Gizzi Erskine’s Guide to: Eating Around the WorldBy Angelica Malin
Gizzi Erskine is our foodie hero. From cookbooks to TV appearances, we love her effortless style and healthy approach to food – honestly, there’s nothing the girl can’t do. This year, Gizzi Erskine is working with Florida grapefruit on a series of delicious, sweet and juicy recipes – Florida grapefruit is at its best in February and are available to buy nationwide. To find out more, visit here. Without further adieu, here’s Gizzi’s guide to eating around the world – let’s get cracking:
Hawaii: Tuna Poke
Poke is hot seasoned sushi rice which has been topped with a raw but marinated tuna (normally marinated in soy and sesame), and then served with an array of things from seaweed to pickled vegetables. It’s on my top 3 biggest trend spots for this year.
Photo Credit: Caroline’s Family Kitchen
Los Angeles: Bajan Prawn and Florida Grapefruit Tacos
LA is the home of Mexican food (out of Mexico) and the trendy superfood. This year’s biggest superfood is the grapefruit and Florida, in particular, has the best in the world; you’re seeing it in all sorts of guises. The best way I had them was with big fat plump raw prawns, quickly marinated in all the great things for prawns: garlic, chilli, cumin, coriander and paprika, then charred and served with a whole bunch of fantastic and fresh usual suspects for the perfect taco. But, with pink Florida grapefruit being the hero; a zingy and fruity accompaniment. Florida grapefruit is fat free, cholesterol free, and high in fibre. Plus it’s packed full of vitamins, iron and essential anti-oxidants.
Korea: KFC
Korean fried chicken is probably my signature dish and is in my ‘Healthy Appetite’ book. A fusion leftover from the war where the American army were making Southern fried chicken, but this time coated in a sticky spicy tangy Gochujang sauce for the Korean palate. Fast forward years on and us Westerners now love the spice, too.
Japan: Tsukemen Ramen
A derivative of Tonkotsu ramen which is a 20 hour cooked pork bone broth ramen, but much much richer, seasoned with bonito and soy it’s almost like an intense gravy. Instead of normal ramen noodles you have thicker more alkaline noodles to dip into the hot stock. It makes your taste buds go nuts.
Mexico: Mole Verde
I was lucky enough a few years back to live with a Mexican family and learnt about real Mexican home cooking. The one dish I took away from that experience was Mole Verde. Not the Mole most of us Brits know about that’s finished with chocolate, but this time it’s thickened with pumpkin seeds and finished with tomatillos and loads of herbs. Served with warm hot corn tortillas it’s like nothing else you’ve ever tasted.
Photo Credit: Instagram – Meg Everett
Malaysia: Roti Canai
The natural cuisine of Malaysia is a melting pot of different cultural foods. It has influences from South East Asia, India and China. Malay curries are somewhere between Thai and Indian and they have this brilliant dish that you have for breakfast, snacks, or light lunch called roti canai. It’s the lightest fried bread with curry to dip, mostly just the curry gravy. It’s one of my favourite dishes in the world.
Photo credit: foreignfeasts.com
Italy: Pizza
Naples particularly. They do the best sourdough crusts, that are fast cooked. I did a pizza tour of naples last year and I ate so many different types of pizza. If you ever go you must give fried pizza a go. I’m all about simplicity here. Really slow proofed base, fast cooked with a really great fresh tomato sauce with basil, finished with buffalo mozzarella and the best olive oil.
Thailand: Khao Soi Noodles
These are curried soup noodles from the north of Thailand, from Chang Mai. Picture this: egg noodles, chicken curry, shallots, herbs and then crunchy fried noodles as a garnish. Simple but brilliant.
Photo Credit: Luang Prahang Riverside Hotel
Britain: The Roast
I have to have a roast every week. My boyfriend and I have been known to have two in a day (he can boast three). There are rules. Excellent quality meat, cooked perfectly; REALLY GOOD GRAVY, made from bones and lots of it, Yorkshire puddings, really crispy roasties, and whatever accompaniment that’s meant to go with it – horseradish for beef, mint sauce and redcurrant jelly for lamb, bread sauce and stuffing for poultry, and apple sauce for pork.
Spain: Arroz de Marisco
I wrote my last book from spain, as I got shipped off by my management to work. It was super inspiring. Mid August, baking hot weather, on the coast and always with paella’s superior sister ‘Arroz Marisco’. It’s much soupier than paella and the good stuff is made with really rich shellfish stock and finished with fresh and quick cooked seafood. My girlfriends would come out just to see me and for some wine, gambas pil-pil and a huge dish of this to share. The dream summer’s day.
