Tufahija, Bosnian Poached Apples

I love travelling. I have always been passionate about discovering new places, meeting new people and getting lost in the world. I used to travel with no much organisation, apart from a round-trip ticket (sometimes not even that!), a backpack and a Lonely Planet.

One of the best things about travelling is discovering new foods. I'm the kind of person that looks for the less touristy looking place, and asks for the most bizarre stuff in the menu.

This has ended up with me eating bats with spaghetti, venison tongue, beef brains or crispy intestines. I must admit they were all quite nice. The trick is not to ask what you are actually eating until you've finished your plate.

Since I have children, I tend to organise my trips a bit more, so we normally book flights and stays in advance. Some people think travelling is one of these things you cannot do any more once you have children. However I believe it is just a matter of being a bit more organised and flexible, including activities that appeal to our boys, and bearing in mind eating, sleeping and playing times.

Travelling is one of the most precious gifts parents can offer to their kids. Travel will help children to grow into well-rounded adults with perspective that extends beyond their neighbourhood, with first-hand information about the world we live in. Travelling will make them become flexible and patient adults, able to adapt themselves to new situations, and learn that different people in different places do things differently. Also, travelling with kids is good for parents. Discovering the world through a child’s eyes is one of the most amazing things a parent can experience, and will certainly make you see more things, as children notice things adults normally miss.

Adults can sometimes feel uncomfortable in a foreign country. We feel lost, vulnerable, out of our comfort zone. However, children can play for hours with other children even if they don’t speak the same language, enjoy new foods, and make the most of life in any situation.

People are people, and my kids have learned that all kids are fun to play with, even if they can’t talk with them.

As my kids get older, I hope that travelling will help them to have a better understanding about how our world works, helping them realize that is our responsibility to look after it.

This week recipe is a dessert we discover in our last holidays in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tufahija is a Bosnian pudding made of nuts-stuffed apples stewed in water with sugar, very popular in this amazing country. It is a healthy, fresh, inexpensive and easy to prepare recipe that will make a great ending to any dinner.

WHAT YOU NEED

4 Apples (1 per person)

400ml water

1tsp Lemon Juice

100gr Golden Sugar

100gr Ground almonds

50gr Chopped walnuts

50gr Chocolate Chunks

Lemon zest

2tbsp Honey

1tbsp Cinnamon

Whipped cream

Fresh Mint

WHAT YOU DO

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Peel and core apples. Mix the water, lemon juice and sugar and add a couple of mint leaves. In a deep oven tray, put the apples and cover with the water. Bake for 20 minutes until they become tender but still firm.

Carefully take out the apples and leave them to cool. Reserve the water that now has turned into a light syrup.

Mix ground almonds, chopped walnuts, lemon zest, honey and cinnamon. Add the chocolate chunks. Fill cooled apples with this mixture.

 
Pour a bit more syrup over them and garnish with whipped cream and some mint leaves.

Serve cold.