Snacking Around the World

DSCF0073 — Salsa ingredients: tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and cilantro.

Salsa

Spanish for sauce, salsa has become american for “awesome chopped tomato-and-other-things dip”. My salsa recipe is very basic, but you can dress yours up. Salsa doesn’t need to be spicy, and the salsa I made for the summer reading program had no jalapenos in it at all.

Tomatoes

Onion

Jalapeno

Cilantro

Salt

Chop all the ingredients finely. I used a food processor to do this, but some say the best salsa is hand chopped. Mix them together and cover. Let sit in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavor to fully develop. Before serving, drain if necessary, and add salt to taste.

mortar and pestle — We ground the cardamom seeds for the recipe.

Kashata

Kashata is an African treat, a coconut and cardamom candy.

2 c Grated unsweetened coconut

2 c sugar

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

pinch salt

1/2 c cream

In a pan, combine the cream and sugar and heat until at the soft ball stage and slightly browned. Stir frequently with a silicon spatula to prevent sticking and burning. Stir in the cardamom and salt, then fold in the coconut and take off the heat. Stir until coconut is coated, then turn into a pan lined with wax paper. Press down and allow to cool for a few minutes, then score in squares while still warm.