Seychelles, fish curry night

Bonjour,

For this island nation we decided to cook a fish curry. Unfortunately we couldn’t obtain red snapper so we settled for straight snapper, not as good as fresh red snapper just caught no doubt.

Never the less, this curry had a very different curry taste, it wasn’t as hot as I had thought and the key spice is massalé, otherwise known as garam masala but a slightly different style to the Indian version. The fish was cooked in fish stock with this spice along with turmeric powder, garlic and ginger.

I quite liked the curry despite the different taste.

Au Revoir

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Serbia, skewers of pork

Здраво

Serbia always reminds me of a cold country however we decided to cook something that is actually suited for an Australian summer, we decided to cook pork skewerswith “chaotic” garlic spread.

The skewers of pork was cooked and served with the urnebes (the garlic spread). The spread was a mixture of sour cream, garlic cloves, paprika and chilli flakes. We decided to serve this with cabbage.

The skewers and urnebes were really nice and I would definitely make it again, probably wouldn’t serve it with cabbage though.

збогом

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Senegal, lemon tang

Bonjour,

For this West African country we decided to cook Poulet Yassa. Poulet Yassa is essentially chicken soaked in a lemon, Dijon mustard and onion marinade. The chicken was then browned and added to the marinade. The dish was served with couscous.

Overall the dish was tasty, a large amount of lemon flavour but it created a unique taste to the dish.

Au Revoir

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Saudi Arabia, tomato based delight

مرحبا

Saudi Arabia appears to be steeped in tradition and you can’t get more traditional then the Al Khabsa. This is a tomato based dish with grated carrot and chicken. As an all in one meal the rice was added to the mixture and the result was garnished with almonds.

It was a little hot but not too bad, I had probably made it far more mild than the Saudi’s would have and we didn’t have any of the hot sauce, Shattah to serve with it.

وداعا

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Sao Tome and Principe, Portuguese in Africa

Olá,

This tiny island off the coast of Africa speaks Portuguese having been a former colony of Portugal. The flavour lingers on in their cuisine.

We decided to cook boiled pork which was pork boiled and then added to a tomato and onion based sauce with cayenne pepper and garlic. Spinach was also added to the meal before serving with a rice (I am over plantains).

The meal was quite tasty and very simple, it looks amazing and it is something I would make again.

Tchau

Sam’s rating: 7/10

San Marino, a great trivia question!

Ciao,

It would be the answer to a great trivia question I think, what country land locks San Marino? The answer is Italy. The history of San Marino is fascinating, the way they have been able to remain independent despite the unification of Italy under Napoleon and also Mussolini rise to power. San Marino actually managed to remain neutral during World War 2, a fascinating place of just under 40,000 people.

The cuisine in San Marino is very similar to Italy, for this country we decided to make Piadina with Ricotta, Prosciutto and Arugula. Almost like sandwiches, it tasted quite nice but a touch hot for my palette.

Ciao

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Samoa, simple, simple, simple!

Hi,

So Samoan is actually the official language alongside English but I elected to use the English greeting. For Samoa we decided to cook Samoan Palusami, one of the simplest recipes I have cooked so far in this journey.

The casserole dish was layered with spinach leaves and corned beef with coconut milk poured over it. The dish was then put in the oven and left to cook.

The meal was ok but the corned beef tasted somewhat akin to canned dog food. How I know what canned dog food tastes like? Don’t ask. The spinach, coconut and corned beef makes an underwhelming experience.

Bye.

Sam’s rating: 6/10

St. Vincent and The Grenadines, when the saints go marching in?

Hi,

St. Vincent and The Grenadines are some islands, once again in the Caribbean. There must have been a lot of Saints in the Caribbean, or maybe they are actually pirates? It would be good to know why they are named what they are named instead of being an ignorant, ummm tourist?

For St. Vincent and The Grenadines, I decided to cook a Lamb Curry, yes, I know the recipe actually calls it a Goat Curry in the heading but I think it is fair to say an island with 100,000 people don’t really have much in the way of recipes.

The curry was cooked with tomato chutney, tomato sauce, hot pepper sauce, curry, turmeric powder among other ingredients. It was ok, somewhat hot for a Summer’s day, thank goodness for aircon!

Bye.

Sam’s rating: 6/10

St. Lucia, another day, another Caribbean country

Hi,

With the number of small countries in the Caribbean, with very similar recipes, I will be glad once I am done with the letter S. For St. Lucia we decided to cook Petit Piton and serve it with plantains.

The Petit Piton was actually very nice, I quite like the taste of marjoram and I will have to work out how to infuse it into my more traditional recipes. The plantains were cooked as per the recipe with breadcrumbs, egg, peanut butter, minced onion and celery with milk. The plantains were rather plain and I didn’t exactly like that but the Petit Piton was nice.

Bye.

Sam’s rating: 7/10

St. Kitts and Nevis, time for the islands

Hi,

In this little island nation we decided to cook Stewed Salt-fish and CoconutDumplings. I decided to avoid breadfruit like the plague after our last encounter, maybe one day I will have the courage to try some more!

Unfortunately we can’t obtain salt-fish in most shops in Australia however I substituted it with cod. The fish stew had a strong onion flavour stemming from the onion but mainly due to the scallions.

The coconut flavoured dumplings were actually very nice and a bit different to the usual.

Ever since reading the countries starting with “S” I have dreaded this moment, the number of little island nations beginning with S is surprising, now onto St. Lucia.

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Rwanda, chicken tonight!

Hi,

For this landlocked African country we decided to cook Rwandan Chicken.

The meal is extremely tasty with the infusion of spices combining to create something that is pleasing with a slight bite from the chilli paste. Despite being a rather basic recipe, it is surprisingly nice and was served with rice.

Bye.

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Really beautiful Russia

Здравствуйте

Russia, a vast land and with a broad cuisine, the pinnacle of with is Chicken Kiev. Although Chicken Kiev in Russia tends to be eaten only on special occasions or in restaurants, we decided to make Chicken Kiev, and make it from scratch.

The chicken breast was pounded out with a garlic butter added to the centre, the breast was wrapped up (they are quite hard to keep together!) and dipped in flour, egg and bread crumbs. I served the Chicken Kiev with potatoes baked in the oven rolled in potato, garlic and parsley. Sauerkraut was also added to the meal.

What can I say? I am, and have always been, a huge fan of Chicken Kiev and tonight was no different. The Chicken Kiev and potatoes are easily a perfect score. Sauerkraut on the other hand, I am afraid I haven’t the taste for it.

Прощай

Sam’s rating: 10/10

Romania, tasty!

Salut

Romania, this is a country I have always wanted to visit, it seems somewhat off the beaten track and a bit different to the normal European country, maybe it is just all in my head. For Romania, we decided to cook Cordon Bleu Şniţel.

The pork tenderloin was pounded out, ham was added followed by Swiss cheese. The ensemble was then rolled up and rolled in flour, egg and breadcrumbs. Following this, it was fried and served with rice. I am not quite sure if the rice is authentic but according to Wikipedia, rice production plays an important role in food supply in Romania. Rice production in Romania began in 1970 and is ranked 6^th in the European Union for rice production, go figure!

The dish was nice enough, I thought that the Swiss cheese and ham dominated the flavour of the pork but all in all quite a tasty meal.

La revedere

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Qatar, well this is embarrassing!

مرحبا

For this Middle Eastern country we decided to cook a lamb dish, Machboos.

The recipe for this dish was awful and extremely hard to follow. Ingredients in the list weren’t used and the text required additional ingredients. All in all, the dish reminded me of other Middle Eastern dishes but I would have to give an edge to the others. This dish may have actually tasted ok had the recipe (and yes, probably the chef) had been better.

Don’t laugh at how my photo looks when compared to the photo in the recipe link. This would be classed as a failure of mine.

وداعا

Portugal, attempting a Nando’s

Olá,

Portugal is well known in Australia for Nando’s, a Portuguese / Mozambican style restaurant. We decided to cook Portuguese style chicken. The chicken was soaked in a marinade of oregano, chilies, paprika, lemon juice and garlic and then roasted in the oven.

The meal was served with a salad. The chicken was quite spicy but surprisingly not too bad. It both looked and tasted amazing.

Tchau

Sam’s rating: 9/10

Poland, a winter’s meal in the wrong season

Halo,

For Poland we decided to cook a hearty stew called Bigos (Hunter’s Stew). The stew was very hearty and filling with a 12 different spices that were added.

The meal was very nice and would make a good recipe for Winter cooking, it could possibly have a higher rating had it not been Summer!

Do widzenia

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Philippines, tasty!

Hi,

There are some dishes that you know that you will like before you even cook it, the Philippines was such a dish. We decided to cook Adobo Chicken with Bok Choy which is a slow-cooked chicken dish.

The dish was amazing with the chicken cooked in apple-cider vinegar. The meal did have a very unique flavour and the paprika brought out a slight bite but not too bad.

Bye

Sam’s rating: 9/10