I would be lying if I said the prep for this assignment was anything other than chaos. Despite careful planning (I created a master list of ingredients and steps so I wouldn’t have to open my computer while cooking), my kitchen looked and felt like a disaster zone while…
Tag: culinary
Assignment 88: British Caribbean
When we first conceived the Wooden Spoon Wanderer blog, one of our first tasks was to create a list, as exhaustive as possible, of places we wanted to cook from. Most are sovereign nations, but others, like this assignment, are non-sovereign territories with a distinct culinary tradition…
Assignment 87: Malta
Malta sits at the crossroads of Italian, Middle Eastern, and North African cuisines, and as such has a fantastically diverse flavour profile that I was eager to explore.
Assignment 86: Marshall Islands
Eric went into this assignment expecting to struggle to find recipes, but was surprised to find enough resources to put together a menu. The Marshall Islands has a standard Oceanic flavour profile with some Chinese influence to it. Eric knew fish would feature, and opted…
Assignment 85: St Kitts and Nevis
It’s been over 25 assignments since we last visited the Caribbean, so I was looking forward to the fish and coconut I expected to find (and did find) on the menus of St Kitts and Nevis. Recipes were not easy to find, and I relied heavily on…
Assignment 84: Brunei
Location: South Asia Population: 459, 500 Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan Geography: Two disconnected pieces of land on the island of Borneo, mostly covered with tropical rainforest Language: Malay Signature flavours: Seafood, shrimp paste, chilli peppers, coconut, garlic, tamarind, ambulung, pandan The Menu Sayur Lodeh: A vegetable and shrimp curry with cabbage, carrot, and green beans,…
Assignment 83: Niger
Location: West Africa Population: 22.4 million Capital: Niamey Geography: A landlocked desert nation with a small area of savannah Language: French Signature flavours: Peanut, beef, mutton, tomato, corn, millet, leafy greens, baobab The Menu I had a little trouble finding recipes at first, in part because Nigerian cuisine is much better documented on the internet…
Assignment 82: Tanzania
Location: East Africa Population: 56.3 million Capital: Dodoma Geography: A mix of mountains, plains, and warm coastal regions, including several offshore islands Language: Swahili, English, Arabic Signature flavours: Beef, coconut, potato, seafood, cumin, cardamom, eggs, banana The Menu It was Eric’s first time undertaking an assignment since January. A combination of procrastination on my part…
Assignment 81: Canada
Location: North AmericaPopulation: 35 millionCapital: OttawaGeography: A wide array of landscapes, including forest, mountain, prairie, and northern tundraLanguage: English, FrenchSignature flavours: Seafood, beef, pork, maple, potato, eggs, dairy, orchard fruits, berries The Menu This is a special one. Not just because I was born a Canadian and Eric chose to become one, not just because…
Assignment 80: Greece
Location: Southern Europe Population: 10.8 million Capital: Athens Geography: The country comprises a largely mountainous peninsula projecting into the sea, and some thousands of islands Language: Greek Signature flavours: Seafood, lamb, garlic, dairy products, oregano, olives and olive oil, honey, nuts The Menu I grew up in Toronto’s Greek town, and Eric has been sharing in…
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