earth, such was their shock and outrage.
Luckily, a few remote communities deep in the Andes kept amaranth in existence, probably because it forms the basis of the local homebrew of Peru, a highly alcoholic and, in my experience, quite revolting beverage called chicha that seems to keep the local lads and ladettes of Lima laughing.
The Aztec dolly cakes do live on in Mexico, where they’ve evolved to become the popped amaranth and sugar cake alegria, which means ‘happiness’. A nice thought for the day.
GRANOLA
THIS MAKES A WEEK’S SUPPLY:
500g rolled oats (i.e. small porridge oats)
50g walnut pieces
50g chopped hazelnuts or 50g chopped cobnuts
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
50g sesame seeds
100g juicy dried sultanas
8 tablespoons safflower oil
4 tablespoons brown rice malt syrup
3 tablespoons date syrup
50g popped amaranth
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. In a big bowl, mix all the dry ingredients thoroughly. In a small frying pan, gently heat the oil and syrups to combine them. Stir this mixture into the dried ingredients as soon as syrup goes runny. Divide the granola between two baking trays, spreading it out so that it’s no more than 3cm deep. Put it in the hot oven and stir it with a wooden spoon every 10 minutes.
It should be ready in about 20 minutes. Check it and remove the trays when the oats have just gone golden rather than waiting until they go brown. Once it’s out the oven, immediately stir in the popped amaranth so it sticks to the hot syrupy clumps.
Leave to cool before eating. Save the rest in a container.
Try homemade granola with nut milks like hazelnut or almond milk, and get a doubly nut whammy. You can buy-ready made nut milks at Fresh & Wild, but to make your own, simply soak about 50g ground nuts (as in nuts that have been ground, not American peanuts) in about 100ml boiling water for quarter of an hour. Strain the milky liquid, throw away the solids and try adding a touch of malt.
This Chinese recipe is the first meal of the day for most of the planet’s population. If you generally have cereal and milk, you might find it a bit heavy. However, if you prefer your breakfast savoury, give it a go and see just why it’s so popular around the globe. I recommend cooking up a batch over the weekend ready to simply reheat on weekday mornings.
TO MAKE 3 PORTIONS YOU’LL NEED:
100g white long grain rice
400g Joubere (or 400ml homemade) vegetable or chicken stock
1 tablespoon chopped takuan (pickled daikon root)
3cm piece fresh ginger root, grated
1 heaped teaspoon dried organic mandarin peel, soaked in water
SPRINKLE ON TOP:
Chopped spring onion
Chopped fresh coriander
Chopped sushi ginger
Combine all of the congee ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat so that the mixture simmers slowly. Simmer for about an hour, checking now and then if you need to add more liquid. Cook the congee until it has the consistency of porridge or thick soup. Sprinkle over the topping to taste and tuck in.
For a nuttier consistency, use brown basmati rice instead of, or in combination with, the white rice. Use about 300g of Joubere (or 300ml of homemade) stock to 100g of brown rice. All liquid volumes are flexible depending on how gooey you like it.
There’s dried fruit and there’s dried fruit, and Fresh & Wild is home to some pretty awesome dried fruit. We’re talking intense flavours, enticing varieties, bright colours – and it’s fairly traded by people who care about mutually beneficial interaction. That means we get the very best quality commodity, produced lovingly to the best of a community’s abilities, and the growers get the respect they deserve and a fair price to reflect their hard work and value. This is the kind of trade that makes the world a better place.
This recipe has a standard oat porridge base, but is creamier because it’s soaked. It’s flavoured with a deliciously vibrant mix of apples and tropical fruit, all spiced to wake you up with a zing.
The crushed nuts add an interesting texture and a good mix of oils and proteins.
All in all, this porridge is good for you, tastes divine and improves somebody else’s day in a faraway country.
APPLE PORRIDGE
FOR 4 BOWLS OF STEAMING HOT PORRIDGE:
3 moist prunes, pitted
2 juicy Crazy Jack’s soft-dried figs
3 Tropical Wholefoods sliced dried star fruit
2 Southern Alps dried strawberries from their slow-dried fruit mix
50g walnut pieces
30g almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 whole cloves
250ml proper pressed apple juice
200g porridge oats
400ml good quality soy milk, such as Bonsoy
1 small fresh eating apple, such as a Cox
The night before, chop all the dried fruit except the strawberries. These are too brittle to chop, so should be quartered with kitchen scissors or left whole if you don’t have a pair. Put the nuts in a plastic bag, squeeze the air out and bash them with a rolling pin. Put the prepared dried fruit and nuts into a bowl with the spices, and cover with the apple juice. Put the oats and soy milk in a saucepan and leave to soak.
Next morning, heat the saucepan over a low heat, topping up with more soy milk if it’s not looking runny enough for you. Stir the porridge frequently with a wooden spoon. Pick the cloves out of the soaked fruit. Finely grate the fresh apple and mix it into the fruit mixture. Keep heating the porridge, letting it come to the boil. Let it bubble for a minute or so, stirring all the time, then take it off the heat and add the fruit mixture.
Stir this in, then divide the porridge between four serving