Maldivian Menu

Apologies for being AWOL. I was lucky enough to enjoy a ten day stint in the beautiful Maldives. Even luckier, I was on an all inclusive package in a beautiful resort with a fantastic chef and have returned a bigger person ... literally!

The food was AMAZING! There was so much choice with an abundance of colourful salads, fruits and vegetables. For the vegetarian the main food sources are:-

- Coconuts - grown on every island and declared the national tree. It is grated and shredded into dishes, eaten raw or turned into coconut milk to add creaminess to curries and beverages.

- Starches - yams, sweet potatoes, breadfruit and screw pine and, of course, rice.

- Curries - often containing the above ingredients as well as aubergines, pumpkins and bitter gourds as well as green bananas. The curries are served with rice and/or roshi, an unleavened flatbread.

               Snake gourd curry above and bitter gourd curry below served with rice and roshi

The influence of nearby India and Sri Lanka manifests itself in the food providing tasty, exotic flavours.

Visiting a nearby island where maldivians live, we saw banana trees, star fruit trees and local nuts left out in the sun to dry.

                                  Star fruits growing on a tree and nuts left out in the sun to dry

The main food source is fish, in particular tuna, so if you are pescatarian rather than vegetarian or vegan, the world is your oyster.

Pumpkin patch work

If you have read this blog for any length of time you will know I am a real fan of pumpkin spice, favourites being a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte and a special edition pumpkin spice Baileys.

Pumpkin has also landed on top of my pizzas, appeared in flans, tarts and risottos and even made it to the breakfast table and dessert.

One of the nicest things I've done this week was to visit a pumpkin farm near Harrogate in Yorkshire. Grab yourself a wheelbarrow and head into a pumpkin patch to literally pick your own. Unlike strawberries or raspberries, it doesn't take long, although it's exciting trying to find the perfect specimen. Give it a wash, pay for it and, if you wish, take it to the carving barn.

After this autumnal exercise it was time for lunch - pumpkin soup naturally!

Gourd Morning

Back on the pumpkin trail I have found a way of incorporating them with another seasonal beauty; the eating apple.

Roasted cubes of pumpkin or squash and apple, cooled and blended with coconut water and cinnamon make a delicious, sugar-free breakfast. Layer up this autumnal mousse with Greek yogurt and sprinkle on your choice of topping (nuts, muesli, granola, desiccated coconut, dried fruit, swirl of honey etc). If you're vegan, cook the squash and apple in coconut oil instead of butter and use a dairy-free coconut milk yogurt.

Try it for yourselves - it's really gourd!

Pimping your pumpkins

Watch out for seasonal pumpkin, gourd and squash recipes coming your way this month. Sweet, savoury and stylish!

                                                 

Pumpkin to talk about

A friend has just returned from the States. I have looked after the family rabbit whilst they were away and she popped around with a thank you gift - a bouquet of gourds! Inspired by the New York stoops adorned with pumpkins and fairy lights, she knew I would like them for decoration. Hovering over the basket, however, I am tempted to see which ones are edible.

I love pumpkin flavoured everything. They are fantastic roasted, mashed, stuffed, baked in cakes, blended in soups, made into gnocchi, pasta and pasties. They are best friends with strong cheeses, nuts, herbs and spices and their seeds can be roasted for soups, salads and snacks.

On holiday last week in Palma I had the best dish ever - pumpkin gnocchi at a little place in the wall near the cathedral called Cafe Murada.

Last year I became addicted to the special edition Pumpkin Spice Baileys and this year my daughter has bought me Beanies Pumpkin Spice Coffee Granules which is rich and flavoursome without the sweetness of syrup added to coffee.

Taking the Biscuit

An autumn break in Palma Majorca revealed dappled sunshine beneath the palm trees, a wind tossed yacht loosened from its moorings and the blackest clouds chasing us along the boulevard. It was a week of sun cream with ice cream one day and brollies and steaming cafe con leche the next.

I have a kind of love affair with Palma and, despite the changing sky, it did not disappoint. The food for both my carnivore husband and my veggie self was exceptional. Eating out in Spain used to be a nightmare for me but, wow, things have changed. On every menu there were vegetarian and vegan choices. Not only that but most of the menus had numbers against the dishes with a key showing what was within. Great for those with allergies, intolerances and dislikes.

One ingredient which came up a couple of times, even in English, was speculoos. It appeared in both sweet and savoury dishes and I was curious enough to ask what it was. It turns out to be a crispy biscuit, like the ones given free with cups of coffee (Lotus Biscoff call them a saucer side biscuit). It has a caramelised almost cinnamon taste and so accompanies ice cream dishes as well as the pumpkin dish I enjoyed on holiday.

Baked pumpkin with speculoos on carrot cream with hazelnuts