All posts filed under: Monday Meal Review

Monday Meal Review: Mauritania

I was talking with someone the other day about what this Adventure is all about. She wanted to know if I really thought I could change the world by cooking a meal from every country. “It just doesn’t seem realistic” she said. I considered my answer, gazing at the puffy clouds dotted throughout the blue sky. I immediately thought of our latest Global Table meal – Mauritania, in northern Africa. The week was all about food cooked more than once: Stuffing simmered before roasting. Couscous steamed twice before spooning. Tea boiled four times before sipping. While each dish was easy enough, there was a lot of waiting around. Of listening to the ticking clock. Of watching the birds sing and swoop just outside our window. Of talking and dreaming and talking some more. Of taking the time to really see and hear each other. After all, what else is there to do while cooking and recooking all that food? “Maybe changing the world is as simple as slowing down enough to experience it,” I finally said, “to appreciate …

Monday Meal Review: Marshall Islands

THE SCENE Things are getting a bit hairy on this Adventure. I’ve tried not to mention it – to just carry on as if everything is ship-shape, flowing easily. Unfortunately, it’s not. Somehow, over the last month or two, I find myself buried in an avalanche of unfortunate circumstances. I already told you about when I burned my hand, which thereby postponed the making of the Maltese cookies. But there’s been more drama that I’ve shared here, if only because I thought it was all just a temporary drag in performance. Now that it’s added up I feel as though I have to share – the five times Ava was too tired to try the food. Or too cranky. Or too full. The handful of times when Keith had to work late and I found myself sitting down alone to a dinner for four. The times when I burned the food and had to make it all over again. It feels like a full moon all the time. Like the project is short circuiting. So …

Monday Meal Review: Malta

THE SCENE: My Misadventures I slide the skillet of Froga out of the screaming hot oven. This is Malta’s beloved mixture of angel hair pasta and eggs. Frittata. Beautiful. Puffy in the center and crisp on the edges. But my mind is elsewhere. I glance over at the counter. It is covered with small, brightly colored chocolate eggs, a giant bag of powdered sugar, fresh lemons and oranges, almond paste, and all my decorating tools. I cannot wait to make Malta’s sweet Easter cookies. I imagine Ava’s face, how she’d light up with delight when she saw the pretty shapes – a flower or perhaps a butterfly, so colorful they seem to leap off the plate. My mind continues to wander as I hoist the skillet and attempt to transfer the frittata onto a large platter. Unfortunately, my hand meets with four hundred degrees of hot, sizzling metal. I leap back from the pan, dropping it with a clatter back onto the stove top, but it is already too late. I am badly burned. My skin …

Monday Meal Review: Mali

THE SCENE I drop the Maasa batter into the hot pan, wiping the tears from my cheeks. I want to be somewhere else, away from this terrible, no good day. It’s been one of those days I sigh to the cat, Malky. Now, as the batter puffs up into a crispy, golden disc, my focus slowly shifts from my frustrations to the smells and sights in front of me. My mouth waters. My stomach does a summersault. I flip the Maasa and realize these pancake-donut treats were going to be g-o-o-d. My phone rings. I wait. I hesitate. I shouldn’t answer. But I do. Another silly argument about the same old drama. Predictably, the tears come back. As I lose focus, I burn the Maasa. A few minutes later I hang up the phone and sigh. If I can’t create peace in my own, tiny life, how can I expect it for the entire world? I flip the vent hood on. I scrape the pan. Time to start again. This time I won’t answer the phone. There’s nothing …

Monday Meal Review: Maldives

THE SCENE I’m not sure words can really do this past week justice. So I’m going to give you a visual presentation of my mother’s surprise birthday weekend in Florida, which just so happened to coincide with the week we ate sunny, tropical Maldives. First, of course, there was the surprise. And, boy, howdy. Mom sure was surprised. She knew she was flying in from Boston to visit her son Keith, but she had no idea her three other children would be there (including me), plus three grandchildren (including Ava). We came from Oklahoma, my brother Chris came from Virginia, and my sister Elisa and children (Amanda and Donovan) came from New Jersey. I thought she might fall over from the shock. And she almost did. Thankfully, she quickly recovered and we all had a really nice week in Florida. We ate our meal, which of course meant Mr Picky filmed it. Eating the whole fish was quite the topic of discussion. Especially one particular eyeball, which my nephew almost ate. While it eventually went untouched, …

Monday Meal Review: Malaysia

THE SCENE Ava presses the back of the spoon on the rice, smashing it down into the banana leaf. She looks up at me and smiles. “Mmmm” “Looks good!” I say, watching her sneak a bite of the par-cooked rice before adding another spoonful to the cone. Later, when we eat dinner, Ava wolfs down three sticky rice towers – taking care to balance each one on end first. There are so many fun foods for kids in this great, big world. There’s no reason to get stuck in a processed junk food rut. These towers of coconut rice (called lemang) from Malaysia are a great example. Making them captivated little Ava, just two and a half years old, for a good hour, helping me, watching me, and playing with her finished work of art. The joy on her face is so beautiful. So much more sublime than what a little piece of candy can bring – that’s the kind of joy that fades almost the second she pops it into her mouth. There’s something about playing …

Monday Meal Review: Malawi

THE SCENE I look at the cooled, heart-shaped biscuits from Malawi. The electric, sunny color stuns me. But there is no time to dilly dally. I am late. Quickly, I tuck two of the hearts into a ziplock baggie and pour Ava into her oversized winter coat. The fur lining makes her look like a little lion. I roar at her as we jog to the car. She giggles. When I walk into the Global Garden classroom at Rosa Parks Elementary school twenty minutes later, a dozen 3rd and 4th graders look over. They are seated in a circle on the floor, shoes off. One student shows me to my seat – the furthest away from the exits. They’ve done their homework. We are about to sample Japanese “espresso jello drink” (from back when I cooked Japan), except their version is kid-friendly (a.k.a. caffeine free), made with mocha flavored cocoa. I spend the next hour answering their questions about the blog and my family. I am moved and honored by their interest. The most touching part …

Monday Meal Review: Madagascar

THE SCENE I click through my email, waiting for the smoke. The burning. Before long, I’m elbows deep in an email from a woman who just started reading our blog. She asks “Do you ever not like the food of a particular country? Do you ever get tired of cooking food from other places?” I sit back, thinking… not because I don’t know the answer, but to mull over – to savor – the hundreds of dishes we’ve eaten over the last two years (I started this blog in February 2010). So many wonderful meals. So much goodness in the world. So much I could have never imagined until I began eating my way around the world. My tummy growls and I glance at the clock. Oops! I say to Malky, the cat, and pop up to give the rice a stir. A nutty, toasted smell fills the kitchen. Looking good. A moment later I am back at my computer. “Nope.” I write the woman, “Every week is like a gift, waiting to be unwrapped. Even …

Monday Meal Review: Macedonia

THE SCENE It took four batches of dough. Eight pizzas… I think. Honestly, I can’t be sure. I lost count. There were many casualties. First, my fingers, from impatiently grabbing hot crust. Then the tip of my tongue, from greedily tasting the pizza too soon. And, of course, my clothes, the counters, and even the cat all groaned under a thick coating of flour. Even Ava was out of sorts on our first tasting, throwing an all out temper tantrum on the floor before begrudgingly sampling half a tiny bite of pizza. Hoping to get the recipe right, I persevered. Over and over again I made the dough, diced the pork, and popped Macedonian pizzas onto the searingly hot baking stone. Sometimes the egg didn’t cook. Sometimes the dough didn’t rise (one batch, a bit too stiff, was simply too dry to puff up). Sometimes the egg slid off the pizza completely. And one time, it seemed the oven was 100 degrees hotter than expected. I’m not entirely sure how that happened, but the result …

Monday Meal Review: Luxembourg

THE SCENE I slowly make my way to the table, balancing the heavy, ceramic tureen as I go. For twenty dollars at the local flea market my soup plays dress up, looking quite fancy as she swims in the tureen’s old-fashioned angles. I feel like Martha Stewart for a moment, as I lift off the creamy white lid with a flourish. Still… Luxembourg’s famous Green Bean Soup, now steaming and beckoning, barely makes an impression on me. Sure – it’s good. I know that because I snuck a taste five minutes ago in the kitchen. But my mind, ever restless, rattles on, past dinner, to the upcoming Apple Cake. They are going to love it, I tell myself proudly as I ladle the soup into Ava’s bowl. I’m thinking of the powdered sugar and cinnamon when I instruct her to put a few sausage slices and crumbles of bacon in her soup. As her little hands begin the process of garnishing her bowl, I’m dreaming of the cake’s delicate, moist crumb and sweet apples. I eat my …

Monday Meal Review: Lithuania

THE SCENE: We start off with twelve Lithuanian deviled eggs, more than enough for two adults and a toddler. We each eat one. Mine is gone in 2.8 seconds. Ava takes a minute to nibble on hers. Keith, a.k.a. Mr Picky, barely makes it. He shudders a little and holds his nose while he eats his egg, all in one bite because he simply can’t bare to make it last any longer. This is serious work for him; hard-boiled eggs and mushrooms are two of his least favorite ingredients. Watching him struggle, I can’t help myself. I giggle uncontrollably. The more I feel bad for him, the funnier it gets. He looks at me as he chews. I see payback in his eyes. A twinge of fear runs through me. “They taste a lot better than they smell,” he says. Curious if he means it, I ask him to eat one more. We debate. He begs. I beg. Ava watches us pingball the idea around. She offers him one. Finally, he eats one more, purely for her …

Monday Meal Review: Liechtenstein

THE SCENE: The timer’s high pitched chirp let’s me know; time to serve the King’s Cake. While I’d rather curl up in bed and wait for the fever to subside, the bright scent of orange zest and warm, sweet raisins lure me onward. I pull the hot rolls from the oven and brush them with three coats of apricot glaze. They take on a glossy shine and begin to smell like a fruit orchard in autumn. Then comes the sugar – a snowfall of crunchy, sparkly turbinado goodness. It sticks easily to the glaze. Instantly, my mood lifts. Proudly, I carry the King’s Cake into the living room and offer everyone a slice. As the first hand reaches to take a piece, I dive forward. “Wait!” I cry, swipe the tray away, and rush back into the kitchen. I rummage through the cabinets and emerge a moment later with a single almond. “Noone look,” I laugh slyly, and slip the almond into one of the small rolls, mentally taking note of the location. “Ava,” I say, “would …