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........