Author: CGS

Getting rid of Sciarid flies

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Getting rid of these pests

While fungus gnats (or sciarid flies as they are also known) don’t pose a threat to humans, they can cause harm to plants. While this threat diminishes when seedlings get older, there is still a possibility that these 2mm little black flies can create problems. Their larvae attack the roots of plants, and adult flies can carry Pythium on their feet. Pythium is a pathogen that causes damping off in seedlings. If infestations are large enough, fungus gnats can stunt growth and even kill plants.

With all these dangers, and for the simple fact that fungus gnats are annoying, I have made it a priority to find ways to get rid of them in any way I can. I know it will be virtually impossible to eliminate them (as they breed very quickly), but I certainly believe it is possible to bring their numbers under control. Particularly now that I have started using some rather unconventional methods to attack the problem head on

The first of these methods (believe this or not) is to use a handheld vacuum cleaner to suck up the gnats as they crawl or hover around the plants. It might sound funny, but believe me, it works remarkably well. To do this, I water the plants from the top and suck the gnats into the vacuum cleaner. I can do this as they fly up after being disturbed by the water. When you consider that each adult fungus female fungus gnat fly can lay up to 200 eggs. Even if you only capture twenty flies in a single session, you will have removed the potential of another four thousand fungus gnats being born. That’s impressive

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Chillies and Spuds

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Closer than you think

Not many people will know that Chillies and spuds  have a lot in common. Not only will you find them together in some of the world’s finest cooking, but they both originally come from the same part of the world and also belong to the same biological family.

Both Chillies and potatoes originated in a region that shares modern-day southern Peru, and the extreme north-western part of Bolivia. If that’s not amazing enough, consider this. They both belong to the Solanaceae family, a classification they share with aubergines, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.

That in itself is intriguing, but what is even more fascinating is that both Chillies and spuds  were among the first-ever domesticated vegetables in Peru. They were cultivated there as early as 10000 years ago. This means they have been found together in cooking for thousands of years

Archaeologically verified evidence dating back to 2500 BC was found in a coastal site in Ancón, Central Peru, that potatoes were already being eaten at that time. The earliest archaeological evidence of Chillies being consumed was found in the Guitarrero Cave  in Peru. This evidence links Chillies being eaten as early as 8,500 BCE. This is not to say that Chillies were cultivated before potatoes . It is simply that potatoes’ do not preserve well. This has made finding earlier proof of their use for archaeological purposes more difficult

Today, it is difficult to imagine cooking without Chilles or spuds, but there was a time (not so long ago) when they were unknown outside of South America.  It took Christopher Columbus to bring  the first Chillies back the old world in 1492, after he found them in the West Indies. It would take another fifty-eight years before spuds appeared on the scene.

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History of hot sauce in the UK

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Where it all began

Just about everybody loves a Bloody Mary. There are a few versions of how this spicy cocktail came about, but it was most likely created in New York City in 1934 by a bartender named Fernand Petiot. Whether he used Tabasco® hot sauce to create Bloody Marys is a matter of speculation. However, in its original form, the cocktail certainly contained cayenne pepper and black pepper. Thus, once Bloody Marys started becoming popular, it is not hard to imagine bar staff using Tabasco®. to make them. Tabasco® had already been available in the United States at that time for well over sixty years

Bloody Marys almost certainly would have found their way to the United Kingdom after becoming popular in the USA. After all, the British travelled (whether as businesspeople or tourists) to the United States all the time. It is probable these visitors would have brought the recipe back to the UK. If they had (and they almost certainly did), they wouldn’t have needed to look hard to find Tabasco®. It was already here. Tabasco® had already been in the United Kingdom for some time. It had arrived in England in 1874

Now, that is a sobering thought (if you will excuse the pun). For Tabasco to be already here must have meant it had a following. How was it that a country known for bland food felt it needed a hot sauce as part of its cuisine?

The probable answer is that chefs had introduced it as a subtle way of adding flavour to sauces.  Whether this is accurate is unclear. But, be it as it may, the popularity of the Bloody Mary would soon mean that Tabasco would find another home. It would become part of a cocktail cabinet of the dinner party set and in UK cocktail bars. . The start of the history of hot sauces in the United Kingdom had begun.

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Treating nutrient deficiencies

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Nutrient deficiencies

In a previous post, I mentioned my Cherry Chillies and Rocotos were doing well. I also believed at the time that my Madam Jeanettes were more than holding their own. Since then, things have changed. They are just not delivering on the promise they once showed. How this happened I am not sure, but can only put it down to nutrient deficiency. It is certainly not disease or pests creating this problem.

The Madams J’s are not alone in this. There are others. These plants include a Carolina Reaper, a Moruga Scorpion, a Roma pepper, a Peach Bhut Jolokia, two white Bhut Jolokia’s and no fewer than three Madam Jeanettes. It is obvious from their stunted growth and the colour of their leaves that they are struggling

This is somewhat confusing as It’s not like these plants haven’t received the same attention as the plants that are doing well. They have all had the same treatment (including fertilisers, etc), but just don’t seem to want to respond as well as the other plants. It is obvious that something needs to be done

With this in mind, I have decided to examine each plant in detail and try to find out what’s wrong. Hopefully, once I have done this, I can formulate an action plan to see if I can turn things around.  Maybe all it takes is changing the fertilisation of these plants individually. In other words, arriving at a fertilisation plan that caters specifically to the symptoms that individual plants show. It is worth a bash

To start this exercise, I decided to begin with Madame Jeanettes. Considering that just a few weeks ago, I was waxing lyrical about just how well they were doing. It somehow now seems more than a little strange that I am having to give them special treatment to help them survive and start to grow well again.

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Lets make a Durban curry.

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 A definite must have

Anyone who visits Durban in South Africa must try a Durban curry. It is one of those delights in South African cuisine that should not be missed.  When you eat this tender lamb curry, you will know that you are in paradise. It is comfort food of the highest order, and is hard to beat.

In South Africa, it is usually eaten with rice, chutney and sambals with a knife and fork. It may also be scooped onto a roti and eaten by hand.  Another way to eat it is as a Bunny Chow.  A Bunny Chow is made by removing the soft bread out of a quarter loaf of white bread, and then filling the hollowed-out crust with the curry. A Bunny Chow is eaten by initially dipping the soft bread into the curry in the crust, and is finished off by eating the crust itself, which by then has become infused with curry sauce.  It is simply heavenly

Just thinking about this brought back memories of my childhood in Pinetown, just outside Durban. On a Saturday, my father would take a whole afternoon to make his special Durban curry. It was based on a recipe given to him by a South African Indian friend. It was certainly something he valued. It was as authentic as it got

To keep up the tradition, I made my dad’s Durban curry this Saturday afternoon, the way I remember him making it . I too took my time and made sure everything was done right. Each ingredient was slowly added at the right time, and I allowed enough time to ensure the curry was tender, spicy and mouthwateringly delicious.

It is not at all hard to do. Simply follow each step I took to make it, and you will never look back. Your best curry house curry will never be the same. It will just not meet the grade anymore. This will become your new favourite

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Understanding NPK in fertilisers

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Understanding fertiliser labels

Ever looked at a fertiliser label and wondered what they mean? Join the club. On a macro level, I believe I understand what it’s about, but it’s the final detail that gets me flummoxed. Particularly when it comes to dosages. By this, I mean why should one fertilizer with an NPK of 4: 3: 8 (call it fertiliser A) get diluted at the rate of 20 ml per 4.5 litres of water at fruit set, while another (fertiliser B) with an NPK of 2.7: 1: 4. gets diluted at 10ml per litre at the first sign of buds?

The instructions for the fertiliser B recommend using it at 5ml per litre for young plants. The recommendation is then to up the dosage to 10ml from the onset of flowering. In other words, double the dosage. By doing that, does that mean the NPK value of the fertiliser being fed to the plant has been doubled?

Logic would dictate to me that if the container of fertilizer B says it has an NPK of 2.7: 1. 4.4, this ratio would have to apply to at the 5ml dosage.  Surely by upping the dose to 10 ml, this would mean the NPK has now been doubled to 5.4: 2: 8.8.  On the face of it, this would make sense, as it ties in with the NPKs of other fertilisers recommended for flowering plants.

If this is correct, we are getting closer to the NPK of fertilizer A which is 4: 3: 8. However, if I convert the dosage of the fertiliser A to a per litre basis, I arrive at 4.44 ml per litre.  This doesn’t remotely compare to the 10 ml per litre dosage for fertiliser B. To me, something doesn’t add up. It I converted the 4.4 ml per litre of fertiliser A to the same dosage of 10 ml for fertiliser B. Would this mean that at this dosage the NPK of fertiliser A would be 2.25 times greater (i.e. 9: 6.75: 18) at 10 ml?  See where I am coming from?

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Lets make Brazilian Feijoada

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Friday is Feijoada day

Feijoada is Brazil’s national dish. While there are many variations, it generally always contains beans and various meats cooked with spices, onions, garlic and oranges.  Chillies are added in some of these recipes, but if not, hot sauce is never far away when this dish is being served.

On Fridays, virtually every establishment that serves food in cities like Rio de Janeiro makes Feijoada. Be it a cheap pub or the most expensive restaurant, Feijoada will be on the menu. In Rio de Janeiro, Friday is Feijoada day.

I became a fan of Feijoada when I first tasted it in a Portuguese bar in Capetown, South Africa. That version was made with white cannellini beans, whereas  traditional Feijoada in Brazil is made with black beans. Regardless of this difference, the flavour was still to die for. It was comfort food of the highest order that I will never forget.  So much so, that given the opportunity, I will make Feijoada at the drop of a hat.

Indeed. So, when I recently came across a recipe for a traditional Brazilian Feijoada, I didn’t need any encouragement. I was so impressed by the recipe that I decided to make it. Nothing was going to stand in the way of making this dish.

Before doing that, however, I needed to order some ingredients. They are ingredients that might be available in any Portuguese kitchen, but they certainly are not things I had in my larder. I am talking about ingredients like Paio sausages (a smoked Brazilian sausage made with pork loin and seasoned with garlic, salt, and Chillies)  , corned beef (as a substitute to carne seca),  the black beans themselves and Linquica sausages 

Over and above these ingredients, I also needed smoked gammon, brisket (to make corned beef), a smoked ham hock, chives, parsley, onions, garlic, oranges, Chillies, pork belly, pork ribs, some olive oil and various herbs and spices.

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Pre- soaking Chilli seeds

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Finding the best solution

It’s one thing to make comparisons; it’s another to ensure that the basis for comparison is correct. For example, I recently started a comparison exercise between various solutions for the pre-soaking of Chilli seeds before planting.  The experiment was to determine which of seaweed extract, saltpetre, or plain water with a few drops of detergent is the most effective in seed starting.

It was certainly easy enough to get the varieties part of the equation right. That just took choosing the types I wanted to grow and making sure the seeds for the experiment all came from the same packets. The water part was also easy. That was simply rainwater from my rain butt brought to lukewarm in the microwave. Similarly, the soaking period was also easy. I simply decided on the normal standard of an overnight period of between twelve and eighteen hours.

However, the difficulty came in trying to determine the dilutions I would use to make the comparisons more less on an equal footing. For example, were the solutions going to be strong or weak? To me, this will make a difference. Surely you would want to place the seeds on equal standing in terms of concentration of scarification agent. If you were, say, going to use a strong seaweed extract mix, you should also use a strong concentration of saltpetre etc. Surely a stronger concentration of one agent shouldn’t be compared with a weaker one of another. See where I am coming from? To figure out what to do, I decided to do some research. I definitely needed to get some clarity on this issue

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Mauritian fusion food

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An island nation

Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of Africa. It includes the main island (Mauritius), as well as the smaller Rodrigues, Agaléga and St. Brandon islands. The country’s population is composed predominantly of people with European (mainly French), Indian, African, Chinese, and Creole descent. At present, the country’s population is about 1270000 people.

Whenever there is a mixing of cultures, it is inevitable that the food that people eat will change.  Local cuisine gets influenced by the ingredients and cooking styles of the other cultures. So, instead of cuisine staying close to its roots, it becomes fusion food.

And this precisely happened in Mauritius.  Before long, what perhaps may have started as a French dish, after being adapted with Indian influences, and maybe a hint of the African way of cooking would  have become something else.  A good example of this is Mauritian Daube .  Similarly, Chinese cooking started taking on a Mauritian nuance. A typical example of this is Bol Renversé. (a rice stir fry). With all this diversity, Mauritian cuisine started developing a shape and character of its own. It was no longer French, Indian, African or Chinese cooking. It had become Mauritian fusion food

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Lets make jerk chicken

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Let’s make Jerk chicken

This jerk chicken recipe is made in three stages. The first stage is brining the chicken. For the brining, I will need a large chicken, one Scotch bonnet Chilli, a big piece of root ginger, a tablespoon of pimento berries (allspice), a medium head of garlic, a quarter cup of brown sugar, enough water to cover the chicken, and one tablespoon of salt flakes for every cup of water used. I wanted my brine to contain six to seven percent of salt in total.

First, I cut the chicken into pieces and placed the pieces into a pot. I then added water by the cup until I had added enough water to cover the chicken completely. I then removed the chicken from the water and placed it in a glass dish. I placed the chicken in the refrigerator and discarded the water

In a new pot, I added four cups of fresh water into a pot (this was the amount of water it had taken to cover the chicken).   I then added four tablespoons of salt flakes. To this, I added the pimento, ginger and head of garlic. (I had previously cut these in half without peeling them.) Next, I added the sugar and the Scotch bonnet, which I had also cut in half

I slowly brought the brine to a simmer, stirring all the time until the salt and sugar had completely dissolved. I then took the brine off the heat and let it cool down.  I then added some ice cubes to the glass container the chicken was in, and poured the brine over the chicken. The reason for adding the ice was to make sure that brine was cold enough.  This is an essential step, otherwise food safety could have been jeopardised

After covering the dish with cling film, I placed the brining chicken in the refrigerator.  I left the chicken in the brine for twenty-four hours. It would have benefited if I had left it in the fridge  for longer (i.e., up to forty-eight hours). During this time, the meat absorbed the flavours of the aromatics, the pimento berries and the salt and sugar.

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