Around the world...

I picked up a book at the thrift store the other day, "The complete round-the-world cookbook". It was written in the 1950's and last published in 1974, so it is pretty old. But it gives some background and traditions of some 80 countries, and some traditional recipes for each country. Starters, main dishes, and desserts. So I thought it would be a lot of fun to start doing one day a week, cooking a meal of whatever country is that week.

They go into detail about the wines and beers, which is irrelevant to me. And some of the stuff, like lamb, I am not sure how to find cheaply. Albertsons carries it sometimes. It is a feature in a lot of recipes worldwide. Beef just doesn't have the same flavor.

What is funny is she goes into detail how to make coconut milk and dulce de leche, and a thousand other things that you can buy on the shelves at ANY grocery store now. Every store has an ethnic aisle, and while some things you still have to get online or at a specialty store in a larger city, there are lots of this we have availabe to us nowadays. So it will be a lot easier finding spices. For instance, she comments on the use of yogurt in one particular culture. She states that finding the yogurt for certain recipes should be easy enough if you know where to look. That often, stores will carry a small supply of different types.

But this will open our minds to other cultures, and our palattes to other foods. Plus it will challenge my skills as a chef, and give me new ones! I am sure some we will hate, and some we will like so much that we include them in our already vast repetiore of things we cook repeatedly.

So this week begins our voyage around the world. Stay tuned to find out where the Willfords are going first!