Koninkrijk België

Once again, learning about Belgium was an interesting lesson in European history and a chance for me to learn a bit about a country about which I knew not much more than a few trace memories of its place in the history of the world wars.

On the culinary side, I learned that moules-frites are quire a popular Belgian meal, but I would never have thought of pairing mussels and french fries together.  Once again there was an almost overwhelming selection of appealing recipes, so I went with the Carbonnades Flamandes, or Flemish beef stew, which is apparently the national dish.  Very easy to make, and absolutely totally delicious.  I added a few breadsticks on the side, but the beer stew itself was a delicious meal.  A few bottles of Stella Artois (one of my favourite beers), and some lovely chocolate to end the meal, and I am quite happy with my culinary tastes of Belgium!

                                            Bon appetit!

Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Germany has a troubled past, but not all of it is negative, it is just that much of their history has been obscured by one horrific period. Okay, I must admit the thing that surprised us the most was how many of the German recipes I found used ....pickles. I did expect the potato to be ubiquitous, which it was, but not the pickle! Our foray into Germany was one I was looking forward to. I was also surprised to learn that the reisling grape was of German origin - not that I am such a wine expert, but still, it came as a surprise. Of course, this meant I had to have a reisling. On my weekly trip down to the local liquor store, I selected a 2007 Selbach Reisling Spatlese. I also picked up some Beck's beer, because Germany is quite famous for its beer and it just didn't seem right not to have beer!

We started off with a Potato Soup, which I found to be quite filling, and because this particular recipe called for sausage and bacon, it would have made a meal in itself. The main course was a Beef Rouladen, which was really fun to put together, with a potato salad on the side. In the past, I have only had cold potato salads, so it was a new experience to have a hot potato salad. Everything was quite tasty, but nothing so delicious as our dessert, the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte - German Black Forest Cake. My oh my, what a delight!

                              Gesegnete Mahlzeit!

Kongeriget Danmark

For this next meal, I decided to change things up a bit, and head to an area that I haven't ventured into yet.  I thought it might be interesting to check out some northern European or Scandinavian cuisine, so I chose Denmark.  A small, interesting country with one of the most fascinating cities - Copenhagen, and one of the best beers out there - Carlsberg!  Copenhagen has been recognized as one of the most environmentally friendly cities, and also as one of the cities with the best quality of life.  Carlsberg is just, well, delicious, in my humble opinion!

After some searching, I decided to make a Kødrulle, which is a pork meatloaf cooked in beer. It was fun to make, even if I did have to run out at the last minute to get some cheesecloth that I was absolutely certain I already had but simply couldn't find. Oh, and yes, I did hesitate momentarily when choosing this particular recipe, wondering whether the beer would be better consumed directly than used to cook the meal. Having made the dish, I would now say that I should have paid attention to that thought. This is not one of the dishes that will make it onto my regular menu, as I didn't exactly enjoy it. Ah, well...I can't expect that everything I make will be a success. As an accompaniment, I had some Brændende Kærlighed. Translated into English, the name of this dish is "Burning Love", and it was exactly the type of recipe I am looking for - simple and delicious! So, not an entire loss, and I did get to enjoy a couple of bottles of Carlsberg!

                                            spise godt

Україна

The Ukraine, another land of my forefathers - well, sort of.  From what I know of my paternal grandparents, one of them was from the Ukrainian part of Poland and one of them came from the Polish part of Austria, so that all makes me.......Canadian!  Yeah, it's just a whole lot easier, especially when you factor in the mixed ethnicity of my maternal grandparents.  In any event, I chose the past weekend to enjoy some Ukrainian cuisine in honour of Ukrainian Christmas.

We of course had to have pyrohy, a staple from my childhood and one that my children enjoy, as well.  Since I always have some handy in my freezer, that was an easy one - oh, you didn't think I was going to do homemade pyrohy, did you?  Not a chance!  I've made homemade pyrohy before, frequently as a sous-chef to my mother, but also on my own, and I find they aren't that difficult, but they are time-consuming.  Also on the side we had some Kartoplia Solimkoi, which are simply deep-fried straw potatoes (my son calls them miniature french fries).  Our main dish  was Chicken Kiev, mmmmmm!  I was quite surprised with how simple it was to make.  While I have eaten it before, I have never actually made it before, so I am really glad that I did.  What a simple, delightful meal which was quick to prepare and enjoyed by all!  My beverage of choice was Lvivske premium lager, which was a perfect accompaniment to the meal.

Just as an aside here, I just want to mention that my cooking tour of the world isn't intended to focus on the haute cuisine of any particular country.  What I am looking for are foods that are more for everyday meals, something that I might make again.  My idea came from a desire to introduce some variety into our meals, and to get away from those lazy home delivery or fast food options that were becoming all to common for us.  So far, I have to say, this quest has definitely been successful, and we have already enjoyed a few repeats.  I am definitely getting what I asked for, and having a lot of fun along the way!

                          приємного апетиту

Sicilia

Okay, so I have already "been" to Italy, so Sicily may be a bit of a stretch since it is not an individual country.  I'm calling it a re-cheat.  However, Jordan was still quite upset with me that he had missed out on Italy, which is the one country that really appeals to him, and since it is New Year's Day, I  decided to be a bit flexible.  So, Sicily it is!  This meant that I had to hunt down recipes specific to the island, not that difficult a task, actually.

For an appetizer, we had Gamberi Limone - there had to be some type of seafood, of course!  The main course was pasta con pecorino, with a Sicilian risotto on the side (heavy on the carbs, lol).  I had never made a risotto before, and I found that this recipe was a bit labour-intensive.   Delicious, but labour-intensive.  Net result was that while I was trying to double-task with chopping an onion & stirring the risotto, I managed to remove a small chunk out of my little finger.  Luckily (??), the spurting blood came nowhere near any of the food, so once I was all bandaged up I was able to resume my cooking and, may I add, still manage to prevent the risotto from burning to the bottom of the pan. 

The choice of an accompanying beverage was not easy, since I couldn't find anything specifically from the Sicilian region at the MLCC.  So I "settled" for a bottle of Ruffino Orvieto Classico, which turned out to be an  excellent choice!  

                                         buon appetito!