image of Messy cooking by (Jessica Spear)

It is not a secret, whenever I cook, I do a huge mess around me. To be honest, most people would probably get a heart attack the second their foot steps into my kitchen while I’m cooking. For that same reason, it is almost impossible for me to cook with others.
I’m sure that deep down inside of you, you’re saying “oh gosh, I would never eat food cooked by this man”;The truth of the matter is, I cook great food (and so do other people that I know) I just take cooking to a different ‘visual art’ level while I’m doing it.

I just finished frying for the first time in my life a Poutuguise dish I love called “Rissois de Camarão” if I would use my non-existing Portuguese to translate it, it would be something like deep fried shrimp dumplings (which suddenly sounds Asian from some reason). I used to stare at the freezer at my favorite Portuguese chicken place in Montreal, ‘Romados’ where they had it for sale, every time I would head out to taste their legendary, delicious roasted chicken.

Did you ever had this feeling where you went into a new country and decided to head out to the local supermarket to see what the locals eat and buy? I know I have!.
I actually do that all the time. I guess monuments are not as exciting for me as people, food and flavors. So the local grocery store/ supermarket offers a fantastic opportunity as a ‘one-stop-shop’.
Here’s the thing. Since I always tend to buy things I don’t know, I have no clue what to do with them.
A few month ago, I went to Chinatown in Montreal.  Although it’s pretty small, I love walking in the area… it reminds me of my trips to Asia.
So in that visit, I decided to go into the local Chinese grocery store to see ‘what’s new’. When I picked up a sauce, a Chinese woman in her 50′s started a conversation with me and explained how wonderful the sauce that I’m holding is but how bad it is compared to another flavored one from the same brand that they have in the mainland which that store we were in did not import it.

She kept on rambling and I kept on laughing. in the end, I had to buy it. Not that it was any good, it actually tasted like nuts dipped in oil blended with chili flakes(…bite anyone?), but the story behind it mixed with the adventure of trying new flavors made it worth it.

So next time, whenever you’re abroad….head out to a local grocery store. You never know what’s going to happen.

Rissois de Camarão- Portuguese recipe (deep fried shrimp dumplings)

For the dough:

• 300 ml of water
• 1/2 kg of all purpose flour
• 60 gr of butter
• bit of olive oil
• A pinch of salt

For the filling

• 1/2 kg of shrimps
• 1 liter of water (to cook the shrimps in)
• 100 gr of margarine
• 2/3 cup of milk
• 200 gr of flour
• 2 large onions finally chopped
• 2 spoons of tomato paste
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 tsp of nutmeg
• Pinch of black pepper
• Pinch of Salt
• 1/2 a cup of chopped parsley

To fry

• Oil ( preferably olive oil)
• 1 bag of plain bread crumbs (not flavored)
• 3 eggs

Sauce

• 200 ml of tomato paste
• Black pepper
• 1 finely chopped red chili
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Salt
• Olive oil
• 3-4 spoons of minced roasted red peppers

Preparation

Filling:

1. Start by cooking the peeled shrimps for about 5-6 minutes till they are ready.( keep the broth created from the boil, we will use it later)
2. Add the margarine, onions into a new pot and fry them on medium heat until they get a golden color.
3. Add the flour into the mixture and stir till you get a unified mixture.
4. Add 1 cup of the shrimp broth to the mixture and keep on mixing
5. Once the broth have evaporated, you can then add the milk and once those liquids have evaporated add one more cup of broth. repeat the process again once more.
6. add the tomato paste and stir + the lemon juice
7. Take 10 cooked shrimps and gently chop them in a food processor. then add them to the pot.

For the dough

1. Add the water to a deep pot (medium heat).
2. add the flour and the rest of the ingredients.
3. blend all the ingredients to using a food processor (by hand is also possible) till you get a unified dough.

The preparation of the Rissois

1. work with the dough with a rolling pin till you get it to be around 2 mm thin.
2. add 1 tbs from the filling to the dough and cover it as if it with more dough. Using a cup create a perfect dumpling shape.
3. once you’ve used all the dough prepare 2 plates. one with bread crumbs and the other with 2 beaten eggs.
4. Preheat a pan with the oil
5. dip the Rissois in the beaten eggs and then in the breadcrumbs plate.
6. deep fry it in the oil until both sides get a golden/tanned color.
7. repeat on all dumplings

Garnish with parsley Serve it with the sauce or with sliced lemon.