Japan, where things aren’t cooked

こんにちは

Japan, there is one dish the Japanese are so very fond of and has gained popularity around the world, sushi. We decided to prepare sushi (can hardly say cook can I?) to represent Japan.

The dish was actually surprisingly simple to make, the rice is really sticky having been cooked with rice vinegar and other ingredients. The sticky rice is then put on the nori sheet and then the desired vegetables and fish are added. Once that is completed you simply roll it up.

I had never had sushi before, probably surprising given the number of sushi places around. Sushi was much better than I thought but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

さようなら

Sam’s rating: 6/10

Jerky Jamaica

Hi,

Jamaica, one of the largest islands in the Caribbean has a variety of seafood recipes available. We opted for Jerk Chicken Wings served with rice, carrot and beans.

A very easy recipe and quite tasty, the jerk seasoning is somewhat difficult to find but eventually we succeeded. A funny name for a seasoning, I wonder if it feels insulted?

One thing I learned in cooked this, chicken wings are pretty hard to eat with braces!

Bye

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Italy, the birth of pizza

Ciao,

I learn a lot about different countries in this journey, ciao is actually a greeting as well as a farwell! Italians are well known for their food, we can thank them for pasta, lasagne and most of all, pizza! Pizza in Australia is very much westernised so we tried to find an authentic recipe for both the base and topping. What is more, my housemate, Bec, is part Italian so it sounds like a good excuse for her to cook.

The pizza was alright, the base was hard on the crust and softer in the middle. The topping of goats cheese and pieces of sausages were quite nice.

Wasn’t my favourite pizza but hey, pizza is pizza, it’s worth a 9 at least.

Ciao

Sam’s rating: 9/10

Israel, the land of milk and honey

שלום

Israel, one of the most well-known Middle Eastern countries considers Falafel as one of the national dishes despite Falafel being associated with Mediterranean cuisine.

Falafel was is actually a vegetarian food cooked with chickpeas and the meal was total vegetarian. The Falafel was put into pita bread with an Israeli salad.

Having just had braces put on the Falafel was quite good as it made fairly easy eating. The pita bread was hard to eat though.

להתראות

Sam’s rating: 7/10

The luck of the Irish, Ireland

Dia duit

The Irish are apparently a lucky country but when it comes to cuisine there is nothing that really stands out as a single Irish dish, perhaps it is because Australian dishes are very similar in general to the Irish.

We decided to cook corn beef cooked in Guinness beer, you can’t get much more Irish then a Guinness. We served the beef with carrot and a key staple in Ireland, potatoes. It was ok, very beery (yes, beery is now a word), I much prefer my corn beef plain though.

Slán

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Meatballs in Iraq

مرحبا

For Iraq we decided to cook a traditional Iraqi casserole, Tepsi Baytinijan.

The little balls of meat were fried and the cooked in a casserole dish before serving.

It was supposed to be served with rice but we clearly forgot, a bit more spice would be nice as it was quite watery.

وداعا

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Iran, formerly Persia

سلام

We are entering the Middle Eastern countries for a while with Iran, Iraq and Israel all to be cooked in quick succession. Tumeric powder is an essential ingredient of the Persian meals and was used in the dish we chose, Lamb and Chickpea stew.

The meal was served as a banquet and was a bit bland for my liking. 

خداحافظی

Sam’s rating: 6/10

Egg and chicken, Indonesia

Halo,

Firstly, a great surprise recently occurred to me. We are up to I and I was wondering why we missed Greenland, a large island. I did some google research and Greenland is actually under control of Denmark, you learn something new every day, Greenland was coloured green as we have already passed Denmark.

Now for another island nation, well more than one island, maybe try hundreds, Indonesia. Indonesia, one of Australia’s neighbouring nations has a vast variety of different meals given the number of islands that make up the country.

We decided to cook Mie Goreng which was extremely tasty and topped off with egg.

Selamat Tinggal

Sam’s rating: 9/10