My plan to sample the cuisine of every country in the world - announced here ten years ago today - turned out to be, like many of my goals, a bit over-ambitious. And partially thanks to Covid-19, this past year was a bust; my wife and I didn't add a single nation to our list in 2020, which stalled at ninety-four with our visit to Namibia in 2019. Delicious soup, BTW; recipe available to anyone interested.
But as regular readers know, over-ambitious or not, a goal is a goal is a goal. NYC restaurants featuring the cuisine of Nepal and Nicaragua beckon, though I haven't checked yet to see if either or both survived the pandemic. As in years past, I welcome any restaurant ideas from readers in the tri-State area. If you think we might have missed a more unique cuisine (i.e. don't suggest Italian, Chinese, Mexican), please tell me about it in a comment here, an offline e-mail, a telegram. It should also be easier in 2021 to chase down some of the exotic recipe ingredients needed for meals we prepare at home for ourselves and any adventurous friends. FYI, no culinary casualties to report to date.
Now with our imminent Southern States Swing weeks away, it's unlikely our list of countries will grow much between now and mid-June. After all, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi are not known for their ethnic diversity and we won't be cooking much over our six week road trip. No matter. On our return, there will be six months left this year and three in 2022 to get to a new goal: One hundred countries by the start of year twelve of this project. See what I mean about those goals, over-ambitious or not?
Reflections From The Bell Curve: World Traveling Via Food (To Be Continued)
I envy your global gustatory explorations. From my limited Western European excursions: Almost anything the Italians serve is delicious, Dutch pastry is superb, English breakfasts are wonderful, and German beer rules. Sorry France, missed you.
ReplyDeleteSteve; We covered all of Western Europe early in the life of this ten year old project. BTW, one of our unmitigated disasters was the night we cooked a complete Danish meal for guests. We were actually relieved when those guests had to cancel at the last minute because the meal - except the dessert - was repulsive. Thanks for the comment.
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