Peru, time to go out for dinner?

Hola,

Peru is known for its mountains however the dish we chose came from closer to the coast. We decided to cook a Peruvian Ceviche. This is the third time since I have started this challenge that I have eaten what I consider raw fish. Sure, the fish is “cooked” in lime juice but the fact remains.

I actually quite enjoyed the sushi we made for Japan however it seems the Fijian dish I couldn’t stop frowning as I ate. The Fijian fish was cooked in lemon juice. The Peruvian Ceviche was cooked in lime juice and surprisingly, it is a big improvement on Fiji.

I wouldn’t say it is my favourite meal but served with corn, sweet potato and lettuce it isn’t too bad. I didn’t go out for dinner after all.

Adios.

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Paraguay, muffin break

Hola,

For this landlocked South American country we decided to cook Sopa Paraguaya which is a cheese cornflour infused combination. Perhaps a little strange but we decided to cook it in a muffin tin and served it with vegetables and tripled smoked ham.

The Sopa Paraguaya was as the cornflour would suggest quite a dry dish, it tasted rather floury and felt like it should have had some butter on it or something. It is almost like a bread.

Adios

Sam’s rating: 6/10

Papua New Guinea, flying fox anyone?

Hi,

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has quite a few connections with Australia given the proximity and historical ties. When finding a recipe to cook for PNG, one of the ones that came up was Flying Fox with Prunes and Cream Sauce, I am sure that while it sounds very appealing the risk of being caught catching 7 fresh, juicy flying foxes wasn’t one worth taking. The recipe also called for milk fresh from the cow, I do have cows, just not in the back yard.

I decided to settle on a less incriminating recipe called Curried Fish, a very original recipe name. I love curries that are infused with fruit like mango, pineapple and tomato. This recipe had pineapple and tomato. It was a bit spicy but the chilli did add a different flavour to a normal curry.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Panama, first thought, canals!

Hola,

Panama is well known due to the canal, however what is less known is that Panama seems famous for their pastry. The country hosted the first International Pastry Forum in August 2015.

We decided to cook Panamanian Beef Empanadas, a pastry that is filled with a meat filling. It was fun to make this pastry dish, probably a touch dry for my liking though.

Adios

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Palestine, is this a country?

مرحبا

I didn’t even know Palestine was a country / state, for some reason I had thought it was a region but apparently it is called a partially recognised state. For Palestine we decided to cook Maqluba, it is a dish that is cooked and then turned upside down.

The dish contains chicken, rice, eggplant, tomatoes, cauliflower and spices. The dish contained two cups of sunflower oil which made the dish moist and a touch too oily for my liking. The spices were nice enough but nothing to rave about.

وداعا

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Palau, the country that is a dish

Hi,

This is an interesting country, a small island located near Micronesia, Palau is also the name of a popular dish that has nothing to do with the country. Palau is a dish popular in Afghanistan. As far as Palauan cuisine is concerned it is hard to find authentic recipes. Some websites suggest that the cuisine is strongly influenced by the Chinese, Japanese and Americans.

I decided to cook grilled chicken breasts with barbeque sauce served with a side of rice. It seems to be an American influenced dish that is popular in the country but I can’t vouch for its authenticity.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Pakistan, breakfast for dinner

Hi,

Tonight we decided to cook a Pakistani dish, well actually I should have said this afternoon we decided to do it because the meal took 6 hours to cook. Rather than use a special nihari beef cut which is essentially similar to lamb shanks, I decided to substitute lamb shanks for it. Sometimes chicken is also substituted for this recipe. The dish was served with naan bread.

Typically, this dish is eaten in Pakistan as a breakfast meal however we decided to consume it for dinner. Slow cooked lamb always creates a melt in your mouth moment and it was tasty with naan bread. All in all, it tasted fairly similar to Oman due to similarities in spices.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Oman, kibsa dish

مرحبا

Oman is a Middle Eastern country where we decided to cook kibsa which is sort of a biryani. The chicken and rice were cooked with clarified butter (butter that has the fat solids removed) and a number of different spices, raisins, almonds, prunes, potatoes and egg.

The dish is ok but definitely not my favourite due to the mix of spices.

وداعا

Sam’s rating 6/10

Norway after a break

Hallo,

So I have reached Norway after not cooking for two weeks over Christmas, Christmas at home proves to be a nice, spoilt break from the kitchen. The Norwegian traditional dish that we chose is Fårikål.

Fårikål is a slow cooked lamb and cabbage dish, extremely simple and the lamb is delicious. The lamb and cabbage was cooked in water with peppercorns. I don’t really like cabbage but it was surprisingly tasty after two hours of cooking.

Farvel.

Sam’s rating: 7/10 

North Korea, is this what they really eat?

안녕하세요

North Korea, one of the most notorious countries on the planet, I wondered about their national dish and if it is what the general population really ate? Most likely not. In any case, we decided to cook Chap Jae, a noodle dish from the region.

The dish was quite nice, minced meat and noodles, a lot of noodles. The dish was filling and quite tasty, I really doubt it is something eaten by most North Koreans.

안녕

Sam’s rating: 7/10