Intercultural Exchange . . . Through FOOD

After hours of me talking about how much I miss Mexican food at work, my boss said, "Why don't you teach us how to make Mexican food some time?" Initially I thought, wow that would be fun; secondly, I thought, do I know how to make Mexican food really? Lastly, I thought - I wonder if Bosnia & Herzegovina has tortillas?

Tonight, I had my five coworkers over for Mexican food, and they wanted to come and make the meal with me so that they could learn. Truly I did not think it would be as amazing as the evening was - I was stressed and nervous that the food would not turn out well.

Before the meal itself, I went grocery shopping, which was quite a process. Thank God most things have pictures on them, but for items I needed to buy that did not have pictures and just their name in Bosnian, I was stuck. I found out that avocados are extremely expensive compared to other produce here, and of course I chose to make guacamole! While I say that I am good at asking for help, I always like to try figure things out on my own - moreover, I walked in circles in the grocery store, Konsume for more than an hour trying to find everything, but eventually I had to ask workers and act out some food items - I am sure I amused them. Eventually, I found everything I needed except for baking powder and beans. Someone recommended to me using Mladi Sir cheese as a queso fresco replacement, and it was delicious!

Anyway - back at the house tonight, my coworkers came over and we began to make tortillas by hand. To be honest, I've never kneaded dough before, so thank God one of my coworkers, Amela, is a pro at kneading. Meanwhile my boss, Seida, made a delicious lemon/lime spa water and Nermana, our communications Director for the office took pictures. Belma was also a pro cook and knew small intuitive things that helped in the long run. We rolled out all the tortillas and patted ourselves on the back. (I will include recipe to all the items I cooked at the bottom of the post)

Throughout the cooking madness, even though I was nervous things would not come out great, it was such a fabulous experience just sharing a bit of what I know with them but also using their talents to enhance my recipes. It was so fun to work together and to problem solve in order to address issues such as the pan not being anti-stick. Belma was a star and thought of cooking tortillas on foil on the electric stove and it worked really well.

By the end, we had prepared beans, tacos, guacamole, and buñuelos for dessert. We sat and enjoyed the fruits of our labor and shared stories. It was such a wonderful moment for me because I felt at home. The women in my office are my [she]heroes and I look up to them because of their strength, kindness, humor, and intelligence <3 How lucky I am to spend my 10 weeks with these amazing women.






RECIPES:

Guacamole

Ingredients:

·     4 avocados

·     2 tomatoes

·     5 limes

·     Salt & pepper

·     1/2 an onion

Directions:

Scoop the avocado out of the skin and save a pit. Cut up two tomatoes and add. Cut up ½ an onion and add. Slice the limes then squeeze out the juice into the guacamole. Add salt and pepper until desired taste.

Quesadillas with peppers and beans on the side:

·     10 Flour Tortillas

·     Cheddar cheese or Queso asadero

·     2 Cans of Black Beans

·     3 Peppers – 2 red and 1 green

Open one tortilla and fill with mozzarella cheese, then place in the panini grill and grill until toasted. Meanwhile cut up some peppers and pan fry them with olive oil. Cook the beans on the stove and through some peppers and onions inside. Cook beans until they bubble a bit. Serve quesadilla with guacamole, grilled peppers, and beans.

Tacos:

·     20 corn tortillas

·     3-4 pounds of ground beef

·     2 peppers

·     Lettuce

·     3 tomatoes

·     Mladi Sir Cheese = Cotija

·     Cheddar cheese

·     Sour cream

·     Ingredients for taco seasoning: per pound of ground beef (3-4)

o  1 tablespoon of chili powder

o  ½ teaspoon of salt

o  ¾ teaspoon of cumin

o  ½ teaspoon of dried oregano

o  ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder

o  ¼ teaspoon of onion powder

o  ½ cup tomato sauce

Cook the ground beef fully – until brown -  drain grease, then add ½ cup of tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Grill corn tortillas on grill then fill with meat and toppings.

Buñuelos

Ingredients:

·     Flour tortillas

·     1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

·     ¾ cup of warm water

·     2 cups of all-purpose flour

·     Salt

·     Cinnamon and sugar

·     4 tablespoons of vegetable oil (+ 2 cups for frying)

Instructions:

Add all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Mix together until combined. Add warm water and 4 tablespoons oil. Mix together with a spoon or your hands until the dough comes together. Transfer the dough onto a clean working surface and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Roll the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

While the dough is resting, cover a large plate with paper towels, fill a large saute pan with 1 to 2 inches of frying oil and make the cinnamon sugar topping. Set aside. Divide the dough into 8 separate pieces and roll each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out each ball into an 8 to 10-inch circle. (I recommend laying the rolled-out dough onto a large kitchen towel in one single layer. Don't stack the rolled-out dough on top of each other or it may stick.)

Heat the frying oil to 350°F. Fry each dough circle for about 60 seconds, turning once, until golden brown on both sides. Transfer to prepared plate to drain any excess oil. Sprinkle heavily with cinnamon sugar topping.