The finer side of Georgia food

Quail and grits

The States ain’t all about junk food, coffee and down home cookin’, contrary to much popular opinion. Yes, it is the home of the hamburger, and awash with salt-laden processed food and fast food joints. But, just like here, you can get good food, really good food, in the US.

Having been charged with cooking the Christmas dinner, we went hunting for some of that fine food. And I had heard rumours that one of them had an in-house butcher. Sure enough, we found an unmarked door with a button alongside saying “Press me” (or words to that effect). It was all very Alice-in-Wonderlandish, which for Georgia is downright weird. Continue reading

Spicy, piquant and sweet roast quail, basmati rice and Japanese salad

Spicy roast chicken & quail

Having read Fernandez & Leluu’s mouth watering recipe for roast chicken, I was determined to recreate it for last night’s dinner. Accordingly I assembled all the ingredients and fished out of the freezer some drumsticks and wings left over from various fowl dismemberings, and two quail that were lurking at the back.

The only thing missing was Teppanyaki marinade. So I improvised. Adding a dash of this and glug of that, tasting and adjusting is one of the most fun things about cooking. It feels like alchemy – turning seemingly unrelated ingredients into a coherent and tasty whole. Continue reading