FIFINONO – a blog about cultural exploration

History of stuffings

This one is a mystery. No one really knows when stuffings were first used. The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig.

Whoever thought to shove various ingredients into some dead animal’s body was a genius! Now stuffed recipes are so widespread in the world,  each culture has its own unique style.

FIFINONO’ve made stuffed peppers, eggplants, and mussels! Now it’s time to explore more different stuffing recipes around the world! Let’s start with Mexico!

1. Mexico: Chile Relleno

This Stuffed Poblano pepper is one of our favorite brunches! The poblano is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The Poblano peppers are usually stuffed with cheese,  diced meat, onions, various vegetables, and spices. They are then fried with egg white and four cover, then served with some spicy salsa!

2. Turkey: Midye Dolma

This is NONO’s favorite Turkish dish – stuffed mussels with aromatic rice, nuts, herbs, and spices. They are eaten with lemon juice freshly squeezed on top. Midye means orange mussels, while Dolma is a family of stuffed dishes found in the Balkans, South Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Making it takes some time, effort, and lots of patience. But it’s so worth it!

And of course, we have to pair it with some Turkish Raki!

3. US: Stuffed Turkey

This is probably the most well-known stuffing recipe in the world, representing family reunion and friends gathering. Approximately 46 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving! Stuffings recipes various between North and South, and many families has its own family secret. No one really knows if the Pilgrims really ate turkey during their harvest feast, but it has become such a must-have Thanksgiving dish across the US and even many other countries in the world.

4. China: Yong Tau Foo

This is a traditional Hakka dish of tofu filled with ground meat. Hakka cuisine is a branch of Cantonese cuisine. Hakka food is characterized as salty, fragrant, and umami. Rice, pork, tofu, and soy sauce are staples of the cuisine, while rice wine, ginger, garlic, and salt were used to preserve and flavor the food.

The Chinese characters for Hakka (客家) literally mean “guest families”. The Hakka people are across Chinese provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, and Guizhou. They are generally identified by Hakka ancestry and have their own language.

Next time you go to Hakkasan, you can tell your guests the story of Hakka!

The stuffing recipes are so versatile! The exploration is not over! But FIFI and NONO are full now.

It’s fascinating to find these similarities in different cultural cuisines! What kind of stuffing recipes do you have in your culture? Leave a comment!