It is quite likely if you live in or around Cairns that you’ve seen this plant and perhaps even have it growing in your garden.  Cuban Oregano, scientific name Plectranthus amboinicus, obtains its common name due to its very oregano-like flavour.  The leaves are used finely chopped due to their succulent texture and strong flavour.  It can be used in any dish where you would usually use oregano, and because it has greater intensity of flavour than standard oregano it is also worth trying it in dishes that call for sage.  When using to replace fresh oregano, use less than usual due to its greater strength, but if replacing dried oregano you can use the same amount (ie. replace 1 tbsp dried oregano with 1 tbsp finely diced fresh Cuban oregano).

© Clare Richards 2010

It occurred to me that it might be helpful to other tropical home kitchen gardeners and cooks to share some of the great online resources that I tap into when researching ingredients, so here is a start to some of the sites I visit:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/

Home page for the Purdue University New Crop website which has an enormous amount of information and links, some of which are below.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/parmar/index.html

An online copy of the Indian book Wild Fruits

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/index.html

An online copy of Julia Morton’s classic reference for tropical and sub-tropical fruits, Fruits of Warm Climates

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/documents/Research/Qld-Tropical-Fruit.pdf

A downloadable PDF by the Queensland Government with a nutritional summary of a range of tropical fruit.

http://www.rirdc.gov.au/

If you have an interest in in-depth information on particular tropical food plants, both introduced and native to Australia, it is worth searching through the reports and publications produced by RIRDC.

I thought it might be of interest to some readers to see the main items that will be covered in the Produce Glossary of Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen. As you may already know this cookbook is the first of what will be several volumes, and in each one a new set of produce will be featured. You may also know that in the produce glossary I am focusing on featuring produce which is available in markets and quality retailers, and/or grows easily at home, but with which many people are not so familiar. One aim of Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen is to provide information that assists people to experiment or make greater use of the fantastic array of produce we have available in tropical Australia.

Because there is a great range of information already available on fish and seafood, they are not featured in the Produce Glossary. (If you are looking for information, go to http://www.fish.gov.au/fishnames/search.php).  The cookbook dedicates a whole chapter to recipes for the superb fish and seafood of Northern Australia, so there is lots of information on recipe ideas and ways of cooking fish and seafood in the recipe section.

As we are right in the midst of editing at present this list may vary slightly from the final version, but it is likely to be pretty much as below:

Abiu (Pouteria caimito)

Allspice (Pimenta dioica)

Aibika or New Guinea Spinach (Hibiscus manihot)

Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.)

Annatto (Bixa orellana)

Bamboo shoots (Bambusa spp., Dendrocalamus spp.)

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia)

Black sapote (Diospyros digyna)

Brazilian Spinach or Sambu Lettuce (Alternanthera sissoo)

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis)

Canistel (Pouteria campechiana)

Carambola (Averrhoa carambola)

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)

Cassava (Manihot esculenta)

Ceylon spinach (Basella alba)

Chinese Keys (Boesenbergia rotunda)

Choko (Sechium edule)

Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylandicum)

Cocoa (Theobroma cacao)

Coconut (Cocos nucifera)

Coffee (Coffea Arabica)

Cordyline or Ti leaves (Cordyline fruticosa, C. terminalis)

Coriander, long leaf (Eryngium foetidum)

Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii)

Custard Apple (Annona atemoya)

Davidson plum (Davidsonia pruriens)

Drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera)

Durian (Durio zibethinus)

Galangal (Alpinia galanga)

Ginger (Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae)

Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis)

Guanabana (Annona muricata)

Jaboticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora)

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

Jicama (Pachyrhizus erosus)

Kankong or Water Spinach (Ipomoea aquatica)

Lime, Finger (Citrus australasica)

Lime, Kaffir (Citrus hystrix)

Lime, Tahitian (Citrus Latifolia)

Lime, West Indian (Citrus Aurantifolia)

Longan (Dimocarpus longan)

Lychee (Litchi chinensis)

Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)

Mamey sapote (Pouteria sapota)

Macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia)

Mushroom plant (Rungia klossii)

Mango (Mangifera indica)

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)

Mint, vietnamese (Persicaria odorata)

Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans)

Oregano, cuban (Plectranthus amboinicus)

Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius)

Papaya (Carica papaya)

Pepper (Piper nigrum)

Plantain (Musa spp.)

Pitaya (Hylocereus spp.)

Pummelo (Citrus grandis)

Radish, Daikon (Raphanus sativus)

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum)

Rollinia (Rollinia deliciosa)

Sapodilla (Manilkara zapota)

Snake Beans (Vigna unguiculata ssp. sesquipedalis)

Star Anise (Illicium verum)

Star Apple (Chrysophyllum caimito)

Sweet leaf (Sauropus androgynus)

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas)

Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)

Taro root & leaves (Colocasia esculenta)

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)

Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)

Wattle seed (Acacia spp.)

Wild Pepper leaves (Piper sarmentosum)

Wing bean (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)

I am loving the process of both writing and publishing Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen, but I have to say it keeps me extremely busy, hence the tardy rate of posts. I have been immersed in the process of setting up for international distribution. Online sales within Australia will be available via this website. For international customers, online sales will be available via Amazon, as that is the most cost effective avenue for customers due to the high international postage rates from Australia.

Being both author and publisher uses every diverse capacity of my brain: from the creative processes of recipe development, writing, book and web design; to the more exacting processes of recipe testing, editing, evaluating contracts, assessing supply chain and international freight options and costs, developing business structures, and doing the maths of all of these to work out the most effective options.

As well as the above mentioned business tasks I am in the process of sending recipes and text through to my editor, Ilsa Konrads.  Fortunately I am still completing some recipe testing, which provides some creative respite from the desk work I’m mostly engaged with at this stage.  When we have the final electronic copy of Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen ready to go to the printer, we will be loading some sample pages here on the website, including the index so that you can get a good sense of the scope of recipes and information included.

Pre-launch sales of Tropical Cuisine: Cooking in Clare’s Kitchen are now live on this website on the pre-release purchase page.

For those readers who do not live in Far North Queensland, I have attached the audio file of my interview this morning in which we discussed the development of the cookbook and presented a recipe which is also listed below, and will also be available over the next few days on the ABC Far North website.

Listen to ABC interview Saturday 27th February 2010

BBQ Squid with Sechuan Salt

This is a very simple, quick recipe that gives you that tingling flavour of Sechuan pepper without the fat levels of frying the squid.  Vary the amount of squid depending on how you are serving the dish.  Use one squid tube per person if it is a side dish or two if it is a main dish.  The simple art of this dish is having the BBQ plate really hot – not at its highest setting, but hot enough that the squid cooks almost instantly.  This stops it from becoming watery and stewing on the plate, and allows a lovely golden edge to form on the squid rings.

Ingredients

Sechuan Salt Mix

1 tablespoon white peppercorns

2 tablespoons Sechuan peppercorns

2 tablespoons flaky salt

Squid

4 squid tubes, cleaned

limes

Method

In a spice or coffee grinder or pepper mill, roughly grind the peppers.  Gently mix through the flaky salt and store in an airtight container until needed.

Heat your BBQ plate to medium-hot.  Wipe the BBQ plate to make sure there is no excess oil or fat on it, and only wipe a tiny amount of oil over if the plate is very dry.  Slice the squid tubes into 1cm rings and pat with paper towel to remove moisture.

Scatter the squid rings over the BBQ plate, taking care to space them out if possible so that they don’t touch.  They will cook almost immediately, and should stick slightly to the plate, which forms a lovely golden edge.  Lift rings with a spatula and turn as soon as they become bright white (about 30 seconds or so).  Give the other side 5 to 15 seconds, then remove to a plate and squeeze a generous amount of lime juice over the rings.  Serve immediately and give each diner a small pinch bowl of the Sechuan salt mix to sprinkle on their squid.