Glossary A
Arpa is the Hungarian word for "Barley".
Artany is a Hungarian word for "castrated male pig".
Aijvar or Aijvar is a seasonal dish; an appetizer; a relish of roasted eggplant-sweet-pepper mixture made principally from red bell peppers, with eggplant, garlic and chile pepper. String beans can also be combined to make Ajvar.
Ajvar is predominantly popular in the Balkans, in countires like Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia and other former parts of Yugoslavia and also in Greece. It is always made in late summer and early autumn, just after the paprika harvest and when many households bottle their own Ajvar for use throughout the winter season. It is enjoyed as a winter food.
Depending on ingredients and the amount of added chili peppers, it can be sweet, piquant or very hot. Ajvar can be consumed as a bread spread on slices of white bread or flat bread with chunks of Feta cheese, an addition in sandwiches, as a condiment. It is often used as a side dish with grilled or roasted meats, as an appetizer or salad.
The name Ajvar comes from Turkish "havyar", which means salted roe. Preparation of Ajvar is somewhat difficult, as it involves plenty of manual labor, especially for peeling the ingredients. Traditionally, it is prepared in early autumn, when the bell peppers are most abundant, conserved in glass jars, and consumed throughout the year, although in most households stocks do not last up until the spring, when fresh salads start to emerge again.
The peppers and eggplants are baked whole on a plate on open fire, plate of a wood stove, or in the oven. Baked peppers must briefly rest in a closed dish, so that they get cooler and the flesh sets apart from the skin. Then, the skin is carefully peeled off and seeds removed. The pepper is ground in a mill or chopped in tiny pieces - this variant is often referred to as Pindur. Finally, the mush is stewed for a couple of hours in large pots, with added sunflower oil and garlic, in order to condense and reduce the water, as well as to enhance later conservation. Salt and optional vinegar are added at the end and the hot mush is poured directly into glass jars which are immediately sealed. The best Ajvar is produced domestically, as only the manual peeling and seed removal ensures clear taste without slightly bitter influence of the pepper skin.
Ajvar is also called Aijvar and is pronounced "eye-vahr".
Anooshaboor refers to one of the favorite and traditional holiday foods in Armenia which is actually a Christmas pudding.
Asam Laksa refers to one of the popular hawker foods found in Penang. This is one of the foods that should not be missed while in Penang. Asam Laksa is thick rice noodles served in fish flakes soup which is spiced and flavored with dried chilis, lemon grass, shallots, turmeric, kesum leaves, ginger flowers, galangale, candlenuts, Belacan (dried shrimp paste) and tamarind juice and is garnished with fresh mint, fresh chilis, shredded pineapple, cucumber, onions, lettuce, ginger flowers and spoonful of Hae Ko (black shrimp paste).
The Malays and Baba Nyonya community have a slightly different style of cooking the Asam Laksa the end result is always a piquant, spicy and very delicous steaming bowl of rice noodles.
Penang is a state in Malaysia. The food in Penang is widely regarded as the best in Malaysia.
What a wonderful and flavorful food! Just reading the ingredients and spices included to make this dish makes me hungry. I love the fact that it includes some of my favorite spices, ginger, mint, lemon grass and tamarind juice, there is an explosion of taste. My favorite restaurant in my city in Germany is a Malaysian cook, I think I will should ask him soon if he can prepare this for me.