Green Papaya Kutcha

On the eve of a family prayer, the women in the family gather and cook together for the lunch that will follow the prayer. Kutcha can be made from unripe mangoes, fruit-de-cythère and a number of unripe fruits, including papaya. You may be frustrated by the lack of specific measures, but it's all done to taste.

To make green papaya kutcha, you need:

One green papaya
Vegetable oil
Mustard seeds, coarsely ground
Turmeric powder
Crushed garlic cloves
Salt


1. Chop off the papaya where the stalk was attached, and use the 'little hat' to wipe off the 'milk' that will ooze out.


2.Cut the papaya in quarters and peel it.


3.Next, scrape out the white seeds inside and grate the papaya finely.


4.Add a lot of salt to the grated papaya and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Then wring the grated papaya using your fingers or a fine piece of muslin until the mixture is more or less dry (to avoid spluttering in the hot oil later).


5.In a frying-pan, heat the oil then remove it from the stove.

6. Stir in the ground mustard, crushed garlic and the turmeric powder in the warm oil.

7. Add the grated papaya, stirring all the while until you get a deep yellow mixture. Taste it and add salt if necessary.

The kutcha can be served as an accompaniment to rice and dhal or puris and curry. Labour intensive, but tasty!

Étudier ≠ Apprendre

Comment passe-t-on du cuisinier amateur au cuisinier professionnel?

Il y a les études bien sûr. Mais il y a surtout l'apprentissage.

Interview de Yannick Alléno, Chef, L'Express, 24 novembre 2006

Last night we listened to a lady of about 70 years old tell us of her marriage. She married at 16, and has spent a lifetime rearing her children, now well-to-do adults, and taking care of her home and husband.

She spoke of her husband like a young bride does. She told us how he still sulks whenever she stays a little late at one of her children’s place, and how he refuses to drink the tea she makes then, feeling neglected. She insisted on the fact that her husband, despite his moods, was a very good man. She cited the example of her children who do not raise their voices to her and her husband and patiently accept even unwanted advice calmly.

She recalled how she left a house of 11 rooms to arrive in her husband’s house of one bedroom, and how she prayed on that day to simply have the courage to make this work. She said she thinks her husband loves her perhaps more than her own sons love their wives, from what she can observe. She said values, rather than money had proven to make a family stand strong. She spoke of him in such terms as made us start to love this 78-year-old man.

As we were dropping her off home, where her husband had returned with his son a little earlier, she said, grinning cheekily, “Let me go and get my little scolding now”. He was waiting at the door for her and waved us goodbye before closing the door.

Wives are not merely wives and mothers now, and husbands sometimes struggle to fulfil their traditional bread-winner role. But really, listening to her speak, also knowing well how unromantic it actually was sometimes, it was not so bad.

How sweet...

...is summer.

Choisy, on the North Coast.