Tomatoes Rougaille

Tomatoes Rougaille

The word rougaille (roo-GAHY) refers to Creole spices, like thyme and ginger. The cooks of Mauritius borrow flavors from Indian, Chinese, and French dishes. The best part about this recipe is that you don’t have to cook it! Just mix it in a bowl and pour it over warm…

Soy Sauce

Soy Sauce

Soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans, roasted grain, water, and salt. Soy sauce was invented in China almost 2,500 years ago. Soy sauce is a poplar condiment used to flavor many Asian foods. What’s This? Fermentation is a chemical process that causes bubbles of…

Purée of scorched tomatoes

Purée of scorched tomatoes

Serves 6 to 8 • 2 lbs. ripe, red tomatoes • 2 Tbs. butter • 1 tsp. dried basil, crushed • 1 tsp. black pepper • ½ tsp. crushed saffron threads • ¼ tsp. thyme • salt to taste • ¼ cup heavy cream 1. Put the tomatoes under a broiler and turn them often until they are…

Avocado-ranch-dressing

Avocado-ranch-dressing

It makes about 1½ cups. Don’t make this dressing more than a couple of hours in advance, and use it on a fairly simple tossed green salad: for instance, romaine and butter lettuce with some thin-sliced bell pepper and a bit of sliced red onion. • 1 medium-sized ripe…

Taratour sauce

Taratour sauce

It makes about 2 cups Serve this with hot, quartered pita bread or use in preparing Hommos bi Tahini and Baba Ghanouj. • 1 cup tahini (sesame seed paste) • 3 large cloves garlic, crushed or finely minced • ½ cup fresh lemon juice • 1 tsp. salt • ½ cup cold water 1….

Cucumber-avocado sauce

Cucumber-avocado sauce

It makes about 3 cups Good on filled crêpes, omelets, or vegetables. • 2 large cucumbers (about 1¼ lbs.) • 5 Tbs. butter • 2 Tbs. flour • 1 cup milk, heated • ½ tsp. salt, or more to taste • white pepper to taste • 1 small, ripe avocado (about 6 oz.) • 1 tsp. finely…

Hot paprika sauce

Hot paprika sauce

It makes about 2¾ cups. Ladle this over mushroom-filled crêpes, or Stuffed Potato Pancakes, Hungarian Style. • 4 Tbs. butter • 4 Tbs. flour • 2½ cups heated Vegetable broth • ¼ to ½ tsp. hot paprika or cayenne pepper, to taste • 2 tsp. sweet paprika salt, to taste • ¼…

Béchamel sauce

Béchamel sauce

This milk-based, roux-thickened sauce is so basic and has so many tasty and useful variations that it cannot be left out of this book. Here is essentially the same recipe that is given in the first Vegetarian Epicure, with a few additional comments and a sampler of…

EGGPLANT IN A PEANUT AND SESAME SAUCE BAGARA BAINGAN

EGGPLANT IN A PEANUT AND SESAME SAUCE BAGARA BAINGAN

Baghara baigan is one of Hyderabad’s most famous and luscious sweet-and-sour vegetarian dishes. It calls for small eggplants that are partially quartered lengthwise, stuffed, fried, and then put in a sauce filled with roasted and ground sesame seeds and nuts, along…

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND TOMATO BAIGAN CHOKAH

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND TOMATO BAIGAN CHOKAH

Chokah is eaten all over Bihar. In the villages there, it could be the only dish of the day, eaten with simple whole-grain flatbreads, such as chapatis, or rice. (Similar dishes, known as “bharta,” exist all across North India.) It can also be served as part of a meal…

DARJEELING MOMOS WITH SPICY DIPPING SAUCE

DARJEELING MOMOS WITH SPICY DIPPING SAUCE

These fun little dumplings are the most popular street snack in Darjeeling, thanks to the thousands of Tibetans who have made the town their home since the 1960s. They’re enjoyable to make, but more so on a weekend when you’re over-indexing on enthusiasm and patience….