There are a few ingredients in our products that are a little different and not everyone knows what they are. In order to expand your knowledge and hopefully your consumption of a new product I have blogged descriptions of the most frequently questioned products.
I’ve also added in a section at the bottom for what is the difference between… as we get quite a few queries there too.
CARAWAY
This is a seed used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine. Its flavour has strong liquorice notes similar to that of a fennel seed and looks a bit like it as well. Caraway seeds are used whole in the Mushroom and Caraway Parcels sprinkled between the sheets of filo.
EDAMAME
This is the edible young soy bean. The green bean from the soy plant is edamame, we use it shelled in an unprocessed form in the Raw Beetroot & Edamame Salad with Avo Dressing.
FALAFEL
Is a Middle Eastern deep-fried fritter made of ground chickpeas, onions, herbs and spices. Really popular and really traditional, Let them eat have messed it up by making ours larger and egg-shaped with a hand rolling process rather than the traditional press.
GRUYERE
This is cheese. Pronounced “groo-YAIR” it is a firm yellow Swiss cheese and is named after the town of Gruyères in Switzerland. However, Let them eat use an Australian vegetarian version. Gruyere is featured in the Leek & Gruyere Tart to add extra richness to the filling and also snuck into the Cauliflower Cheese Parcel filling for the same
HALOUMI
This is cheese. A Greek style, semi hard unripened, brined salty cheese that is also known as the ‘squeaky cheese’ due to the noise it makes when you bite down on it. Even though we often get asked what it is, it doesn’t stop the purchases with the Broccoli & Haloumi Fritter being the biggest seller out of the Let them eat range!
KIMCHI
This is salted fermented cabbage, in the Korean style of hot and spicy and although the recipe can vary greatly it generally relies on garlic, ginger and chilli as the base. It can sound a little off-putting for some but it really is delicious and when included in the Kimchi & Sweet Potato Fritter creates a hot, sweet and sour flavour. Traditionally a shrimp paste is used in the recipe, however, Let them eat omits this when we produce our own vegetarian version.
MOUSSAKA
Is a Greek dish (with other middle eastern variations) and refers to the tomato (and often meat) spiced sauce, eggplant, potato and béchamel layering. Traditionally it looks like a lasagne with the layers of sauce, eggplant, potato and the béchamel (white sauce) on top. Let them eat makes a vegan mushroom version of the sauce and to make it easier to eat on the go, the moussaka filling including cubed potato and eggplant has been wrapped in a filo pastry and topped with the béchamel for the Mushroom Moussaka Parcels. There is still the ‘lasagne style’ version on our buffet menu for special events.
FALAFEL VS MIDDLE EASTERN CAULIFLOWER FRITTERS
Where the falafel is a traditional chickpea based fritter at Let them eat we mixed it up for the Middle Eastern Cauliflower Fritter and use fresh cauliflower, beans, bean sprouts and similar (but not the same) middle eastern spices to make a same but different twist on the traditional falafel with less of a carb load.
QUICHE VS TART
I admit, this one is a little bit of a grey area and in naming at Let them eat have steered away from the quiche ‘label’ in order to avoid comparison with any 1970s inspired products. A quiche is a French tart consisting of a pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. So, as we are Australian inspired cuisine it is a tart and not a French Tart aka a quiche?
SPANAKOPITA VS SPINACH AND RICOTTA FILO PIE
Spanakopita is the Greek name for a filo pastry stuffed with spinach and feta/ricotta cheese. Let them eat used to call our Spinach and Ricotta Filo Pie a Spanakopita in honour of our friend Jo’s mum who taught Tanya to make it. Since then and the growth of Let them eat the naming convention became confusing so it was changed to the most accurate name.
