The Oscars Experiment: "District 9"

The 9th edition of Epicuriosi was, suitably, centred around another Oscar nominee, "District 9" which brought the South-African theme into our kitchen. We had two special South-African culinary consultants (neither of whom was present, alas), who helped us pick the dishes for our menu that night.

For the record, the organization of this particular night showed a rift among our ranks as far as the choice of films to be seen goes. Some felt we needed to respect the original idea and finish all the 2010 Oscar candidate-films, while others felt ready to leave the Hollywood behind and move on to better films. In the end, we agreed to see "District 9" that night, but to change the selection criterion from then on. The new "method" is very simple: everyone wrote a few favourite films on slips of paper, and the lucky winner was drawn from the hat (or, more like a plastic container) -- "Revolutionary Road." Whether this new system will bring more happiness to everyone, remains to be seen. -Tijana

RECIPES

Appetizers

South African Curry Dip

Our hostess and the dip!

Ingredients:

-1 cup Mayonnaise
-2 tablespoons prepared commercial salsa
-1/2 to 2 tablespoons Malawi curry Powder
-1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
-1 tablespoon grated Onion
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1.Blend all the ingredients until well combined. Chill.

The making of the Curry Dip

Gang at work

Salad

Green Bean Salad

Ingredients:

-2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed
-1/2 cup oil
-4 tablespoons lemon juice
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-1 cup sweet white onions, thinly sliced
-1/4 cup sliced stuffed green olives

Directions:

1. Cook the beans in a large pot of boiling water until tender. Drain well.

2. In a large bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Add the onions, green olives, and hot beans and toss until coated. Serve immediately.

Busy hands

Tomato Salad

Ingredients:

-2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into thin slices
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-Pinch sugar
-1 fresh hot green chile pepper, minced
-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Arrange tomato slices in a serving dish. Sprinkle with salt, sugar, and minced chile pepper. Drizzle on the vinegar. Let salad sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

Note on Tomato Salad: We used jalpeno peppers instead of chile peppers. Turned out nicely, though many found it very spicy.

Banana Salad

Ingredients:

-Bananas
-Plain yoghurt

Directions:

1. Combine freshly cut up bananas with plain yoghurt and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Main Course

Bobotie

The filling

Ingredients:

-1 lb beef or lamb, minced ( mince is ground beef)
-2 eggs
-2 slices white bread, stale with crusts removed
-1 onion, thinly sliced
-2 tbsp cooking oil
-2 tbsp hot water
-2 tbsp sugar
-2 tbsp lemon juice
-2 tsp curry powder
-½ tsp ground cloves
-1 tsp garlic, crushed
-1 tsp turmeric
-½ tsp salt

Onion-stricken

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 F.

2. Soak the bread in water for 10 minutes, squeeze out the excess and then crumble.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the oil and braise the onion until golden.

4. Break the two eggs into a large bowl and beat lightly. Mix in the mince

5. Add the onion mixture from the frying pan, the hot water, lemon juice, crumbled bread, turmeric and sugar to the mince, mixing well.

6. Spoon the mixture into a well-greased, oven-proof dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown and then remove from the oven.

The topping

Ingredients:

-1 egg, lightly beaten
-½ cup milk
-bay leaves or lemon leaves for garnishing

Directions:

1. Combine the other egg with the milk and beat well.

2. Pour the mixture over the bobotie and arrange the bay/lemon leaves as garnish.

3. Return to the oven and bake at 350o F for 10 minutes, or until the topping is set.

Bobotie hot from the oven

Yellow Rice

Ingredients:

-1 tablespoon sugar
-1/2 teaspoon turmeric
-1 tablespoon salt
-2 tablespoons butter
-1 cinnamon stick
-1 cup raisins
-1 teaspoon lemon rind
-2 cups white rice

Directions:

1. In a large pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil.

2. Add the first 7 ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

3. Add the rice, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Remove cinnamon stick and lemon rind before serving.

Gourmet body

Dessert

Hertzog Cookies

Ingredients:

-1 lb self-raising flour
-4 Tbsp sugar
-2 Tbsp margarine
-3 egg yolks
-milk or water (as required)
-1 tsp vanilla essence
-¼ tsp salt

Directions:

1. Beat the margarine and sugar together in a bowl to a light and creamy consistency

2. Stir in the egg yolks and vanilla essence, taking care to blend well.

3. Sift the flour and the salt into the mixture, ensuring that it is thoroughly mixed.

4. Stir in enough milk or water so that a fairly stiff dough is formed.

5. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out to a ¼ inch thickness. Cut into rounds with a cookie cutter.

6. Line a greased patty tin with the rounds of dough

Drôle de dessin

The Cookie filling:

Ingredients:

-3 egg whites, stiffly beaten
-2 cups desiccated coconut
-1 cup sugar
-apricot jam

Directions:

1. Gradually add the sugar to the beaten egg whites, beating well to blend.

2. Fold the coconut into the mixture and mix well.

3. Place a little apricot jam in the center of the rounds in the patties and spoon some of the coconut mixture over the jam.

4. Bake in the oven at 400o F for approximately 15 minutes. The pastry should be a light golden color.

5. Leave to cool slightly in the patty tin and then place on a rack and let the cookies cool completely.

6. Makes approximately 60 cookies. These may be stored in an airtight container for 2 weeks.

Herzog cookies

South-African plate: final product

DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS ON THE MOVIE "DISTRICT 9":

- Opinions were divided on whether the film is blatantly racist or not. Some thought the representation of black people (especially "the Nigerians") was extremely clichéd and insulting as it made them look like savages; others disagreed, as they thought the film exposed the savagery of white people's science/exploitation

- Most agreed that the documentary style used in the first 30 minutes is captivating but that the film then degenerates into a generic action movie

- While some thought that the apartheid background was superficially treated, others stressed that this was not a documentary/historical film and that the hints we got were sufficient

- It is occasionally hard to follow the video-game aspect of the film, as well as to identify with the aliens

- The film offers a certain innovation within the sci-fi genre (for example: the aliens are usually represented as aggressors, not the underdog)

- The protagonist's physical and mental transformation -- the narrative backbone of the film -- is fascinating to watch

INDIVIDUAL SCORES:

8

4

6

7.5

6

7

7.5

5

______
6.4/10