Assignment 114: Australia

Location: Oceania, between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Population: 26 million Capital: Canberra Geography: Diverse ecosystems across the oldest, flattest, and least fertile continent on earth Language: English Signature flavours: Beef, seafood, dairy, bread, beetroot, apple, Vegemite The Menu Eric saw barramundi — an Australian white fleshed fish — for sale at a local…

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 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 54: Seychelles

Location: The Indian Ocean, off the east coast of Africa Population: 94,000 Capital: Victoria Geography: An archipelago of 115 islands Language: French, English, Seychellois Creole Signature flavours: Seafood, coconut, ginger, cinnamon, hot peppers, garlic, curry The Menu Seychelles was largely uninhabited, save for the odd passerby, until the 18th century, so the archipelago nation has…

Assignment 47: Tuvalu

Location: South Pacific Population: 10,640 Capital: Funafuti Geography: A volcanic archipelago consisting of three islands and six atolls Language: English, Tuvaluan Signature flavours: Coconut, pulaka, taro and taro leaf, breadfruit, seafood, sea bird The Menu Tuvalu is a tropical island paradise and a fresh seafood-lover’s dream. It is also the least visited nation on earth….

Assignment 43: Fiji

Location: Oceania Population: 899,000 Capital: Suva Geography: A subtropical mountainous archipelago of two main island and almost 900 other islands and islets Language: English, iTaukei, Fiji Hindi Signature flavours: Coconut, seafood, curry, taro, tropical fruits The Menu This is our third assignment out of the South Pacific island nations, and while Fiji enjoys a nice…

Assignment 41: Iceland

Location: Western Europe Population: 351,000 Capital: Reykjavik Geography: A sparsely vegetated, highly geothermic island nation Language: Icelandic Signature flavours: Dairy, lamb, seafood, potato, rhubarb, berries The Menu We receive our cooking assignments through a randomized process that narrows down our options first by region, then by country or territory. This assignment, however, is an exception…

Assignment 38: Puerto Rico

Location: The Caribbean (a territory of the US) Population: 3.3 million Capital: San Juan Geography: A mountainous island with large areas of tropical rainforest Language: Spanish, English Signature flavours: Plantain, rice, beans, coconut, achiote, green olives, seafood, pork The Menu This is the first assignment from a place we’ve actually travelled to together. Eric and…

Assignment 36: Croatia

Location: Southern Europe on the Adriatic Sea Population: 4.2 million Capital: Zagreb Geography: A mix of mountain, plain, river valley, and seashore Language: Croatian Signature flavours: Seafood, tomato, green peppercorn, pork, orange, fig The Menu Croatia is divided into four regions, and Eric wanted to represent them all in his Croatia assignment. The result was…

Assignment 34: Trinidad & Tobago

Location: The southern Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela Population: 1.35 million Capital: Port of Spain Geography: Two islands with a mix of mountains and plains Language: English Signature flavours: Corn, rice, scotch bonnet peppers, turmeric, lentils, chickpeas, chicken, seafood The Menu I don’t think our house had ever smelled as good as it did…