Around the World in 80 Books discussion
Archives
>
NEW Challenge! Read It and Eat
date
newest »
newest »
and living in DC means I have a ton of new restaurants to check out ;)
I'll start. I just read Lord Jim, set in Malaysia. I made Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce. I got the recipe for the sauce on Allrecipes.com.Ingredients
1 (10 ounce) can coconut milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 small onion, grated
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions
1.In a saucepan over medium heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter, onion, soy sauce, brown sugar, and pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, and keep warm.
I added garlic and omitted the red pepper flakes (so it wouldn't be too spicy for ther kids). I marinaded the meat in some of the sauce for about 3 hours before cooking.
My son is very excited about eating around the world. He has always been an adventurous eater. My daughter, however, is quite picky and not on board with this (they both liked the satay, though). My son and I are going to go to a nearby Malaysian restaurant on Friday when my daughter is at a slumber party.
Book ***
Food ****
Great challenge idea! I wish I lived in a big city right now, the town I live in has some of the best Mexican food you'll ever taste but after that not a lot of variety. Oh well, this challenge could give me and my mom some quality cooking time together!
Dee wrote: "http://recipes.wikia.com/ - is a good place to look for recipes from around the world"Thanks!!
My journey to Malaysia with Lord Jim, continued:We went to a Malaysian restaurant last night called Penang, in Kennesaw, GA. According to the menu, the restaurant is named for Penang, one of the 13 states in Malaysia. My daughter's slumber party got postponed a couple of weeks, but we went ahead with our plans, anyway. Naturally, she pitched a bit of a fit and refused to eat. My son and I had enjoyed our food, nevertheless.
For starters, we had Roti Canai and Penang Popia. Roti Cani consists of crispy-chewy thin pancakes with a curried gravy for dipping. It was very good. The Penang Popia were steamed sliced spring rolls filled with jicama and topped with crisped onions, served with a peanut sauce for dipping. We even dipped the roti in the peanut sauce which was also quite good.
For entrees, my son had a Malaysian rendition of sweet and sour chicken. I had Mango chicken, which was very good, but quite sweet. It was served inside hollowed mango rinds with a side of steamed rice.
For dessert, we had Pulut Hitam. Our server told us that this was probably the most popular dessert in Malaysia. It consisted of sweetened black sticky rice with coconut milk. Despite the description, it was susrprisingly good. It looked and kind of tasted a lot like stewed blueberries with cream.
It was very enjoyable, and I will definitely go there again. We still have plenty of leftovers to enjoy for lunch today.
Next stop, The Australian Bakery for I am the Messenger
Book ***
Food ****
yum diane!! you need to try Lamington's at the Australian Bakery ;)
Dee wrote: "yum diane!! you need to try Lamington's at the Australian Bakery ;)"They are on my list! Have you been there, Dee?
I haven't, but I grew up in australia...lamington's were one of my favorites...instead of girl scout cookies etc, most schools did lamington drives during the yearthat and vanilla slice (its like pastry with custard, frosting and coconut on top)
Dee wrote: "I haven't, but I grew up in australia...lamington's were one of my favorites...instead of girl scout cookies etc, most schools did lamington drives during the yearthat and vanilla slice (its like..."
They have both of those on their menu. Pavlova, too. Their specialty is Australian meat pies.
pavlova is really good, and you can easily make that at home...I just saw that they ship...oh-ohhh....lol!
Dee wrote: "pavlova is really good, and you can easily make that at home...I just saw that they ship...oh-ohhh....lol!"I love Pavlova. It seems like it might even be relatively healthy, for a dessert. I'm glad to know that it's easy to make, it looks like something that you would spend a lot of time on. I will have to try and make it sometime. My daughter's girl scout troop just represented Australia as their featured country for World Thinking Day. They made Anzac biscuits for their food to share with the other troops.
i make pavolva for work events all the time, the guys love it...they call it ecstacy (or other entertaining word) on a plate...the trick is to just let it mix...I put the stuff in the mixer and just let it run for a good 20 minutes or so, the stiffer the mix the better and then just keep it simple with strawberries on top with some whipped cream
anyone seen the ads for the new TV show on Bravo called around the world in 80 plates...it could be fun watching and trying stuff
Dee wrote: "anyone seen the ads for the new TV show on Bravo called around the world in 80 plates...it could be fun watching and trying stuff"Fun!
This sounds cool - I'm currently reading a book set in New York City, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, what food would be typical of New York City?
Here are a few that come to mind:NY style pizza
NY style cheesecake
Manhattan clam chowder
Bagels with lox
Waldorf Salad
Black and white cookies
Thank you Diane, reckon I'll do the Waldorf :)
This sounds really fun. And I already tried it. I read book about Sweden and after that I made Swedish apple pie.I found the recipe from allrecipes.com pages, so thanks for that page also.
i'm searching for an ethiopian restaurant to try right now
Okay, I still haven't made it to the Australian Bakery. We managed to get there right after it closed for the day, but I will try again soon. I did, however, just finish State of Wonder, set in Brazil, so we went out for Brazilian food instead. We went to Sal Grosso, a Brazilian churrascaria (steakhouse). The food was quite awesome. There were 16 different cuts of skewered roasted meat, brought to our table by Passadores (meat servers). Our favorites were the rump roast and the top sirloin. The majority of what we ate was meat, but we did try a few other things. One of my son's favorite things were the Pao de Queijo, which are cheese buns. He wasn't a big fan of hearts of palm (He took a big bite of one thinking it was string cheese and was unpleasantly surprised). For a beverage, we had Brazilian Guarana soda that was quite good.
Overall, a very yummy experience!
Book ***
Food *****
i love brazilian steakhouses...mmmm - we ate at one when I was in Rota, Spain - it was mouth-watering inducing food
I read Unbroken: A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, a large part of which was set in Japan. My son and I then went out to our favorite sushi restaurant and had an assortment of sushi, maki rolls, edamame, and green tea. Both the book and the food were excellent. Sushi isn't for everyone, but I think most people would agree that Unbroken is an incredible book.Book *****
Food *****
Okay, I FINALLY made it to the Australian Bakery! It was worth the wait!I read I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak for my Australia book. While at the Australian Bakery we each had a different Australian meat pie. For dessert, we split Pavlova, Lamingtons, and a Vanilla Slice. The Pavlova was the favorite, hands down. We drank Bundaberg sodas (root beer and ginger beer). This was a big treat for the kids since I don't usually allow them to drink soda.
Overall, a very enjoyable experience!
Book ****
Food *****
diane i'm jealous!! although my mom is visiting from australia and we are making pavolva to take to a get together next weekend...my co-workers call it the australian cloud as well as (view spoiler)
lol, I totally get the nicknames! My kids are begging me to make it at home. I really didn't think it would be something they would like, but they are always surprising me. You will have to share your recipe.
I "traveled to" Trinidad with the The Mystic Masseur and went to eat at a Trinidad roti restaurant named Tassa. I had both children with me and was fully prepared for my daughter to balk, but she really surprised me and didn't.The restaurant was in a remodeled older home in a residential area. The owners and staff were so nice and there was a very friendly atmosphere. We all decided to stuff our own rotis (rotis are a type of flatbread). We tried everything on the roti bar. There were three different types of chicken, coo-coo (a cornmeal porridge), callaloo (greens), mashed yuca, curried potatos, lentils, two types of rice, a spicy cucumber relish, tamarind chutney, and a few other items. Everything was excellent! My daughter said she liked everything she tried. My son had three plates full of food! For beverages I had mango-guava juice and my kids both had pineapple soda. I wasn't brave enough to try the mauby (a licorice drink).
Book ***
Food *****
That sounds delicious, Diane! Your kids were very adventurous too.
Diane wrote: "Okay, I FINALLY made it to the Australian Bakery! It was worth the wait!I read I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak for my Australia book. While at the Australian Bake..."
What is a Pavlova? My last name is Pavlov so I'm intrigued ;)
Natacha wrote: "Diane wrote: "Okay, I FINALLY made it to the Australian Bakery! It was worth the wait!I read I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak for my Australia book. While at the A..."
It is a type of meringue dessert with a crisp outer shell and a marshmallowy center, topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit. It is very light and airy and melts in your mouth.
Diane wrote: "Natacha wrote: "Diane wrote: "Okay, I FINALLY made it to the Australian Bakery! It was worth the wait!I read I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak for my Australia book...."
Sounds delicious!! :)
My lastest dining experience involves Palestine. I read Unveiled by Deborah Kanafani. As a memoir, this book was just okay. It did, however, have a lot of fascinating history about Palestine. For my food, I made falafel and hummus. It came out very well and was a big hit with my son. Recipes are from allrecipes.com.Falafel Croquettes:
Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
oil for frying (I did not use this)
Directions
1. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
2. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties.
3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.
(Note: I baked the falafel balls in my convection oven instead of frying them)
Hummus
Ingredients
2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
Directions
1. Place the garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl.
2. Drizzle olive oil over the garbanzo bean mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.
Falafel sandwich assembly
I didn't have pita bread, so I used Indian paratha bread instead (which I heated in a skillet).
I spread a layer of hummus on the paratha, topped the hummus with fresh spinach leaves and thinly sliced cucumber, placed the falafel on top, then folded the paratha taco-style. Awesome! The best part was that the ingredients were all foods I had on hand.
Book: ***
Food: *****
Diane wrote: "My lastest dining experience involves Palestine. I read Unveiled by Deborah Kanafani. As a memoir, this book was just okay. It did, however, have a lot of fascinat..."falafel; my favorite!!! thanks for that Diane, can't wait to try it!! :)
My latest reading/dining experience is with Nigerian food. I have read two books from Nigeria this year, Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala.I found out that there was a Nigerian restaurant about a mile away from where I work (who knew? I probably never would have found it if it were not for this challenge). The waiter, who was a native Nigerian, was very helpful in helping me select what to eat, and brought me extra stuff to sample. For starters, I had Suya, which is spicy barbecued meat on a stick. There were two different kinds, served with onions and extra dry spices. It was VERY spicy and very good! Definitely my favorite item of the night. For the main coarse I had Jollof Rice with Stewed Chicken. It was okay. In all fairness, though, I am not a big rice eater. The spices are a bit different, but it is somewhat similar to Mexican rice. I had Moin-Moin which was a steamed bean dish. It was pretty good. It was a bit like refried beans, souffle-style. I also had plantains. These were very good. They were prepared differently from Latin American and Caribbean plantain dishes. They were not sweet, and were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. I also tried a greens dish that I can't remember the name of. It had a strong salt-fish flavor to it. It was my least favorite food item. I was hoping to drink some Palm Wine, but they didn't have any while I was there.
Books: Purple Hibiscus 4.5 stars. Beasts of No Nation 4 stars.
Food: 4 stars
I'm reading just the perfect book for this challenge: "Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein" (=It Can't Always Be Caviar) by Johannes Mario Simmel. It's about a very classy and charming secret agent (a German James Bond) ;) who loves to cook and gets involuntarily involved in the squabbling between the secret services of different countries. So he travels around a lot and also cooks a lot and the best: the recipes are included and made part of the story.I think I'll sign the book up for Portugal, so I'm going to make Cantaloupe with Champagne. It sounds delicious and still very simple: Cut the top off the melon and carve out the flesh of fruit. Chop it in cubes and fill it back in the melon. Add some other fruit cubes (for example a tin of fruit cocktail) and pour champagne over everything to fill out the spaces in between the cubes. It shouldn't be soup, just for getting a little champagne taste.
C_ wrote: "I'm reading just the perfect book for this challenge: "Es muß nicht immer Kaviar sein" (=It Can't Always Be Caviar) by Johannes Mario Simmel. It's about a very classy and charming secret agent (a G..."That sounds wonderful!
I wish we could make asure and share it with everyone in the group to go with this month's group read (The Bastard of Istanbul)!!....just gotta find a recipe and a better middle eastern grocer!! :D
Just saw this book on the goodreads ads: Deliciously Doable Small Plates from Around the World. Looks like an exciting book for this challenge!
Nice! I am a total sucker for international cookbooks.
To go with a book I read early this year (The Caliph's House for our group read), here is a Moroccan recipe I made today for dinner with my family. We all liked it so I thought I'd share.I guesstimated the recipe from Ramsay's show Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course, so it might not be exact, sorry! (I think there is also a published recipe book version of the show.)
It is a one-pot recipe and can be cooked in any sort of pot or pan that is deep enough to hold all the ingredients with stock covering them. I used a cast iron casserole dish.
Moroccan Lamb with Sweet Potato & Raisins
Ingredients
500g lamb, cut into chunks
2 red onions, cut into wedges & separate layers
2 cloves garlic, roughly minced
2 sweet potatoes, cut into pieces
olive oil
salt
pepper
chicken stock (or any kind of stock)
1/2 can tomato puree (about 110g, or use tomato paste)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
saffron (optional, I did not use any)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1-2 dried bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 handfuls raisins
parsley, chopped finely (for garnish)
Directions
1. Brown the lamb in hot olive oil. Remove from pan after browning.
2. In the same pan, saute onions. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Add garlic, ground ginger, ground coriander, cumin, paprika, saffron, fennel, cinnamon & bay leaf and fry till fragrant.
4. Add tomato puree, sweet potatoes, raisins & lamb.
5. Mix well, cover with stock and let it simmer uncovered for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.
Jessica wrote: "To go with a book I read early this year (The Caliph's House for our group read), here is a Moroccan recipe I made today for dinner with my family. We all liked it so I thought I'd share.I guesst..."
Yum, yum, yum! This sounds sooooo good!
Around the World in 80 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca (other topics)Deliciously Doable Small Plates from Around the World (other topics)
Purple Hibiscus (other topics)
Beasts of No Nation (other topics)
Unveiled: How an American Woman Found Her Way Through Politics, Love, and Obedience in the Middle East (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (other topics)Uzodinma Iweala (other topics)
Deborah Kanafani (other topics)
Deborah Kanafani (other topics)
Markus Zusak (other topics)
More...
1) Read a book set anywhere in the world (It can be a book you are reading for another challenge)
2) Eat or drink at least one item that is part of the cuisine in that part of the world. This can be something you cook at home or buy at the store, or you could go to a restaurant from that culture.
3) Post here what you read and what you ate. Feel free to share recipes (we all would LOVE that!), although it is not required.
Here are some examples of valid entries:
- Reading a book about Japan and going out for sushi
- Reading a book Jamaica and making Jerk Chicken
- Reading a book about Louisiana and making gumbo
- Reading a book about China and drinking oolong tea
- Reading a book about Greece and going to a Greek restaurant and eating souvlaki
Example of an invalid entry:
- Reading a book about Nigeria and going to a Nigerian restaurant and eating a hamburger and french fries. Adding a side of Jollof rice or another Nigerian specialty, however, would make the entry valid.