“Smell this,” said Eric, holding a small dish under my nose. The warm aroma of toasted cumin seed and coriander seed rose from the bowl. He would later add pepper, cinnamon, fenugreek, turmeric, black lemon zest, and saffron to finish what Qataris call bazaar spice.
Tag: vegetarian
Assignment 108: Libya
Compared with its North African neighbours Tunisia, Egypt, and nearby Morocco, Libyan cuisine was more of a mystery for Eric when he headed into this assignment. One of the first things he learned was the prevalence of mutton in the region. He was thrilled, since…
Assignment 56: Guyana
Location: South America Population: 773,000 Capital: Georgetown Geography: A densely forested country with areas of savannah, mountains, and coastal plain Language: English Signature flavours: Cassava, garlic, wiri wiri pepper, curry, vanilla, cinnamon, demerara sugar, beef The Menu Eric’s main resource was a blog called Alica’s Pepperpot. He built his menu around her recipes as well…
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 49: Namibia
Location: The west side of southern Africa Population: 2.6 million Capital: Windhoek Geography: A mix of desert and plain Language: English Signature flavours: Corn, beans, oyster, beef, chicken, lamb The Menu Namibians eat a lot of meat. I mean A LOT. If you’re a tasty animal, it’s a bad place to live. Namibian cuisine revolves…
Assignment 42: Uruguay
Location: South America Population: 3.4 million Capital: Montevideo Geography: A country of plains, rivers, and fertile coastland Language: Spanish Signature flavours: Beef, dairy, yerba mate, egg, pasta, dulce de leche, quince The Menu Uruguay, like its South American neighbour to the west, Argentina, is a land of many cows, and as a result, many beef…
Assignment 33: Lesotho
Location: Southern Africa, contained within South Africa Population: 2.2 million Capital: Maseru Geography: A high-lying, mountainous country with a relatively cool climate Language: Sesotho, English Signature flavours: Root vegetables, greens, corn, beans The Menu I am not exaggerating when I say I could only find a handful of recipes from Lesotho. I did find a…
Assignment 29: Egypt
I picked up a fantastic cookbook at a used bookstore a few weeks ago that I finally got to crack open for this assignment: The Africa Cookbook by Jessica B. Harris. I found four recipes there that I wanted to try for Egypt, and found another two online…
Assignment 18: Venezuela
Location: South America Population: 31.5 million Capital: Caracas Geography: A tropical country of varying landscape of beaches, mountains, and plains. Language: Spanish Signature flavours: Corn, rice, beans, cheese, plantain, cocoa The Menu Eric lived in Venezuela up until going off to college, so he was well-versed in the local foods. Initially, he had hoped that…
Assignment 15: Kosovo
Location: Eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula Population: 1.9 million Capital: Pristina Geography: A landlocked country of mountains and plains Language: Albanian, Serbian Signature flavours: Cabbage, meat, parsley, garlic, onion The Menu One thing I like about the Wooden Spoon Wanderer project is that it expands my thinking about places that might have previously been…
