorEldritch

@Saka Bigos looks much like what they make in Germany and Poland. I wonder where the original form of the dish originated before spreading accross?

Bigos comes from Poland. It might be available in the neighbouring countries too because the borders of the country fluctuated a fair bit, especially on the eastern side.

Just a reminder, I am still a Pole and I write as one, even if I don't live there anymore.

To add another treat on the list, I will introduce you to balkan pastry called burek. I have some really good memories of showing still-warm all fresh burek just from the bakery into my face. I especially like it with cheese (balkan-type cheese), but there are variants with meat and spinach too. Maybe some others that I am not familiar with.



The most traditional way is a large pan of filo dough stuffed with the filling, then cut to pieces. It's often made as individual pastries too though, usually in the form of swirls.

[DoctorEldritch]

Originally Posted by Saka

Just a reminder, I am still a Pole and I write as one, even if I don't live there anymore.

You can take @Saka out of Poland, but you can't take Poland out of @Saka 😉

Ah, I like burek, and it actually freezes quite well, at least, the ones I've seen. You can buy them pre-baked and frozen and after an hour in the oven, they actually taste good. Not many pastries can do that.

While we're on savoury pastries, here is the one from Libya, Bureek Tajin:



Though unlike burek, this is traditionally meat-based.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I sometimes buy variations of burek from Lidl when they have Greek or Balkan weeks. They work, although I would like hmm... a bit more posh version of it. The cheese one from Lidl is pretty alright as it is though, just the dough tends to be too thick.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka It's hard to make a dough that would freeze well, that's true.

Then how about a different dough pastry from Mozambique? Here is Bolo Polana:



It's a sweet dessert cake made from cashews and potatoes.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch That looks nice. I wouldn't mind trying it one day. But right now it's late lunch-time here and I am a bit hungry. My mind started thinking about bruschetta. Regrettably, frozen ones are not great compared to the real fresh thing. My mother used to make these when she had guests. Maybe she would make them for me and my spouse if I moaned enough. 🤔

(Ah yes, my mother is a big fan of Italian cuisine and can imitate it fairly well. She also does speak Italian somewhat)