Globe trotting was never as fun – now where did I put my spatula?
Necessity is the mother of invention and as The Little Fella spun the globe, wistfully considering a holiday destination, I remembered a game The Red Head came up with to chase the blues away.
‘Pick a country. Spin and pick a country and I’ll cook a meal from wherever it is,’ I committed.
What seemed like yet another chore has turned into a fantastic weekly challenge and a way to connect with people (or at least other cultures).
Being Chinese New Year, our first destination was fittingly China.
Fortune cookies were sourced and in some strange karmic moment, the message therein transpired to reflect the very action my son had just described: kindness.
Making child friendly food is always challenging, but the recipe I happened on was easy and featured ketchup and honey so it was always going to be on the money.
We didn’t have chopsticks so forks did and the chicken chow mein was an instant hit.
The globe was spun and our next destination was a country close to my heart, as readers of this column will know. Russia!
A cursory search of my go to food website, BBC Food, yielded some kind of chicken kiev dish and then Kevin Dundon popped up making beef stroganoff.
Stumped as to what I could present to the children from a country synonymous (in my mind at least) with sturgeon and caviar; I wasn’t exactly picturing a foodgasm on the impending shop.
In desperation I reached out to a friend from Moscow who very generously sent me on an extensive list of Russian recipes.
Mash potato, meatballs and dark (black) rye bread was one recipe, sure to stave off the winter chill.
Boiled eggs with yokes hollowed out, stuffed with red caviar at a tenner a tin made me baulk and my pocket wince.
White cabbage, mixed with shredded apple, carrot, onion and served with dumplings, beetroot or smoked salmon seemed more promising.
I proceeded to buy coleslaw in Supervalu and beetroot ketchup in a local whole foods shop. I ventured into the local Polish shop for the dumplings and was immediately transported to another world.
I had that feeling of being in a foreign country, being so institutionalised in my shopping habits that I didn’t know where to turn when confronted with the narrow aisles stocked high with foreign brand foods.
Thankfully I located a fridge with said dumplings quickly.
I was blown away by the choice of meats, cakes, mustards but mainly the otherness of the place; my only previous experience being on a wedding trip to Poznan in 2012 and my friends and I wandered in on some long forgotten mission; OK probably for smokes or just to step in from the bitter cold.
The dumplings, beetroot ketchup, bread, served with smoky sausage and spiced meatballs was a mixed success. The Whirlwind Wonder whirled away from her plate, while The Little Fella practically ate the plate.
Canada is our next stop so if you know of anywhere seemed moose burgers or elk ears be sure to give me a call! It’ll be great, eh!
The joy of travel may be deprived us for the moment but we can travel any and everywhere in our minds and with our palates and I, for one, will not be slow to splash out on whatever is needed (food wise) to get us through the coming weeks and months.
The sweet press is full; I’ve about forty condiments and different spices. Huzzah!