Wednesday, June 23, 2010

food fun

Whenever I travel, I like to eat the local food. Even if it is just to another city, I see no point in eating at a chain restaurant that I could easily have eaten at in my home town. And I try to order something that I would never make for myself. Mind you, the list of things I can't be bothered to make for myself keeps growing. It's not so much the noodles or fish, but the special ingredients that go into the sauce that I may never forget to use use again. I once travelled with a friend who was alternately impressed and horrified that I would order off a menu with little idea of what I was getting. Well, I'm not that adventurous; I knew enough Spanish to recognize that the dish was rice, it was just the other ingredients I wasn't familiar with. I can't remember what she ate, but do remember her trying to get translations from the waiter who in the end, I think, just made it up to get her to finally order something, anything. I also discovered that local customs sometimes meant szechuan food in one country was not necessarily the same as szechuan food in another country.

I remember the exciting days when "ethnic" restaurants finally appeared in Toronto in the 70s. And we finally got past the idea that 'spaghetti' was ethnic. Our family would eagerly choose a restaurant just for the experience of finding out how Greek or Mexican, Indonesian or Central American food tasted. Sushi became a favourite for some of us. My love of eating out and trying new foods must have been a pleasant surprise for my mother who suffered through my picky eater stage as a young child!

All of this preamble is a set up to introduce you to a list of World Cup Recipes I found at iAfrica. There is a common national dish for each of the more than 30 teams participating in the first round. They range from the expected pavovla from Australia, cheese fondue (Switzerland), paella (Spain) to the weirdly named "bare bottoms in the grass" from the Netherlands and "toad-in-the-hole" from England.
I had fun reading through the recipes and some of them looked interesting enough to try... (note to the Americans, the recipes are all in metric).

Some of the 'quirky foods from South Africa', however might curb some of my enthusiasm for local cuisine...
Mopane worms: Protein-packed caterpillars eaten dried or fried until crunchy. Often served in a tomato sauce
Walkie talkies: Cooked chicken feet and heads. The feet are also known as "runaways".
Smilies: Sheep heads par-cooked and roasted with the heat exposing the sheep's teeth into a grin or smile. Usually found at taxi ranks and downtown city markets
Ulusu: A stew of animal stomachs
Umqombothi: Traditional grain-brewed beer. Milky in appearance with a yeasty, sour taste

then again, I would definitely try these, along with some Rooibos: indigenous "red bush" tea, a popular caffeine-free beverage...
Bobotie: Spiced, fruity minced meat baked with egg custard on top. A Cape Malay dish believed to have roots in the East Indies slaves brought by Dutch colonists
Melktert: "Milk tart" sprinkled with cinnamon. Also popular is malva pudding - a spongy cake-like dessert
Vetkoek/ Amagwinya: Balls of deep fried bread dough. Served plain as street food but also can have sweet or savoury fillings


oh, wait. I see the trend........

34 comments:

  1. lol I agree with the ones you decided to try. they are great. The mopane worms... not to tasty and the rest well although the Ulusu is basically Tripe and great

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  2. Phew, that was a gruesome list there! Bring on the puddings!

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  3. I think I would pass on many of these...but definitely would try Rooibos, Bobotie, Melktert, and Vetkoek. To have a sheeps' head smile at me while I am eating it is just too weird for me and my stomach
    Ha!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  4. We drink rooibus by the gallon in the winter but I think I'd give most of those other South African delicacies a wide berth. Walkie talkies? *shudder*

    -----------------------------------
    My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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  5. Those World Cup recipes look so delicious. We are having spanakopita at my daughter's wedding and I will have to try to restrain myself from downing them like a crazy hog. And who doesn't love quiche Lorraine?

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  6. Pete: if I ever make it to SA, you can be my food guide!

    My mother used to make tripe and I remember complaining on my way from school that I that I could smell it stinking up the whole street!

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  7. i have a nervous (as in i'm a picky eater) even in the usa so i will have to take a pass on the more uhhmmmm, exotic delights on that menu. :)

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  8. Rachel: one needs a treat after just reading through some of those, eh?!

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  9. Robin: rooibos tea is very popular here, too (especially since the Alexander McCall Smith books)

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  10. Geewits: mmmm, spanakopita. so healthy with that bit of spinach, don't you think?!!

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  11. Char: some of those set my stomach off just reading the description!

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  12. SueAnn: I remember the first time I ordered rainbow trout (?) and was horrified to see the on my plate.

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  13. I like to try local foods as well but those you listed, definitely not!

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  14. Berni: a good rule might include nothing with a nickname!

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  15. The thought of a grinning dinner has put me right off food...... ;)

    Though we used to eat toad-in-the-hole a lot as a child. Made a couple of sausages go a long way!

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  16. Agree, some of the S. African recipes I don't know if I would like to try them! But rooibos tea we can get here too.
    Vetkoek sounds familiar...

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  17. I am totally with you. I love trying out local cusine.

    Having said that, I am currently in Japan and often seek out restaurants with food photos. We caught up with a friend (who lives in Japan) last night and were taken to a Japanese restaurant, (one that we would never walk into on our own, as there was no English menu and no English was spoken) and we had some really interesting food. It was a fabulous experience.

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  18. Gilly: I find it interesting how many English dishes I 'know', yet don't remember actually ever eating! then again, my mother was Scottish...

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  19. Jeannette: there are also great barbeque recipes, for which the South Africans are famous. I would like to try that.

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  20. Evelyn: oh yes, having a local guide you is the best way! and eating at restaurants not geared for tourists [or Canadians] are generally better.

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  21. "Naked bottoms in the grass" is also called "naked children in the grass." I guess they thought that translation wasn't as proper.

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  22. I love the international recipes idea. Thanks for the link.

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  23. Nora: try as I might, I just don't get the name.

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  24. XUP: you're welcome. let me know if you make any of these.

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  25. I used to be a picky eater too and I'm still quite fussy about what goes in my stomach, for fear it might not stay there!I would definitely forego food that grinned at me or used to creep around the plants.
    Your mother cooked tripe? My father always ate it raw with salt and pepper. I've never eaten it but the dogs have raw minced tripe. It smells appalling and even worse when we used to cook it for them many years ago, before we were advised otherwise;-)

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  26. Jabblog: with a mother who cooked tripe and kidneys and liver and oxtail, is it any wonder I was a picky eater?!!

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  27. My Irish mum loves pig's trotters, even with the hair left on...

    I have left an award for you on my blog

    http://monalisa-life.blogspot.com/

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  28. Monalisa: eeeewwww.

    how exciting, a present! I'll be right over. thanks.

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  29. I always eat local food when traveling, too. Except not mammal or bird, so many of those items would be off my list just for that reason.

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  30. Rooibos tea is one of my favorites. I love it.

    I'm a pretty adventurous eater, but I'm sure I would draw the line at fried worms and other assorted insect-type meals.

    When my mom butchered chickens, she always cooked the feet. And here I thought that was a German thing.

    I'm with you on not eating at chain restaurants. I don't even like to do it when I'm at home, much less traveling.

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  31. Um, yeah.. Sheep and chicken heads and stomach stew (sounds a bit like haggis), maybe not so much, ya know?

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  32. I may have nightmares of eating the "smilies"....is that for real?

    I am big on eating local cuisine when traveling...but I have to say that I have mostly traveled in France and Italy so how could I go wrong:)

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  33. Jazz: haggis isn't nearly as bad as you might think (sausages, anyone?)

    Oliag: it must be - Pete is South African and he would have set us straight if it weren't so.

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  34. SAW: some countries would be challenging for a non-meat-eater (Argentina, for example!)

    Susan: my general rule of thumb is that I don't want to recognize my meat as the animal it once was (maybe that's why I can stomach minced meat and haggis?)

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