This is I think the smallest Paper Chef gethering to date except for the very first one. And it is clear that there is one major reason for that and one minor reason. The major reason is one of the ingredients - giblets. This was just too far out of the realm of experience for many entrants and despite enthusiasm for the overall theme, many potential participants dropped out.

The other reason is that we are really only just ticking over here at Paper Chef - we need reinvigoration, enthusiasm, bravado and a lot more time and energy. For now we will settle for a cup of coffee.

The ingredients for this time around were the aforementioned giblets, eggs, fermented black soy beans and something that reminded you of Africa.

And these are the magnificent entries...


Emma of The Laughing Gastronome made some delightful looking Egg Rolls with wild rice representing Africa as an indigenous ingredient.

Carolyn of 18thC Cuisine, one of the most interesting and different food blogs out there, and a frequent entrant to Paper Chef made a Gizzard Salad - Hot or Cold - that is based on a recipe from 1702 and is totally amazing.


Susan of FatFree Kitchen made a well-reasoned case for a vegetarian substitute to the giblets - zucchini! And made us a Shiitake, Sweet Potato and Zucchini Foo Yung.

And finally, a new entrant, the semi-anonymous blogger in charge of the cleverly-named PhooD, made us Ah-Freekeh, which appears to be a dish based around a North African form of cracked wheat called Freekeh (I suspect it is a lot like bulgur from the picture)