Unusual, delightful food tasting

China salad is one of the delicacies that were prepared at the food tasting event at 3Little Ducks in Kansanga last week. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA 

By A. Kadumukasa Kironde II
Posted 


Sunday, July 3  

2016 at 

01:00

A t 3Little Ducks Restaurant, Kampala International University main campus, Kansanga and took over the former Alma’s Restaurant. On Tuesday, they had an unusual food tasting which was attended by a selected invited audience including luminaries from Pearl Guide magazine.

For as far back as recorded history and the creation of food, never has there been a universal acceptance of definitive taste. It boils down to as the French would say, ‘chucun son gout’ (English to each his own taste).

Snacks
Notwithstanding the above, the food tasting at 3Little Ducks Restaurant was a departure from the norm with the emphasis on a creative and multicultural approach to cuisine.

The starters included Chimichangas, which to the novice and uninitiated could (wrongly) be regarded as samosas with the only similarity being pastry casing and that is where all similarity ends.

These to-die-for pastry delights are originally Mex-Tex and make wonderful snacks with the fillings being chicken, beef or beans with a common denominator of being spicy and hot.

Just as inspired in terms of snacks, were the spicy meat patties that had the right hint of coconut. As for the sweet corn fritters, using freshly cooked sweet corn (maize) is best for the Perkedel Jagung which originate from South East Asia these were marvelous.

Entrees
To get a feel for Brazilian cooking and food, one has to remember Brazil; unlike the rest of South America that was colonised by Spain, Brazil was once a colony of Portugal. Brazilian cuisine is represented by three different diverse and different cultures viz. the Portuguese, the Africans (they were brought to Brazil as a source of cheap agricultural labour) and the native Indians.

Brazilian chicken and plantain stew was one of those entrees served that night that fits in nicely with the Ugandan diet. Plantain and palm oil are readily available locally and the combination was amazing; the gonja brings a soft sweetness and plenty of starch to the stew and needless to say it was a sure winner.

Obviously space does not permit, but I would be remiss in not mentioning some of the other entrees such as the beef dishes; red stewed beef (or beef ligament) and the sliced beef and spring onions. These items hail from the province of Hunan in south central China between Canton and Szechuan.

Beef dishes are not popular as pork or chicken in Hunan for many reasons among which are the many Buddhists who do not eat meat. Just like we in Uganda do not serve pork at banquets for fear of offending Muslims, likewise beef is not served at such functions in Hunan.

Among the carbs I noted and seldom seen or appreciated were Mexican rice, potato Lyonnais and a pasta chicken salad. As for the vegetables there was a memorable spicy tofu stir fried and pak choi.

What we missed
The event was iconic and by all accounts, unique in that it was not pared with wine or alcohol. Management assures us that this event will become a monthly affair and we all look forward to more of these innovative and creative culinary offerings.

In summing up the event, one of the partners of 3Little Ducks observed the following: ‘Two are the main functions of life: nutrition and propagation of the specie. The human specie lasts only because the man has the same instinct of conservation and the instinct of reproduction.

And since the fulfillment of a need is always associate with pleasure, the pleasure of conservation resides in the sense of taste whilst that of reproduction in the sense of tact. Therefore, if man did not enjoy sex or food, the human specie would cease to exist.’ Pellegrino Artusi