Truck drivers, Batting Trances and Chilies

And good afternoon!  What makes today so delightful is that Pakistan may have found a new pace bowler, a chap named Abdul Haq who works in the Emirates as a truck driver.  He's originally from Waziristan, plays cricket locally for Abu Dhabi Gymkhana and clean-bowled 3 Pakistani batsmen yesterday during a practice session in the nets! 


Abdul Haq, the surprise seamer

The team manager has invited Abdul Haq to the Lahore Cricket Academy so he gets some more coaching and practice.  I cannot wait until this guy gets selected!  Then Pakistan will be solid, solid, solid with seamers, spinners and batsmen!  Woo hoooooo!

Right!  So yesterday, day 3 of the Pakistan/South Africa test match was really good.  Pakistan's batting is getting better and better due to the guidance the more mature batsmen are providing.  It was lovely watching Azhar Ali, Taufeeq Umar, Misbah ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq.  What style, what gentlemanly comportment, what class.  My team was really shining yesterday!  Good on ya! 

When Asad Shafiq bats, he goes into this strange kind of trance.  He gets a very distant look in his eye, like he's in an altered state of conciousness or mentally on another planet.  I've only seen one other cricketer do that, and that was Jonathan Trott of England.

Asad Shafiq in his "zone"



Jonathan Trott, "elsewhere"

  It's almost a bit creepy to watch, but the trick is DON'T LOOK INTO THEIR EYES WHEN THEY BAT!  Then it's really pleasant to watch Asad Shafiq hit a half-century or more.  Go Pakistan!
Okay.  Earlier I said that today's cooking would be a theory lesson about chilies.  So here we go.

First things first:  If you eat something with chilies in it and you are in pain from the heat, DRINK SOME MILK IMMEDIATELY.  Plain yoghurt also works, but milk seems to work better.  Milk will slightly coat your tongue and the pain goes away very quickly.   So if you're new to using chilies, always have some milk available!

The general rule for chilies is:  the smaller the chili, the hotter it will be.  A bell pepper (capsicum) is big, therefore it is not hot at all.  A poblano pepper, which is a bit smaller, has a little bit of a kick to it.  A jalapeno is what most North Americans would call hot.  A serrano pepper, which is smaller and thinner, is quite hot.  A chile de arbol (tree chili) from Mexico would be far too hot for most North American palates.  The tiny birds-eye chilies from Thailand are extremely hot.  Never try to eat one whole.  The same goes for Habanero peppers from the Yucatan.  Until recently, habaneros were thought to be the hottest peppers on the planet.  I personally like habaneros and I can eat them thanks to the time my father-in-law tried to kill me but only succeeded in killing some of my taste buds.  But that's a story for another day!  It turns out that there is an ever hotter chili from Pakistan which makes the habanero taste like plain pudding.  It is so hot that if your neighbor cuts one, YOU'll get a sunburn!  True story.

In pakistani and indian cuisine, chilies are usually used fresh, dried or powdered.  They are always used to provide "heat" to a dish and a lovely citrus-like scent.  Chilies are not used as a main ingredient for flavour.  You never want to be ham-fisted with the chilies; too much heat destroys the balance of a dish and it can be quite painful.  So start off slowly.

In mexican cuisine, chilies are used fresh, dried, powdered and smoked.  The different chilies have different smells and tastes.  Mexicans use these different chilies the way Pakistanis use spices; as flavouring agents.  In mexican food, chilies can also be the main ingredient of a dish, such as Aztec Soup, Chiles en Nogada, Chiles Rellenos and Mole. 

Chipotle peppers are jalapeno peppers which are smoked and dried in a certain way.  This pepper will add heat, and a smokiness kind of like that of a barbeque.  A morita pepper is also a jalapeno which has been dried and smoked, but it retains a very fruity aroma and is a bit hotter than a chipotle.

Some of the larger dried and smoked chiles which you would find in a mexican shop are very nice after soaking them in water for a few hours, grinding them to a paste, and making soup from them.  I'll post a recipe for Aztec Soup in the coming days.

Finally, when you're cutting chilies, don't go crushing them with your hands because your fingers will sting a bit.  And wash your hands before rubbing your eyes. 
So there you have a little chili lesson, and speaking of chilis, I'm off to watch that hot chili of a captain Misbah ul-Haq batting in the test match.   Have a good one today, and let's cheer on Pakistan! 

Happy eating, and happy cricket!