All posts filed under: Food Culture by Country

About the Food of China

China is giant, offering up 24 classical regional cuisines within six time zones. To my highly untrained eye, the widest part of China looks to be about the width of North Africa. That’s some serious diversity. Overall, Chinese value the spiritual and physical beauty of food as much as the nutritive qualities. Harmony is important – many dishes are designed to balance salty, bitter, sweet, and sour elements, not to mention crunchy versus soft textures. Additionally, hours can be spent preparing trimmings – carving vegetables and fruit, for example. Typical seasonings and aromatics include ginger, bean paste, soy sauce, oyster sauce, green onion, sesame and peanut oil. The four most “talked about” cuisines are Peking (from north Beijing), Szechuan/Sichuan (from south central/western China), Cantonese (in the south), and Shanghai (to the east). Peking Peking, home of the Peking duck, is in northeast China where it is too cold to grow rice. As a result, wheat is the primary crop. The area is known for hearty meat dishes, braises, and barbecue. They also like roasts …

About Chilean Food

Chile is a slice of South America as skinny as an asparagus and, yet, bursting with temptations for our Global Table! First, there’s Chile’s undeniable love affair with fish, eels, and anything that flips or flops (or slithers) in the water, along their rambling shores. Linda Bladholm, author of Latin and Caribbean Grocery Stores Demystified, tells me they have the most incredible seafood. In an email to me she writes: I was in Patagonia, Santiago and the Atacama desert. The best strange thing I ate was the picoroco or large beaked barnacle. It looks like a volcano and when heated, two claws emerge from the crater on top. They taste like a cross between crab and lobster and are good in soup or baked. The Giant centolla crabs are like snow crabs on steroids. One leg makes a meal. For those who don’t have access to such exotic seafood, Chile provides countless dishes with beef and chicken, like empanadas. Another favorite is an unusual casserole containing meat, hardboiled egg, green olives, raisins, cumin and other spices, topped with …

About the Food of Chad (TChad)

What a difference a few miles can make. Chad is divided into three main geographic zones – steamy Sahara dessert in the north, the central Savannah, and semi-tropical south. As the landscape changes, so too does the diet. From the north, to the south, very few cultural similarities connect the people of Chad. Northern Chad In northern Chad the people enjoy a diet rich in meat, particularly lamb. Savory pieces of meat might be grilled or stewed with vegetables, such as okra, peppers, onions, and tomatoes (recipe). Many dishes in the north are prepared with yogurt, butter, and milk. In fact, milk stands line the streets in Northern Chad – where busy shopkeepers blend tropical fruits like papaya and mango with milk, into refreshing beverages (recipe). Southern Chad Central and Southern Chad enjoy great quantities of fish, thanks to the plentiful waters of Lake Chad and the Chari River. Meat is not readily available and, with less emphasis on dairy products, lemonade stands dot the countryside instead of milk stands. General Food & Drink A …

About the Food of Central African Republic

The dusty, rolling plains of Central African Republic (CAR) lead to fertile river beds in the south, and sandy desert in the northeast. Many people live on stewed greens, cooking whatever is available, including cassava (recipe), spinach, or kale. Groundnut butter (a.k.a. peanut butter) is used to add flavor and protein to food when meat is unavailable. Most often, greens are served with rice or foutou – a pasty mash of plantain or cassava. Groundnut butter is also used to add flavor to local desserts. Sometimes the creamy spread is cooked into sweetened rice for a particularly addictive treat which looks like tan rice pudding (recipe). Egusi, or melon seed, is particularly popular in Central African Republic. When finely ground, combined with hot chili peppers, tomato, and onion, the seed makes a thick sauce (recipe) to add interest to plantains, yams, rice, fish or grilled meat.

About Cape Verdean Food

The magic of Cape Verdean food lies in its history. This cluster of ten tiny islands and 5 islets dotted off the west coast of Africa has only been inhabited since the 15th century, when Portuguese sailors stumbled upon them. Since that time, the inhabitants have developed a cuisine steeped in both African and Portuguese traditions. On any given day, fishermen can be found amidst the sea spray, casting their nets and lines in the shadow of volcanoes. They bring home prawn, shrimp, albacore, wahoo, grouper, and dorado. A brave few travel further from the coasts in hopes of bringing back a tiger shark, known to attack humans almost as often as Great White sharks. We made a wonderful spicy prawn recipe for our Angolan Global Table that is also eaten by Cape Verdeans. For a light lunch, this prawn dish could be served over a traditional Cape Verdean avocado and date salad (or dip). Cape Verde’s national dish is called Cachupa (recipe), a hodge-podge stew that includes whatever vegetables and beans the cook has on …

About Canadian Food

Canada is so much more than igloos and icicles. We’re talking about the second largest country in the world, after all. Canadian food reflects the tastes of a people living in a landscape as varied as it is massive. There are foggy fishing villages on the eastern shore, towering, razor sharp mountains to the west, and a breathtaking expanse of plains within the heart of this great country. Peppered with about two million lakes, there’s no end to the wildlife and fish available. The country is experiencing a similar real food movement to the United States, celebrating local produce, farmers and manufacturers in an effort to support local economy. The effect on the food scene includes restaurants featuring many farmstand delights, such as local cheese, fruits and vegetables, like sweet blueberries, tart cranberries, and juicy summertime tomatoes served in dishes like Butter-Roasted Tomatoes. Some prized locally grown products include wild rice and fiddlehead ferns. Canadian wild rice is black as night and at least three times as long as regular rice (a very distant cousin). …

Photo courtesy of the CIA World Factbook

About the Food of Cameroon

Wild bush meat and French pastries. If you’re going to stereotype Cameroon, that’s just about the best way to do it. This unusual food combination stems from Cameroon’s origins, in 1961, when this African country formed from the union of two colonies, one British and one French. Like most coastal African countries, the people on the shore towns of Cameroon rely on fish, serving them up grilled, fried (recipe), steamed in banana leaves, or stewed with plantains, corn, yams, or beans on the side. One typical dish is corn cooked with plantains (recipe). Further inland, dinnertime gets a little more bizarre, as mice, snakes, and monkeys are hunted in the bush and stewed with a little water, tomato or peanut sauce. Most meals are served with fu-fu (soft, starchy mixtures pounded into a paste – often cassava), millet, or rice. Peanuts, called groundnuts in Africa, are particularly plentiful in this region. They make their way into sauces, stewed vegetables (like bitterleaf greens), breads and desserts. Spicy peanut sauces are poured over fried fish, chicken, and meat …

About Cambodian Food

Divided by the waters of the great Mekong river, the flat plains of Cambodia are fertile ground for mile upon mile of wet rice fields. The people also draw fish from this river and other, smaller waterways, for most meals. Brothy soups cooked with limes (pickled or not), lemon grass, tamarind, or even coconut milk are standard fare. Here’s a recipe for Chicken and Pickled Lime Soup. Many curries and stir-fries are based on Kroeung spice pastes, all of which use lemongrass as the main ingredient. The result is salty, sour flavor, reminiscent of Vietnam and Thailand, without the eye-watering, mouth-sweat heat found in either of those countries. In fact, although red chili peppers are used, black pepper is the main vehicle for heat in Cambodian cooking. Meals are filled out with fresh vegetables and unripe fruit, such as long beans, mango, papaya, pineapple, and squash. The most popular of the meats is either pork or chicken, found in many soups, noodle dishes and stir-frys. The grill is also an amazing tool in Cambodia – used, …

About the Food of Burundi

Nestled up to the largest lake in the world, Lake Tanganyika, is the tiny country of Burundi. There, amidst the rolling hills and the lush tropics, live a people surviving on a simple bounty of beans, bananas, plantains, maize (corn), cassava, sweet potato, and peas. Peek under the lid of any Burundian pot, and you’ll likely find red kidney beans. Cooked simply with a little red palm oil, onion, and spicy chili powder, the nutrient rich bean becomes a delight. To avoid monotony, many Burundi mix things up by stirring in slices of sweet plantain (recipe). This completely stunning comfort food is both rich and savory. The banana and the plantain can be found everywhere, piled high on the back of bicycles, old truck beds, and in baskets on top of women’s heads. These sweet treats are served plain, fried (recipe), and in home-brewed banana beer called Urwarwa. In fact, there’s little in the way of cooked dessert served in Burundi. Instead, the people enjoy a ripe banana or juicy pineapple slices. Fish, drawn daily …

About the Food of Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a dizzying landscape of dusty red plains and grassy savannas, broken up by stunning rock formations that tower above the ground. The culinary landscape of Burkina Faso is similar – plain, sparse even – with the occasional burst of unexpected flavor. Let me explain. Most meals are centered around pieces of Tô, a firm ball of white starch made with millet, sorghum, or corn. These bland balls are wonderfully adaptive because they take on the flavor the broths, soups, and stews that they are dipped into, often tomato or peanut based. This is every day fare – the turkey sandwich of Burkina Faso. And, just like our sandwiches, Tô is eaten by hand. This simple meal routine is broken up with rice, cous cous, or even maize. Here’s where the burst of unexpected flavor comes in. A blend of bitter greens, such as spinach, kale, or even mild cabbage, can be cooked with the grains to make a complete dish called Babenda (recipe). What makes Babenda interesting are the fermented locust beans (called …

About Bulgarian Food

Bulgaria will always make me smile. Exactly one week before I was to cook our Bulgarian Global Table, a young man from – you guessed it – Bulgaria came knocking on our door. I still haven’t pick my jaw up off the floor. I live on a tiny street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for goodness sakes! These things just don’t happen. Tall, gawky and very kind, Nick had one mission: to sell educational children’s books during his summer break. When my mother discovered the origins of his thick accent, she threw caution to the wind and pulled him inside. Cornered, he had no choice but to cooperate while I gave him the third degree. What did you eat as a child? What’s your favorite dessert? After thirty minutes, when the color had completely drained from his face, I finally let him talk to me about his books. It was the least I could do. I learned several important points from Nick. Bulgarians eat many of the things we eat here, in the United States. “We have …

About the Food of Brunei

Something is fishy in Brunei, and I like it! With miles of coastline, fish and seafood (such as shrimp and squid) make regular appearances at the dinner table. Even if you’re not eating fish, your meal may include belachan, or shrimp paste. The tiny country of Brunei (about the size of Delaware) boasts rain forests, low-lying plains, and oceanfront vistas. Sweet tropical fruits (such as mango, membangan, papaya, watermelon, durian, kembayau, Brunei cherry, and rambutan – like lychee) are beloved throughout Brunei. The food blends local flavors with Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian cuisines. Typical of the region, most meals are served with either rice or noodles and seasoning is usually hot. In fact, curries are the norm. For example, Sayur Lodeh (recipe), vegetable curry, is a lovely blend of cabbage, long beans, and other vegetables, simmered in creamy coconut milk and spicy rempah (a popular seasoning blend – recipe). Shrimp, fish, or tofu can be added for protein. Yes, please! For chicken lovers, satay is a popular skewered preparation available with dipping sauces. You may have had …