All posts filed under: Food Culture by Country

About the food of Mauritania

It’s been raining in Tulsa for the last 24 hours. I am surrounded by a constant drip drop, dreaming of dryness. How often I find myself pulled away from the beauty of what I have to what I wish I had. It is in this state of insatiable hunger that I begin the week’s work. It is in this mood that Mauritania enters my line of vision. Ah, Mauritania – how little I knew about you until this moment. This imposing hunk of land flanks northwest Africa and stretches from barmy ocean to windswept desert. Exactly what I need, it would seem. The best of both worlds – wet and dry. Perhaps, I think to myself, I could join her population of ever-wandering nomads, and live a life of contentment, constantly stimulated by new sights – new places. And then there’s the food. This place is serious. After all, camel is reputedly the most popular meat in the country, followed by lamb. Camel’s milk, naturally, is sipped to stay hydrated and nourished in the scorching desert. …

About the food of the Marshall Islands

When I first read about the Marshall Islands, my mind immediately went to Lost, the epic television series that most people started watching almost a decade ago. We started watching it last month on Netflix. Please excuse me for being a little out of date, but in all honesty, thinking about these hundreds of tiny, tropical islands floating in the vast Pacific Ocean, I can’t help but think how easy it would be to get Lost there – hidden away forever. Part of me desperately clings to the idea of a life filled with peace and solitude, where there is nothing to do but watch the tides come and go. I am comforted to know that, in some parts of the world – like the remote corners of the Marshall Islands, this is a reality. Upon further investigation, it turns out there’s also a healthy tourism trade – if only among those rare people who celebrate and enjoy peace, snorkeling, and a total lack of timepieces. Sure, there’s a capital city with thousands of people who have their own …

About the food of Malta

Today I’d love to be in tiny Malta (she’s 122 square miles small). I’d like to bask on a rock in the Mediterranean sun, listen to the crashing waves, and daydream until I smell dinner. And what a dinner it would be… think Italian. Think French. Arabic. Pasta and red sauce. Artichokes. Olives and capers. Rabbit stewed in wine. Fish swimming in soup. The fresh salty air would whet my appetite. And boy would I eat. The flavors are bold and the feelings are bolder. My heritage has taught me that Italians are full of passion and simplicity. I get the same feeling from the Maltese. This is a culture that whips up beautiful, hearty food without muss or fuss. The company is what matters, after all. For a snack, they even enjoy spreading Maltese bread (a nice crusty slightly sour loaf is a good option) with nothing more than tomato paste – talk about simple! If you’re feeling extra fancy, add anchovies, capers, and a drizzle of olive oil. Another simple dish is the Bigilla, …

About the food of Mali

Mali is a dusty daydream away, down a lazy river, where dotted villages slip by, one by one, until forever. Of course, my first encounter with Mali wasn’t nearly so romantic, once I dug into the details. You see, I was watching a video on YouTube. When I read the caption I about fell over. Here is what it said: “This footage was taken on a 3 day trip from Mopti to Timbuktu on a cargo pinasse. No stopping. No toilets. No beds. You should try it.” Wowzers. Talk about a challenge, considering there’s a half dozen other people on the boat (at least). No privacy and incredibly unusual circumstances – there seems to be an open fire in the bottom of the boat, where fufu is being prepared over gently undulating pools of water. Quite the travel experience. Located in the heart of West Africa, straddling the meandering Niger River, Mali has very different food in the north as compared to the south. In both areas, a wide assortment of sauces are the staple …

About the food of Maldives

The Republic of Maldives is a sunbathed group of islands southwest of India, dotted along the Indian ocean. Fish – specifically tuna – coconut, rice, and fresh fruit are the most popular tidbits from the region. Want some dried, crusty fish? They have it! Maldives Fish is a regional specialty of boiled tuna which is then sun-dried until rock hard. This sort of fish is often pounded and then integrated into coconut fish balls, curries, and sauces. Other fish, as well as with most meats, are most often enjoyed grilled or served in curry. Especially whole [Recipe]. On the side, you might find a spicy bowl of sambol – a popular hot sauce – or flatbreads, seasoned with coconut or onion. For dessert, locals cozy up to a bowl of juicy, fresh mango or papaya, rich custards [Recipe] made with condensed milk, and coconut sweets. Following British tradition, from colonial days, tea is served, as well as local specialties like Lomi Lomi made with ginger, palm sugar, citrus juice [Recipe], or even milk based drinks, as found in …

About the food of Malaysia

I’ll be honest with you. I did my research for Malaysia backwards. Well, backwards from what I usually do. What I usually do is crack open the books, absorb as much information as I can, before writing all about the country. This week, I simply popped in on my old college friend MC from Malaysia, via Facebook, and grilled him with 20 questions. What should I make? I asked him. And, then, on cooking day, I popped in with even more questions. He was very gracious and answered my questions for two days straight. Thanks to him, I ended up with a scrumptious menu (which you’ll see tomorrow, as usual). But, only after my head hit the pillow, did I realize that I knew almost nothing about Malaysian food except for what he told me. So let’s start there. Beef Rendang [Recipe] is pretty much the national dish. He told me so, just as others have before him. As with so many other foods, rendang is popular all over the region, not just in Malaysia. The curry, …

About the food of Malawi

Malawi undulates and ambles along eastern Africa – a collection of soft rolling hills and glistening lake waters, dotted with thatched villages, dusty courtyards, and a healthy array of vivid, green trees. The land is striking and, yet, completely new to me. When it comes to mealtime, I was immediately intrigued by the street food. First, there’s grilled mice, boiled goat liver, banana fritters (zitumbuwa) and chippies. The first two I witnessed in travel videos. I read about chippies on Be-ing Brittany. Brittany is a Community Health Advisor in Malawi. We emailed back and forth, during which time I learned that chippies are simply crisp, deep-fried potoato wedges, served with tsabola [Recipe], a firey dipping sauce (most street food is served with tsabola). Here is a typical chippies stand in action: While (select) street food is enough to make me board the first plane to Malawi, most people eat a simple diet of boiled maize called Nsima or Ufa (not unlike the papa we made for Lesotho), sometimes with peanuts added, beans, or fish from the giant lake. The …

About the food of Madagascar

Watching Andrew Zimmern‘s Bizzare Foods episode on Madagascar, I was amazed by some of the shocking foods he ate. On this island nation roughly the size of Texas, you can find everything on the dinner platter from bugs to – get ready for it – circumcision ceremony remnants. Ahem. I’m not going to clarify that one. (Remember, I’m here to bring us together over simple foods, not shocking foods, so we won’t be going down any of those roads. I will say, however, if you get a chance and are curious, Zimmern never disappoints when it comes to the Bizarre). Even though Madagascar is about as remote as it gets – 200 miles away from Africa and populated with plants and animals that have continued to evolve on their own for thousands of years – there are some things you’ll recognize. For starters there’s rice – a staple from which nothing goes to waste. Even the scrapings off the bottom of the rice pot are burned until toasty, then mixed with water to make “Burnt …

About the food of Macedonia

Mmmm… M! We’re finally here. Yesterday, when I told my husband Keith (a.k.a. Mr Picky) that we were about to launch into the M’s with this week’s Macedonian Global Table, he was surprised. I’m pretty sure he never thought we’d make it. And to be honest, I’m not sure I did either. Every letter until now has seemed like the beginning of the alphabet – the beginning of the Adventure. The thing about M is how much it sounds like progress – like we’re going places. Then Keith calculated that we’d be here for the next five months or so. Hmmm. Time to get comfortable. So, M… Macedonia. Let’s go and say hello… (Just be sure to look up while we do. Literally. Macedonia roughly translates to “tall ones” … most likely in reference to the ancient people’s height and to the mountainous terrain). In fact, everything seems to be scaled up… and way up high. To say that she’s studded with mountains is an understatement. In fact, most likely thanks to her gritty geography, Macedonia lays claim …

About the food of Luxembourg

My first afternoon in Luxembourg, my family took me on a tour. “There’s downtown” my foster dad said. “Where?” I asked, spinning my head around. I looked just in time to see a street blur by. “You missed it,” he deadpanned. It wasn’t until he said, “I’ll turn around” and actually did that I realized he wasn’t kidding. Luxembourg is tiny, yet still ranks as “only” the 24th smallest country in the world. We could cross the entire country in about 45 minutes (the long way). Despite her small size, or perhaps because of it, Luxembourg is an amazingly diverse community. Almost all the locals speak three, sometimes four languages – usually Luxembourgish, English, German, and French. The food is usually characterized as a blend of French and German food, and that is pretty accurate, as long as you account for a healthy dose of country cooking. Most of Luxembourg is very rural, filled with endless rolling hills. Cows and other animals dot the grassy slopes. As you dip in and out of the hills, radio signal …

About the food of Lithuania

Every country is special. And I don’t mean that in a trite way. Time and time again, this Adventure has shown me how every country has it’s bragging rights. Well, it turns out lil’ ol’ Lithuania is literally the center of Europe. Not too shabby. Some French researchers figured it out (read more about how they determined this). So, this week, while we dive into the food of Lithuania, let’s imagine ourselves perched atop a picnic blanket on that grey compass which marks this nexus of all things Europe. Since the winters can get very chilly (think sub zero), we’re better off having our picnic in the summer, when it temperatures generally bob around in the 60’s. The food is definitely Baltic, stuffed to the brim with those cold weather comforts like pickled herring, hearty rye everything (bread/ale/kvass/you-name-it), warming soups, and dumplings. But what stood out to me are Lithuania’s wild mushrooms, grown in the shade of her cool forests. The intense flavor of freshly foraged mushrooms makes even the simplest egg dish divine [Recipe] , and …

About the food of Liechtenstein

What’s 16 miles away from you right now? The grocery store? Your favorite museum? Perhaps the beach you like to splash around in during the summer? What about your mother’s house? Or the mountains? Now imagine this: Liechtenstein is exactly 16 miles long (and 4 miles wide). No more, no less. You could cross the entire country in the time it takes you to go to that special place. She’s teeny weeny and, yet, there are still five other countries in the world smaller than her. Awesome. It almost goes without saying that she’s not easy to find. Tucked away in the Alps, between Switzerland and Austria, very few maps write out her name (there usually isn’t room). I had to zoom in 3 times to even see her on google. This, of course, led to a small panic attack when I thought that perhaps I’d dreamed Liechtenstein really existed. Take it from me, she’s real. You just have to zoom in a little. Once you take a closer look, you’ll also find her 30,000 people …