Location: Central Asia Population: 3.2 million Capital: Lhasa Geography: Extremely mountainous and receiving little precipitation, and host to the sources of several of Asia’s major rivers Language: Tibetan Signature flavours: Barley, beef, garlic, szechuan peppercorns (also called prickly ash), blue cheese, daikon, dumplings, scallions The Menu Eric and I fondly remember our trip to New…
Category: Asia
Assignment 73: Georgia
Location: Western Asia, between Russia and Turkey Population: 3.7 million Capital: Tblisi Geography: Mountainous, with areas of fertile valleys Language: Georgian, Abkhazian Signature flavours: Dairy, lamb, beef, tarragon, egg, nuts, shallot, plum The Menu Georgia’s culinary tradition tells the story of its geography: nestled at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This…
Assignment 71: Saudi Arabia
Location: Middle East Population: 33 million Capital: Riyadh Geography: A desert nation with coastlines on the Persian Gulf and Red Sea Language: Arabic Signature flavours: Rice, cardamom, cinnamon, tomato, parsley, sesame, lamb The Menu I ordered a couple of cookbooks from the library for this assignment. One ended up being more focused on Lebanon, but…
Assignment 64: Afghanistan
Location: Central Asia Population: 31.6 million Capital: Kabul Geography: A landlocked, mountainous country Language: Pashto Signature flavours: Rice, lamb, rosewater, cumin, dried fruits, nuts, yoghurt The Menu Eric went straight to the Toronto Public Library for cookbooks when he was assigned Afghanistan. A newly-released and well-reviewed Afghan cookbook was on order for the library and…
Assignment 55: Singapore
Location: Southern tip of the Malay Peninsula Population: 5.6 million Capital: Singapore Geography: A highly developed island city state Language: English, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil Signature flavours: Seafood, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), garlic, chillies, anise, noodles The Menu Recipes abound for Singaporean cuisine, so my challenge for this assignment was choosing between them all. Singaporean…
Assignment 52: Jordan
Location: Middle East, northwest of Saudi Arabia Population: 10 million Capital: Amman Geography: A mix of arable land and desert, with a short coast on the Dead Sea Language: Arabic Signature flavours: Lamb, rice, yoghurt, eggplant, nuts, cinnamon, tomato, garlic The Menu Eric discovered plenty of resources online. The first recipe he chose was the…
Assignment 51: Laos
Location: Southeast Asia Population: 6.8 million Capital: Vientiane Geography: A heavily forested and mountainous landlocked nation Language: Lao Signature flavours: Sticky rice, fish sauce, lime, mint, shallot, chilli pepper, lemongrass The Menu I love the flavours of southeast Asia, namely Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese foods. Having no experience with Laotian cuisine, I was looking forward…
Assignment 46: Bahrain
Location: The Middle East, on the east coast of Saudi Arabia Population: 1.4 million Capital: Manama Geography: A small, mostly flat desert island nation Language: Arabic Signature flavours: Saffron, rice, seafood, cardamom, cinnamon, lamb, rose water The Menu Bahrain is one of those teeny-tiny places with a very rich culinary tradition. Because it has been…
Assignment 37: Tajikistan
Location: Central Asia Population: 8.7 million Capital: Dushanbe Geography: Landlocked and mountainous Language: Tajik Signature flavours: Dairy, wheat, lamb, onion, apricot, mulberry, rhubarb, pumpkin The Menu Ah, Toronto, you continue to surprise us with your bounty of international resources, edible and otherwise. I found a Tajik cookbook in the Toronto Public Library system: With Our Own…
Assignment 30: Palestine
Location: Middle East Population: 4.5 million Capital: Jerusalem/Ramallah Geography: A flat or rolling-dune desert with low mountains in the West Bank region Language: Arabic Signature flavours: Sumac, lamb, sesame, pita bread, thyme, mint, eggplant The Menu We try to keep WSW a place about food, the joy of eating together, our discovery of unfamiliar flavours…
Wooden Spoon Wanderer 