Hello! Are you curious about what types of food Eurasians eat and what/why do they celebrate certain types of festivals? If so, you're on the right page! We are blogging about Eurasian food and culture this time so continue scrolling down to find out more about them!
So, what exactly is a Eurasian person? A Eurasian is a person of mixed European and Asian decent. Eurasians in Singapore descended from Europeans, mainly Portuguese,Dutch and British, who intermarried with local Asians. Eurasian culinary traditions are generally derived from a blend of Portuguese, Dutch and British food cultures. Eurasian dishes are infused with local ingredients with influenced heavily by Malay,Chinese and Indian cuisines.Popular dishes include devil's curry, Eurasian smore,vindaloo and sugee cake. We will talk more about devil's curry later :)
Festivals and food eaten
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| www.butterball.com |
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Easter is also celebrated by Eurasians too. Easter is a religious festival celebrated by Eurasians and marks the end of Lent. Easter is preceded by a series of rituals observed during Lent. On Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, palm leaves are distributed to members of the congregation and include a procession of the worshippers carrying palms. It commemorates the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem. The Easter bunny is a symbol of fertility. Colourful eggs (chocolates in the shape of an egg) are a common sight as eggs symbolize new life and rebirth.
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As you can see, these are just 2 examples of festivals that Eurasians celebrate. You can always research more about it to find out more! Now, we'll be moving on to some popular Eurasian dishes and its recipes.
Traditional dishes
- Shepherd's pie
In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until 1877, and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was beef or mutton. More recently, the term "shepherd's pie" has been used when the meat is lamb, and the theory being that shepherds are concerned with sheep and not cattle.
Shepherd’s pie Recipe
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- • 1 red onion
- • 2 carrots
- • 2 sticks of celery
- • 2 cloves of garlic
- • a small bunch of fresh rosemary
- • olive oil
- • 500g good-quality minced lamb
- • 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- • 250ml lamb or vegetable stock, preferably organic
- • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- • 1.5kg Desiree potatoes
- • 100ml semi-skimmed milk
- • a large knob of butter
To prepare and cook your mince
• Peel and roughly chop the onion and carrots
• Trim and roughly chop the celery
• Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves
• Trim and roughly chop the celery
• Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves
• Pick the rosemary leaves, discard the stalks
• Heat a large pan on a medium heat
• Add a good lug of olive oil and onion, carrot, celery, garlic and most of the rosemary leaves
• Heat a large pan on a medium heat
• Add a good lug of olive oil and onion, carrot, celery, garlic and most of the rosemary leaves
• Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened
• Turn the heat up, add the lamb mince, and brown for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Use a sieve or slotted spoon to drain away any excess liquid from the pan, then tip in the tin in thinned tomatoes
• Turn the heat up, add the lamb mince, and brown for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Use a sieve or slotted spoon to drain away any excess liquid from the pan, then tip in the tin in thinned tomatoes
• Pour in the stock, season with a good pinch of salt and pepper and stir well, then bring to the boil
• Reduce to a low heat, pop the lid on slightly ajar, and simmer for 1 hour
• Reduce to a low heat, pop the lid on slightly ajar, and simmer for 1 hour
To make your mash topping
• Peel the potatoes, cut them into halves and quarters depending on their size, and put them into a pan of salted, boiling water
• Boil for about 10 minutes until tender
• • Drain in a colander and return them to the pan
• Add the milk, butter and a pinch of salt and pepper
• Mash until smooth and creamy
• Boil for about 10 minutes until tender
• • Drain in a colander and return them to the pan
• Add the milk, butter and a pinch of salt and pepper
• Mash until smooth and creamy
Stick a knife into them to check they’re soft all the way through
To assemble and cook your shepherd’s pie
• Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5
• Transfer the lamb mixture to a large ovenproof baking dish
• Spoon the mash evenly over the top and poke the remaining rosemary leaves into the top
• Transfer the lamb mixture to a large ovenproof baking dish
• Spoon the mash evenly over the top and poke the remaining rosemary leaves into the top
• Drizzle with olive oil, then cook in the hot oven for 25 minutes, or until golden and bubbling
• Serve with broccoli (see Brilliant broccoli) or some lovely peas
• Serve with broccoli (see Brilliant broccoli) or some lovely peas
- Devil's Curry
Devil's curry is a rich and fiery hot dish cooked with mustard powder, turmeric powder, vinegar, candlenuts. As the name suggests, this dish is super spicy hot (we have to drink lots of water)!
Devil's Curry Recipe
Ingredients
Directions
We have talked so much about Eurasian food, festivals and many more. However, the question must have popped into your mind before right? Where can I find a Eurasian restaurant? You're in luck! My groupmates and I found a restaurant named Casa Bom Vento at 477 Joo Chiat Road. We were amazed by its antique as the whole restaurant really gives you a classical feel when you enter it. The service was really great too as the food was served within 15 minutes. All the staff members were really friendly to us and they even explain some of the ingredients used in the dishes they cater! Indeed, they really live up to their service motto "COME AS A CUSTOMER, LEAVE AS A FRIEND"! The price of the food is reasonable and I would definitely recommend the restaurant if you want to try out some Eurasian traditional dishes :D
Devil's Curry Recipe
Ingredients
Serves: 8
- 1.5 kg chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
- 6 shallots, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 3 red chillies, slit lengthwise
- 500g potatoes, quartered
- 3 tomatoes, quartered
- 2 large onions ,quartered
- 1 1/4 cup (300 ml) water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (25 ml) vinegar
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) dark soya sauce
- 20g mustard seeds
- Salt to taste
- Oil for cooking
- Spice Blend:
- 20 dried chillies, soaked in water and deseeded
- 20 shallots
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 cm tumeric root
- 2.5 cm galangal
- 4 cm ginger
- 8 candlenuts
- 15 g coriander seeds
Directions
Prep:25min › Cook:20min › Ready in:45min
- Season chicken with salt and set aside. Blend all spice ingredients until fine.
- Heat a little oil in pot and lightly brown the sliced shallots and garlic. Add the spice blend and fry until fragrant. Then slightly crush the mustard seeds and add to the pot, blending the ingredients and fry for another 3 minutes.
- Put in the chicken pieces and mix well. Add water and cook over medium heat until the chicken is tender.
- Add quartered potatoes, onions, tomatoes, vinegar, soya sauce, fresh chillies and season with salt. Cook until the potatoes and chicken are cooked through.
- Sugee cake
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| http://sg.theasianparent.com/sugee-cake-recipe-award-winning/ |
Sugee cake is traditionally treated as a festival cake usually served in Kristang families both as a happy occasion cake (Christmas, birthdays, weddings) and sombre occasion such as funerals. In fact, it is also a type of cake for the Christmas. Kristang are local Portuguese descendent Eurasians in Singapore and West Malaysia. The popularity of this cake however has extended to other races such as Chinese, Malay and Indian households. It is a butter cake made with semolina or cornmeal flour mixed with sliced roasted almonds.
Sugee Cake Recipe
You will need…
- 250 grams semolina
- 250 grams plain flour
- 300 grams sugar
- 200 grams butter
- 6 eggs
- 3 teaspoon’s baking powder
- 120 ml milk
- ¼ cup almond –chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Step by step!
1. Sift dry ingredients.
2. Separate the egg whites from the yolks and beat the yolks.
3. Cream the butter and sugar. Slowly whisk in the yolks.
4. Stir in the plain flour, baking powder and semolina with milk. When mixing in the ingredients.
5. Alternate each ingredient until the measured ingredients are over. Then fold in the almonds into the mixture.
6. Whisk egg whites till stiff. Then fold the egg whites into the mixture.
7. Add vanilla essence and pour mixture into a greased baking tin (18-20 cm square).
8. Bake over moderate heat for 40 minutes till cooked.
(Stick a toothpick in the middle and other sections of the cake. If it comes out dry, the cake is done.)
Common ingredients
Did you know that a variety of herbs and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg etc. are used for the dish to have a distinct and sharp taste? European ingredients such as Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder and vinegar are also added to flavour the dishes.
· Common methods of cooking used in Eurasian food dishes are stewing and baking due to European influence. Both devil’s curry and Eurasian smore are dishes that are cooked on low heat for long periods of time to allow all ingredients, herbs and spices to mix together to create deep, rich flavour.
- Different types of meat such as beef, pork and poultry are used in the cooking of Eurasian dishes too!
Dining etiquette and their table setting
Eurasian dishes are served in plates or bowls and are eaten using spoons,forks and knives. A variety of main dishes are eaten with rice. Wanna know what's Eurasian's dining etiquette? Continue reading!
- Unfold your napkin and place it on your lap after being seated.
- Place the napkin on the chair if you need to leave your seat temporarily.
- Hold the fork with your left hand and knife with your right hand.
- When you are finished with a dish, place the cutlery together across the center of the plate. If you are just taking a break, criss-cross the cutlery.
Drum roll!
We have talked so much about Eurasian food, festivals and many more. However, the question must have popped into your mind before right? Where can I find a Eurasian restaurant? You're in luck! My groupmates and I found a restaurant named Casa Bom Vento at 477 Joo Chiat Road. We were amazed by its antique as the whole restaurant really gives you a classical feel when you enter it. The service was really great too as the food was served within 15 minutes. All the staff members were really friendly to us and they even explain some of the ingredients used in the dishes they cater! Indeed, they really live up to their service motto "COME AS A CUSTOMER, LEAVE AS A FRIEND"! The price of the food is reasonable and I would definitely recommend the restaurant if you want to try out some Eurasian traditional dishes :D
That's all for now! We will definitely blog soon again. Hope you enjoy this journey with us ^^ Bye!
