Milky Mozambique

Olá,

Mozambique is the first African country that I have come across with Portuguese as their official language. The Portuguese influence is also apparent in their national dish, Galinha à Zambeziana.

 The chicken was marinated in coconut milk, garlic, butter and peppers before being grilled. I decided to serve the chicken with rice which seems to be the custom in Mozambique. The coconut milk may have diluted the spice somewhat but it still had a trace of bite.

In any case, I quite enjoyed the chicken.

Tchau

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Morocco, couscous delight

مرحبا

Morocco is a northern African country where the most common meals include couscous. We decided to cook a chicken tagine and serve it with couscous.

The tagine was made using a number of different spices including garlic, ginger, cinnamon and harissa. Honey, raisins, almonds and apricots were also added to the dish making it a bit unusual. I loved the tint of honey. Chickpeas and a butternut pumpkin (squash) was added.

A nice dish with some interesting ideas, I like to cook with honey.

وداعا

Sam’s rating:7/10

Montenegro, not a fav

Zdravo,

This small European country situated near Kosvo speaks Montenegrin, a language that I have never heard of. We decided to cook Balsica Tava.

The meat was a bit chewy for me and seemed like it needed to be slow cooked, the end result was a bit watery with a slightly, almost cheesy taste in parts from the sour cream.

Dovidjenja

Sam’s rating: 6/10

Mongolia, beautiful aroma and tasty

Сайн уу

Mongolia, a land that I imagine to be spacious, filled with wide open plains and wild horses. For this receipe my parents joined me to eat and we decided to cook Mongolian Tung-Po Mutton.

The mutton, potato and carrot was deep fried briefly before cooking in the oven for over three hours, the dish was served with rice.

My parents quite liked the dish and it was tasty enough but not something that I would rave over.

Баяртай

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Monaco, cheesy delight

Bonjour,

Monaco is known for its pastry and seems to be an extension of French cuisine. We decided to cook the national dish of Barbagiuan.

This recipe consists of Swiss Chard, eggs, rice, cheese, leek and onion that is mixed put in the middle of a dough. After making the kitchen look like a war zone, the combination is fried in oil.

The Barbagiuan is fairly tasty with a cheesy taste of the outer dough and a nice filling. I really like the concept and would be keen to do it with a different filling.

Au revoir

Sam’s rating: 7/10

Moldova, cabbage delight

Alo,

This former Soviet country is one which I was unaware even existed. The country is located between Romania and the Ukraine. For this country we cooked Sarmale (Stuffed Cabbage or Vine Leaves).

The stuffing was wrapped in cabbage leaves and then returned to the pot to cook the rice within the cabbage leaf.

I am usually not a big fan of cabbage but this dish is surprisingly beautiful.

La revedere 

Sam’s rating: 8/10

Micronesia, Simply Superb

Hi,

This country is a collection of small islands to the north of PNG. The recipe was called the boring name Chicken Micronesia. It was chicken cooked with pineapple, soy sauce, ginger and coconut. It was so simple yet so tasty.

I am probably somewhat biased as I am partial to pineapple and soysauce, there isn’t too much with those ingredients that I don’t enjoy.

Bye.

Sam’s rating: 9/10