Glossary of Food and Cookery Terms — 'L'

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West African cuisine is all based around making the most of all the ingredients available. This is a hearty, cheap and quite spicy stew that makes use those parts of the animal that we in the West tend to ignore - hearts and livers. The dish is very tasty and makes a wonderful accompaniment to rice. It's very cheap to prepare and extremely healthy for you.

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The recipe here for moy-moy with pepper soup gives a vegetarian version of the classic West African 'pepper soup' (chilli-based stew). The moy-moy (or steamed black-eyed bean cakes) represent a Nigerian classic that's typically steamed in banana or plantain leaves. I've adapted the recipe to make them more muffin-like (which is better in terms of providing a substantial vegetarian meal).

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Many cooks are apprehensive about baking, thinking it to be an extremely laborious and involved process. Following a complicated recipe and ensuring that everything is 'just so'. In fact, the basic sponge cake recipe is a very simple one and this article takes you through some of the rules and pitfalls of baking and gives you two sponge cake recipes to try. Follow this guide and they will come out perfectly every time.

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'Efo' is the generic term in Nigerian for a stew (which, confusingly, are typically called 'soups' in West Africa). The recipe given below is for the archetypal 'soup' base which can be extended by the addition of meat and vegetables. If you want a classic Nigerian meal then this is the basis you need.

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I know that the combination of chilli and chocolate sounds odd to modern ears. Yet this is an ancient mix used by the Aztecs and later adopted in Sicilian cuisine. What's presented here is a rich and piquant gravy that goes excellently well with game dishes.

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Tanzaia is a diverse country comprised of the mainland, Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar. The cuisine of this country are influenced by Arabic, British, French and Indian cuisines producing a fusion of native and imported culinary influences that are vibrant and fascinating. Here you will see two typical Tanzanian recipes for a main course and a dessert...

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Chillies are a South American fruit, unknown to the rest of the world before 1492. Learn about this amazing spice and find two rather unusual chilli-based recipes for a jam and a sorbet

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When you examine the history of drinks, what you see is the attempt by human civilizations to render drinking water safe. This article gives an introduction to the ways various civilizations have chosen to make water safe to drink as well as providing two recipes for a fruit juice drink and a spice infusion of lemongrass.

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Pastry is one of the most basic components of cooking, needed for pies, tarts and cake bases of many types. It originates in the ancient method of applying a paste of flour and water to baked meats to protect them in the fire. But, in the Middle Ages fats were added and modern pastry was born. Learn a little about the different pastry types and see a recipe for a traditional classic flaky pastry.

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British cookery is often treated as 'poor relation' in terms of European cuisine. And whilst this may well have been true in the past, there has always been one area of cookery where Britain has always excelled... the production of desserts. Here you will find recipes for two classic British desserts.