Global nibbles

Our little expat community is quite global.... our current compound of 40 or so families is made up of folks from the States, England, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Mexico, China, Greece, Venezuela, Canada, Australia, Swaziland, South Africa, Afghanistan, Jordan and Russia, just to name the ones I can think of.

Where I get my kicks out of this arrangement is when it comes to fun food.  I have been watching reruns of MasterChef Australia and in one of the first episodes of that season the contestants were challenged to make pavlova.  This was described on the show as Australia's national dessert with a hard meringue shell and a marshmallow center, topped with fruit.  Needless to say, I was intrigued and asked my Australian neighbor about it.  Low and behold, a week or two passes and I get an invite to drop in and have a bite.  Yum! 

In the past few weeks I've also tried Dutch bitterballen (kind of like a fried meatball with a gravy center) and sop buntut (Indonesian oxtail soup).  Yorkshire puddings are high on my to-try list (hint, hint).

My official Doha welcomer Maureen made an incredible Sticky Toffee Pudding for her going away party. I'm dropping her recipe in here just in case I ever lose it!

2oz marg
6oz sugar
1 egg
1/2lb self raising flour
1/2 tsp bi-carb of soda
4oz dates
1/2 pint boiling water

1) Soak dates in boiling water
2) Cream marg and sugar, beat in egg, stir in flour and bi-carb, Mix together with dates and liquid.
3) Bake at 180°C (356°F) for 40 mins

SAUCE
4oz butter
8oz brown sugar
1/2 pint double cream

1) Melt everything over a low heat then boil for 3 minutes
2) Pour sauce over pudding