Menu for Hope II

This time last year a group of food bloggers put together and posted a menu of delicious recipes, asking that readers of this "Menu for Hope" make a donation to the victims of the devastating tsunami that had just swept through Southeast Asia. This helped raise a substantial sum for that cause.

This year, "Menu for Hope II" is being run to help victims of the recent earthquake that has devastated the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan. And rather than just ask our readers for a straight donation, Pim of Chez Pim, initiator of last year's successful fundraiser, has come up with a great idea: foodbloggers around the world are all offering a bunch of cool foodie gifts and interesting cookbooks as raffle prizes. For each $5 donation a person makes, they get a ticket to one of the items of their choice, and thus the chance to not just support an important cause, but also to win a prize!

The First Giving site will be collecting the donations - this is a professional online fundraising company, and in the interests of transparency, First Giving will do all the collection and forward the funds directly to Unicef, our recipient organization. The fund will be earmarked to support the victims of the Kashmir earthquake.

Recipe to participate:

1. Find the gift you would like on our menu of donated items.
2. Go to the Menu for Hope II donation page and donate $5 or whatever sum you can spare.
3. Tell us in the comment section of your donation form which gift(s) you would like have. Each $5 donation will give you one chance at winning the prize of your choice. (Yes, if you donate more than $5, you are allowed to specify more than one prize.)
4. That's it!

Our campaign will end on December 23rd, and the winners will be announced and the prizes sent to corresponding winners (post paid by the prize donor, not the winner) after January 1st 2006.

Keeping in theme with my blog, my offered raffle prize for Menu for Hope II is a new copy of Barbara Santich's work, "The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval recipes for today". An excellent introduction to this particular style of food, the book contains chapters explaining the background, regional unity, Arabic influence, tools, ingredients, manners and format of medieval Mediterranean cuisine in an easily read style, as well as chapters of actual recipes in their original language with a translation and modern recreation of each dish.

These chapters cover Sauces, Meat & Poultry, Fish & Seafood, Vegetables & Pulses, Pies & Torte, Desserts & Fritters, and Preserves. The recipes range from standard dishes found in varied form everywhere in medieval Europe such as Juvert, aka Green Sauce, to distinctly regional dishes, such as Escabeche - fried fish with hot nut, herb & vinegar sauce, which has survived to the present day in recognizable form. Exotic dishes make an appearance, my favorite being Peacock Liver Sauce - although the original text specifies "capons or hens" might also be used. Chicken in Pomegranate Sauce is a dish I have particularly enjoyed from this book, as is the recipe for Ricotta & Herb Ravioli and the simple, but delightfully tasty Spinach with Pancetta & Currants. A rare find in medieval cuisine is also offered - a recipe for squid, Squid or Cuttlefish with Almonds, Pinenuts & Currants. To tempt your tastebuds (and your wallet!) I list here the translation of the recipe Fried Fish in Sweet Sour Sauce:

Baborada for Fried Fish
If you wish to make baborada for fried fish or fresh sardines, do it thus: Take two cloves of garlic, toasted bread soaked in vinegar, hazelnuts and walnuts, and grind them all together. And when it is well ground, mix it with a dash of oil and then with vinegar; and add honey or concentrated grape juice. And blend it with hot water to a thin consistency, and with oil; and set the pan on the heat. And when it boils, add the fish, and add lots of spices, for then it is better. Boil until it is thick, and sufficiently cooked. Then erve the fish on platters, and the sauce in bowls.

So please, go and take a look at the list of prizes being offered for the Menu for Hope II, make a donation of whatever you can, and with a bit of luck your generosity will have the sidebenefit of a foody reward!

Comments

[Pim]

Thanks so very much Christina. This looks really interesting. Escabeche is one of my favorite dishes, but I had no idea it has been around so long.

Thanks to everyone, we've raised over $5,000 in 3 days! Can you ever believe it?

cheers,
Pim