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By clare, March 27, 2010 10:03 am

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.

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By clare, March 9, 2010 2:47 pm

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)

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By clare, September 21, 2009 10:41 pm

pippis © Clare Richards 2009

Yesterday The Plumber and I went to one of the local coarse sand beaches to gather pippis to make fettuccine alla vongole.  This particular beach has an abundant population of pippis.  We started scanning the tide line on the lookout for their little air bubbles in the sand or to see them tumbling in the wash of the tide, and found a patch almost immediately.

I’ve found the best way to work is in a team, with one person standing just below the high wash mark and shuffling into the sand with their hands or feet, and the other person standing below them.  This way, the top person can grab any that are dredged out of the sand beneath their feet / hands, and the second person can grab those that get tumbled into the water by the wash.

So, within half an hour we had a good haul of pippis to take home.

The next phase is cleansing them of sand so you don’t end up with a crunchy meal.  Do this by putting them into a bucket of fresh water as soon as they’ve been gathered, and fill another bucket with sea water to take home.  Leave them in the fresh water for an hour or two, then drain it off and leave them dry for an hour in a cool place covered by a damp towel.  Then place them back into sea water, and they will then open up and suck lots of sea water in and out and so cleanse themselves.  Finally, place them into the fridge in their sea water until you are ready to cook.

Pippis are mostly used for bait here in Australia and some people can’t be bothered with them because of their small amount of meat.  I love their sweet sea flavour and they make the most divine pasta sauce, which tastes all the better for having gathered them yourself on a blue sky day from the local beach.

Fettuccine alla vongole

(equipment: need one pasta pot, one deep sided frypan or wide saucepan, and three bowls for sorting cooked pippis)

for two generous serves

enough uncooked pasta for two people

about 2 kg (7 – 8 cups) fresh pippis in their shells

1 cm slice butter (about 50g / 1/4 cup)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 heaped tbsp fresh thyme

2 tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon

2 finely sliced cloves garlic

1 tsp salt for cooking pasta

1 cup dry white wine

3/4 to 1 cup sour cream

Melt butter and add olive oil, then add garlic and thyme, cook briefly until garlic softens but before it goes golden or brown, then immediately add a batch of pippis and a glass of dry white wine, turn heat to high, put on lid and hold down to increase heat and steaming.  (Meanwhile, put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.)  Steam pippis for 1 – 3 minutes in small batches, just until all pippis are open, then remove each batch from pan with a skimmer into a bowl and place the next batch in the pan.

Put pasta into boiling water with 1 tsp salt.  Keep an eye on pasta while completing the next step of removing meat from pippis.  Remove pasta from heat and strain when al dente, reserving some liquid (in case it is needed at the end to thin the pippi sauce).

Remove all flesh from the pippi shells and reserve flesh into a bowl.  Strain cooking juice through muslin in a sieve to catch any remaining grit.  Pour strained pippi juices into frypan and bring to a rolling boil, add wine and reduce to about 1 cup liquid.    Reduce heat to medium and add half of fresh parsley and tarragon then 3/4 cup sour cream and mix until incorporated.

Add pippi meat and heat for another minute or so until pippis are warmed.  Taste for salt and season if needed (shouldn’t need to due to sea water in the pippis).  If the sauce is too thick add a little bit more white wine or some cooking water from the pasta.  Then add fettuccine to pan and mix through until well coated with sauce.

Remove from heat, serve into two bowls, garnish with remaining parsley and tarragon and serve.  Can add some finely grated parmesan, or a little bit of finely sliced fresh chilli, but I generally find the flavours of this dish are perfect without adding anything further.

© Clare Richards 2009

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By clare, September 20, 2009 8:56 am

A new batch of figs this afternoon from the same tree, which may be the last as there are few left on the branches.  There are now more fruit on the ground than on the tree; a mottled purple and brown carpet of decaying bounty.  Across the grass is another tree with fruit coming on, so I will be supplied for a while longer.

This week I had a wonderful afternoon gathering green mangos with a friend.  Mango trees are everywhere in Cairns.  Some were planted originally by cane farmers or households long gone, some by public authorities, others feral survivors that have sprung up from the fruits dropped by fruit bats, or tumbled down seasonal creeks by the rush of wet season waters to sprout life away from their parent.

Because we have such a wet Wet season, Cairns is criss-crossed by wide drains, permanent creeks and seasonal flow channels.   It is most often in these places that the mango trees grow, providing seasonally abundant crops to the public.  To me, the scent of masses of overripe and rotting mangos is one of the signature aromas of the wet season, drifting in amongst the smell of rain and wet foilage as I walk streets and green spaces.  Word is that we may have an early and big wet season this year, so the rain may be here soon.

© Clare Richards 2009

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By clare, September 17, 2009 3:43 pm

I live at the base of the forested range that sweeps up from coastal Cairns to Kuranda at the ridge and then out across the high plateau that is the Atherton Tablelands.  So across from my home, just past the few blocks not yet carved up and sold, the forest begins, rainforest.

At night I am sometimes half-woken by the sound of dingoes howling across the range to each other, and mid-afternoon this week when a brief shower of rain swept through, they starting calling out to each other.  I walk daily on the edge of this wilderness, keeping an eye out for taipans and wild pigs as I go, and looking for wallabies coming out onto the open ground to feast on the grass.

Yesterday I noticed that the indigenous fig trees (I’m sorry I don’t know their proper name, when I have it I will post it here) were in fruit, and the fruits were ripe.  I dodged the green ants to try one.  Apart from the robust amount of seed they contain, they have a lovely flavour, subtle, and between fig and strawberry.

So today I returned to do some harvesting, mindful of the highly protective green ants, spiders, and as always keeping an eye out for signs of snakes.

So now I have my harvest…

…and I will be trying them stuffed with a few different things for dessert tonight.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

PS. Stuffed with strawberry jam and cream cheese, or chilli sambal and cream cheese, or on their own (sans seeds) they are very more-ish.

© Clare Richards 2009