Tools of the trade

I am a firm believer that when you cook, and especially when you're hampered by budget and availability of ingredients, then you should use what you have at your disposal. Yet, having just said that, it is always great to have good produce with which to work, a variety of spices and so on. The lack of that variety has been one of my greatest challenges here in Argentina and has helped me to become more creative in my cooking. So when I have the chance to go to the Chinatown in Buenos Aires, I go mad at the great variety of fresh fish and seafood there is, the array of spices and produce that I can use. And so I stock up and for the next few weeks shiitake mushrooms, dhal lentils, basmati rice, curry, garam masala and a host of other "exotic" flavours find their way into my kitchen and into my meals. And over the next few posts I will share some simple recipes with you, using these ingredients.
To get us started, we are going to make a garlic and ginger paste. This paste can be stored in a glass jar and kept for quite a while in the fridge. I use it for a number of things: in all my curries, I marinate meat and chicken in it for stir fries as well as in the odd other recipe.
You'll need a head of garlic, peeled as well as about a 10cm piece of peeled ginger. If you are fortunate enough to have a food processor, add everything in there with some olive oil and blitz until you get a smooth paste. All other less sophisticated methods should arrive at the same result. Don't add too much oil - it has to be a paste and not a sauce!
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