Hasperat/L'Haspèrat bajorien

Many, many, many years ago, one of my friends bought me a cookbook... The Star Trek Cookbook. I'm fairly certain it was Jody which is totally cools since we both love to cook and both love, LOVE Star Trek.

I've never cooked anything from it before. To be frank, the book is awesome, but there was always a little part of me that was disappointed because... well, all the ingredients come from Earth. I know! It's a TV show!!!

Recently I have been watching again Star Trek: Voyager and have been reminded and inspired to give it a try. So I picked out a couple of recipes that I want to try over the next few months.

The first dish I tried is called Hasperat /HĀSS, pər-rāt/. It is a dish that was introduced to the Trek Universe through The Next Generation series when Ensign Ro Laren came aboard introducing viewers to Bajor culture and later through Deep Space Nine.

Hasperat is a tremendously popular national dish. It is a spicy Bajoran dish resembling a sliced Earth burrito, but filled with a carefully processed brine. A properly prepared Hasperat will set one's tongue on fire and bring tears to the eyes. It can also be served as a soufflé, by blending the hasperat and baking it in a deep pan.

Needless to day, this terrestrial version is not that hot, though it could be.

The cookbook doesn't give measurements on this particular recipe, so I winged it according to my own tastes.

Hasperat/L'Haspèrat bajorien

The Cream

• One large clove of garlic grated.
• A few drops of sesame oil. (I don't know why.)*
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed dried tarragon. (I don't know why.)**
• 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro chopped up .

I added all the above to one room-temperature package of organic cream cheese and mixed well.


The Stuffing

• Roast 2 organic peppers (red and yellow), cool and slice in to thin slices.
• Rough tear about half a bag of watercress ( I tore away the big parts of the stems but they are just as tasty and edible).

The Construction

• One a room-temperature tortilla wrap of your choice, place enough of the cream mixture on the wrap to nearly cover its diameter and with enough to be able to press in the pepper slices.
• Press in some of the roasted pepper slices.
• Top with watercress.
• Roll up the wraps in foil and refrigerate until time to serve or eat immediately.

Notes:

* I suppose you could use some hot-sauce or hot-oil you may have.
** Tarragon has a nice, fresh, unique scent and flavor. I just thought it might work with the vegetables.

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