Tags
berbere, couscous, food, foodie penpals, greek, halva, harvest snaps, middle east, north africa, pea crisps, rose petals, snapeas, za'atar
Another amazing month for me and Foodie Penpals!
I was buying for the absolutely lovely Joan Grady all the way up in Scotland! I managed to get it bought, packed and posted before the Easter holidays messed up the post too much and it got there even quicker than I imagined! Luckily Joan seemed to enjoy the somewhat sweet parcel, so I’m very pleased!
The package I received was from the supremely amazing Selina of Thrift Street Life. Her package concentrated on North African/Middle Eastern cooking as not only is it a cuisine that I have been reading about lately but one that she loves.
The first casualty was the packet of Snapea crisps. I’d never come across these before, but they are ‘crisps’ made from peas. Yes, peas. They even look like peapods, which I thought was cute! They were eaten before I could take a photo – hence the stock photo of the packet! They’re made by a company called Harvest Snaps (US site here: Harvest Snaps – and if you’re in the US then it might be worth checking out their Promos section!).
Then came the spice blends. Wow. Firstly, a jar of Ethiopian Berbere – which is a hot spice mix which is so beautiful – and ground in Yorkshire! Secondly, a jar of Palestinian za’atar – a mix of thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and sumac. Selina recommends mixing it with olive oil and using as a dip for pittas or “sprinkled on everything”. I like it!
Next up is the halva. I have to say, I’ve not encountered halva before – this one is a sesame-based confection (other types can be semolina-based) flavoured with grape juice and sultanas. I’m waiting for when the nice weather returns to sit outside and enjoy this with the sunshine!
There was also a box of tricolour couscous – golden couscous with grains infused with tomato and spinach – which, as Selina says, is a little different from the norm.
To add to my collection of fruit teas, there were some lychee and some pomegranate tea sachets from Israel/Palestine.
Most wonderfully there were two little sachets of dried rose petals from The Spicery. They are the most amazing company, offering a wide variety of spices, blends and recipe kits. Selina suggested using the rose petals in a tagine, but I am also thinking of using them in a spice blend for a curry …
Thank you Selina and Joan for another fantastic Foodie Penpal month!
