Location: Central East Africa Population: 11.2 million Capital: Kigali Geography: A highly mountainous country comprising forest, savannah, and lakeland Language: Kinyarwanda, English, French Signature flavours: Corn, greens, peanuts, eggplant, chicken, beans, dairy The Menu When Eric drew the Rwanda assignment, his first thought was that another pap was going to be on the menu. He…
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 70: Algeria
Location: North Africa Population: 42.2 million Capital: Algiers Geography: A country of varied desert terrain, including mountainous, coastal, and grassy desert Language: Arabic, Berber Signature flavours: Couscous, mint, dried fruit, dairy, lamb, cayenne pepper The Menu Eric’s Algeria assignment followed right on the heels of my Morocco assignment. We learned through our respective research that…
Assignment 69: Morocco
Location: North Africa Population: 35.7 million Capital: Rabat Geography: A mostly mountainous country with areas of desert Language: Arabic, Berber Signature flavours: Cinnamon, citrus fruits, dried fruits, nuts, beans, chicken The Menu Morocco was our first assignment after an extended hiatus that allowed us to travel for while, then get very sick, then get well,…
Assignment 68: Peru
Location: South America Population: 32.5 million Capital: Lima Geography: A mix of coastal plain, mountains, and Amazon jungle Language: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara Signature flavours: Seafood, potato and sweet potato, corn, hot peppers, cheese, chicken The Menu Peruvian food is unique to South America — it doesn’t really look like any of its continental counterparts. Eric…
Assignment 67: Portugal
Location: Western Europe Population: 10.3 million Capital: Lisbon Geography: A mainland of mountains and rolling plains on the Iberian Peninsula, and two Atlantic archipelagos (the Azores and Madeira) Language: Portuguese Signature flavours: Seafood, potato, tomato, egg, piri piri, olives and olive oil, pork, pastry The Menu Eric and I went to Portugal and the Azores…
Assignment 66: United States of America
Location: North America Population: 327 million Capital: Washington Geography: A vastly varied landscape of plain, mountain, tundra, forest, desert, swamp, and coastland Language: English Signature flavours: Beef, corn, sugar, cheese, wheat products, potato, chicken The Menu Ah, America. Home of hotdogs and hamburgers, pizza and apple pie. Land of millions of diverse voices and thousands…
Assignment 65: Ukraine
Location: Eastern Europe Population: 42.4 million Capital: Kiev Geography: Fertile plains Language: Ukrainian Signature flavours: Potato, beets, cabbage, mushrooms, pork, dairy products, fish, vinegar, berries, dill The Menu My research on Ukrainian food started and finished with The New Ukrainian Cookbook by Annette Ogrodnik Corona. I was inspired early on by her descriptions of the…
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 63: Paraguay
Location: South America Population: 7.2 million Capital: Asunción Geography: Tropical, with a landscape of plains and some low hills Language: Guarani, Spanish Signature flavours: Corn, cheese, onion, chicken, beef, anise, yerba mate The Menu As inadequate as my Spanish is, I did my research in Spanish for this assignment. We are quickly learning that when…
