Around the World in 193 Dishes

Due to the pandemic we found ourselves locked down unable to do some of the things we love most.. for me that was travelling… exploring new places and trying new dishes. With this in mind we devised the challenge, Around the World in 193 Dishes. Each week we draw a country at random from the UN List of Countries and prepare an evening of food, drinks and music based on said country. We started this during the UK’s 3rd Lockdown when we were all together in North England. Now restrictions have eased, my sister and I have returned to our respective homes in South England leaving my parents in the north. This has not deterred us from completing the challenge as a group. Each week we continue the global cuisine journey drawing a new country at random and preparing delicious dishes and drinks. Occasionally we have the fortune to be able to meet up and enjoy the dishes of a new country together…

Country 1 South Africa

• Aperitif: Amarula Colada Cocktail (Amarula, white rum, coconut milk, pineapple juice) served with Biltong nibbles
• The Main Event: Bobotie (National Dish of SA), yellow rice, peach puree, mango chutney, paired with a South African white. 
• Dessert: Peppermint Crisp Tart

Country 2 Central African Republic

• Aperitif: Hakuna Matata Cocktail (spiced dark rum, coconut rum, grenadine, pineapple juice, orange slices) served with crisps…
• The Main Event: Peanut Chicken, vegetables, corn muffins paired with a South African white 
• Dessert: Squidge (a sweet rice krispie tray bake)

Country 3 Botswana

• Aperitif: Passion Fruit Gin Cocktail (gin, lemon juice, cointreau, passion fruit juice) kindly borrowed from Zambia
• The Main Event: Seswaa (national dish of Botswana – salted beef served with polenta and Botswana fried cabbage
• Dessert: Malva Pudding (delicious!!) 

Country 4 San Marino

• Aperitif: Sex on the Beach Cocktail (couldn’t find (m)any cocktails from San Marino… and had left over vodka… so why not?!) 
• The Main Event: Tagliatelle Carbonara paired with a very out of date Italian Prossecco from a dark gloomy corner of our cellar 
• Dessert: Tiramisu and Dessert wine courtesy of an Australian vineyard with a vaguely Italian name (clutching at straws here!) followed by chilled Peroni and Menabrea beer just in time for the France Wales Six Nations kick off  

Country 5 Vietnam

• Aperitif: An incredibly sweet Vietnamese coffee to wake us up before moving on to the harder stuff… a Hairy Naval Cocktail…. once again I was trying to use up surplus Archers and Vodka, tasted delicious though! The amazing looking Pho cocktail seemed a little out of my ability!
• The Main Event: Cashew Chicken and rice which brought back fond memories of backpacking down Vietnam. Served along with Banh Xeo pancakes and paired with an Australian wine… if I remember correctly they import Australian wine for the tourists.
• Dessert: Che Bap… I would class this as a failure on my part… a sugary sweetcorn dessert akin to semolina. Served with Singha beer… the nearest thing to Vietnamese beer that we could find in Carlisle.

Country 6 Kuwait

• Aperitif: in keeping with Kuwaiti law and practices we started with a refreshing Mojito mocktail.
• The Main Event: Machboos, the national dish of Kuwait consisting of fragrant rice cooked in a meaty broth served with very tender diced lamb! This was paired with the national drink of Kuwait… Vimto!!! This was the biggest surprise of the six weeks so far!
• Dessert: Gers Ogili, a very dense and filling sponge cake with the magic ingredient Saffron!

Country 7 Cuba

• Aperitif: it had to be the Cuba Libre cocktail, and a strong one at that! Simple and delicious!
• The Main Event: Sándwich Cubano – a Cuban take on the ever so popular ham and cheese toastie. Strictly speaking this emerged from Cuban communities living in south Florida. Paired with Californian wine – the closest vineyards to Cuba we could find in our local Tesco…
• Dessert: Dulce de Leche

Country 8 Zimbabwe

• Aperitif: Passion Fruit Gin Cocktail courtesy of The Victoria Falls Hotel!
• The Main Event: Chicken Stew, yellow rice, bread and chakalaka. The Main Event was attempted by two households with very different outcomes… as can be seen in the photos!
• Dessert: Zimbabwean Trifle

Country 9 Albania

• Aperitif: Dicko Minto… a homemade concoction not Albanian at all I am afraid. We had some out of date mint liquor in the cupboard that needed drinking..
• The Main Event: Tavë kosi – the national dish of Albania, lamb, rice, egg and yoghurt which when I attempted it turned out not to dissimilar to a (dry) moussaka served with a light green salad.
• Dessert: Shendetlie – a honey and nut cross between a biscuit and a cake

Country 10 Mozambique

• Aperitif: R&R Cocktail – a refreshing rum and raspberry based cocktail popular in the southern beachside towns of Mozambique. Here it is made using Tipo Tinto rum, we had to settle for what was available in our local supermarket.
• The Main Event: Piri Piri Prawns & Chicken – a delicious and very flavorsome prawn and chicken dish popular in Mozambique as well as across Southern Africa. Had a little kick to it, one of the best dishes so far!
• Dessert: Mozambique Banana Cake

Country 11 Equatorial Guinea

• Aperitif: Malabo mule cocktail
• The Main Event: a delicious fresh fish dish popular in Equatorial Guinea, Pescado con tres Salsas, served with a peanut sauce and Corn Succotash. Those in the south had a slightly different take on the main event, once again it was fresh fish in a rich sauce served with rice.
• Dessert: Akwadu – a.k.a. African Banana Coconut Bake…

Country 12 Bahamas

• My first attempt cooking for 5….
• Aperitif: Red Stripe Beers and Bahama Mama Cocktail… kindly made by Jonny, incredibly strong and delicious!
• The Main Event: I can’t say I did this dish too much justice, however it did taste fantastic the next day… Chicken Souse, a chicken and vegetable soup served with fresh warm bread and salted butter, and copious amounts of Waitrose red wine! Those in the north served the Souse with a cornmeal flatbread, Johnny Bread.
• Dessert: Bahama Mama Cupcakes which went down a storm! Apparently these redeemed my attempt at the Souse!

Some of these photos are from mum’s rather more successful attempt at Bahamas Night! Note the very differing appearances of the two Souses!

Country 13 Sri Lanka

My second attempt cooking for five.. thankfully the draw had been kinder and I was back to my personal favourite… Kottu! As I cooked for five in the south, my mother cooked for my uncle and aunt in the north! Similar results…

• Aperitif: North – Cocktail Aliya, South – lots of wine and beer!
• The Main Event: North – Chicken Kottu, South Vegetable Kottu… death by chopping! So much preparation but certainly worth it, mine had a slight kick.. perhaps too much for Amz..
• Dessert: North – Sri Lankan crisp chocolate slice and Gajar Halwa, in the South I cheated… more Bahama Mama cupcakes!!! After all both countries are tropical!

Country 14 St Vincent & The Grenadines

For #13 the North and the South convened in Carlisle for the long weekend and a trip to the other side of the Atlantic… to St Vincent & The Grenadines!

• Aperitif: Dirty Banana Cocktail, a delicious alcohol infused banana milkshake!
• The Main Event: Caribbean stewed chicken with red beans served with coconut bread and a green salad. Not bad.. but it doesn’t make it to the top of the Caribbean so far. The coconut bread was moreish leaving an interesting after taste… paired with white wine.
• Dessert: Banana Fritters and vanilla ice cream! Perfect finish to the meal in the evening garden sunshine!

Country 15 Dominican Republic

Up in the north it was up to dad and I to prepare #15… thankfully it was one of the easier ones (homemade burgers a-la-Dominican Republic), however we still needed quite a lot of pointers from mum!

• Aperitif: unfortunately when it became time to prepare cocktails we discovered the pineapple and orange juice were out of date and mouldy… some of the spirits were on the turn too. Aperitif was a rather thrown together metallic tasting coconut based cocktail… I will spare you the ingredients, no one needs to endure this one.
• The Main Event: Chimichurri Burgers served dripping in the tasty “burger sauce” with cabbage, tomatoes and onions. The burgers are popular street food on the island and as such there is no set recipe as each stall has their own take on the sauce ingredients. Nevertheless, we found a sauce recipe online that consisted of ketchup, mayo, orange juice, Worcester sauce and cabbage.
• Dessert: Dulce Frio – a delicious slightly more complex version of a trifle. Cream cheese is added to the cream to give a subtle flavour and along with the rum soaked ladyfingers, condensed milk and canned fruit this really was a very sweet but delicious dessert!

Country 16 Australia

• Aperitif: Eternal Sunshine Cocktail (vodka, bitter lemon, pulverised mandarin and castor sugar)
• The Main Event: Chicken Parmigiana with a generous amount of cheese and tomato sauce served with sweet potato fires and salad.
• Dessert: Violet Crumble Cheesecake

Country 17 Greece

For this country we had to prepare the food ourselves, no two households were together… Mum prepared as below…

• Aperitif: Greek Watermelon Mojito (rum, fresh watermelon, lime juice, syrup, sparkling water and mint)
• The Main Event: Moussaka served with salad
• Dessert: Sokolatopita (chocolate cake Greek style!)

Country 18 Mexico

Being in Wales with wider family, for dad’s 70th birthday celebration, was the perfect time to introduce the next country post the Euro Football Championship break… Mexico!

• Aperitif: Cocktails were planned.. but it descended into whatever alcoholic drink anyone wanted was served. The popular choices being G&Ts, Prosecco and red wine. A delay to the main course meant that everyone was quite merry by the time the Main Event rolled around…
• The Main Event: Fajitas!!!! Delicious! Served with copious amounts of cheese, sour cream, salsa and salad.
• Dessert: a Wolverhampton Wanderers Birthday Cake!! Not particularly Mexican but it went down a storm nonetheless!

Country 19 Colombia

• Aperitif: Colombia started a little earlier with a mid-morning Chocolate Santafereno, a rich hot chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. Fast forward a few hours to the evening which we kicked off with the slightly off-colour Colombia cocktail. Tasty nonetheless but my mixing skills left a little to be desired… it is a vodka and curacao based cocktail which of course is supposed to be the colour of the flag… more mixing practice needed!
• The Main Event: Bistec a Caballo with hogau sauce topped with a friend egg and served with rice. Simple but effective.
• Dessert: Torta de Tres Leches! A sugary heaven! Colombia was prepared by Mum, it is quite easy now to differentiate between who cooks which countries… we are always treated to a culinary delight when it is Mums turn!

Country 20 Italy

• Aperitif: Peach Bellini… in my opinion can’t be beaten as the best cocktail there is!
• The Main Event: absolute mayhem in the kitchen as dad prepared the main event… spaghetti bolognese with a generous helping of parmesan cheese! Simple but delicious!
• Dessert: strawberry parfait with Vin Santo, mascarpone and the now ever so popular biscotti! It might look like a mess below but it was a hot mess! Very tasty!

Country 21 Federated States of Micronesia

• Aperitif: Fresh lime water and ice… no alcohol?! You don’t always need alcohol to have a good time, a refreshing start to the evening.
• The Main Event: Chicken Micronesia served with rice and salad… OK there wasn’t much choice online but don’t let that cloud any judgments… this is an outsider for best meal so far! Think coconut, soy sauce, ginger, potato and of course chicken! Another great dish prepared by mum.
• Dessert: the aptly named Micronesia Pudding, a custard creamy based dessert which was the perfect ending to the meal.

Country 22 Bermuda

I had the absolute pleasure of being able to visit a friend living in Bermuda so I was able to experience their cuisine first hand but this didn’t stop the padres back home from trying their hand at preparing some dishes from the beautiful islands of Bermuda.

• Aperitif: for me Rum Sizzle pre-mixed in a bottle and lots of it! The hangover the next day certainly disagreed with the prior nights festivities. Back home in N. England the Dark and Stormy Cocktail was enjoyed pre-meal (dark rum and ginger beer served with ice and fresh lime)
• The Main Event: for me out in Bermuda the ever popular fish sandwich… we didn’t prepare it ourselves so it can’t make the Leader Table but it was fantastic!! Freshly caught breaded monk fish, salad, tartar sauce in a freshly baked roll! Back home they enjoyed a baked ranch parmesan pork chop served with Bermuda onion and fried taters with salad.
• Dessert: for me an Amstel Light Beer or two that were quite popular there, back home mum prepared what looked like a tasty Bermuda Rum Cake and Rum Sauce.

Country 23 Latvia

• Aperitif: Latvian Cocktail – blue raspberry juice, whisky and lemon lime soda.
• The Main Event: Kotletes – Latvian meatballs and green salad with sour cream and potato pancakes.
• Dessert: Biezpienmaize aka Latvian Cheesecake

Country 24 Spain

Having to work from home I took the opportunity to relocate to Spain to work remotely for four weeks, Mallorca and Ibiza. I prepared some basic Spanish sandwiches in my hotel room but the majority of cuisine was experienced in the wonderful bars, cafes and restaurants of both locations. Whilst I was away my family back home prepared their own evening of Spanish cuisine, drinks and music.

• Aperitif: incredibly reasonably priced rioja and Estrella, often drank in beautiful settings overlooking the sea, marina or Catedral-Basilica de Santa Maria de Mallorca.
• The Main Event: often tapas or fresh seafood!
• Dessert: by the time it came to dessert I was often too full!

Country 25 USA

Completed over two separate meals due to corona virus complications… one course each sitting…

• Aperitif: Californian wine and Coors Lite Beer served out of a Coors Lite Cooler with potato chips (aka crisps!)
• The Main Event: Fully loaded hot dogs! A mix of local butcher sausages served in fresh submarine rolls loaded with a choice of fillings including: Mac N Cheese, coleslaw, onions, tomato ketchup, mustard and squirty cheese!
• Dessert: the most delicious and thick NYC Style Cheesecake made by yours truly, topped with raspberries, blueberries and white candy pieces supposedly to give the impression of the red, white and blue of the american flag…

Country 26 France

Surprise Weekend had my friends and I heading off to Marseille for the weekend, so after a weekend of fine French cuisine and drinks it made sense to go full overload and complete France when home… Whilst I was dining in the south my family in the north prepared Tartiflette, Creme Brulee and of course a french cocktail.

• Aperitif: a 2016 Bordeux Red
• The Main Event: our weekend away didn’t allow for a Croque Monsieur, one of my international faves, so upon my return home I rustled up my first ever Croque from the BBC Good Food website. A delicious overload of cheese, bread, ham, a hint of mustard and of course the rich creamy white sauce!

Country 27 El Salvador

A slightly manufactured lucky dip returned El Salvador as the next country on our list. mainly because I had empanandas on my mind for some reason…

• Aperitif: a late afternoon snack consisting of a chilled sweet milk based drink, Horchata, served with tasty Salvadorian Quesadillas, which were more like mini sweet cheese muffins! The hint of sugar made them incredibly moreish.
• The Main Event: Enchiladas Salvadorenas, essentially a decomposed and open plan enchilada wrap served with (normally) a boiled egg, however we went slightly off piste and used a fried egg to great success. Served with an incredibly sweet and refreshing fruit juice with diced pieces of fruit swimming in juice, Refresco de Ensalada.
• Dessert: Leche Poleada, a somewhat custard type dessert, however the texture was probably more akin to pastry cream. Not bad but very sweet so a small portion was suffice.  

Country 28 Lebanon

• Aperitif: a very sweet non-alcoholic rose water, Sharab Ward, a popular drink in Lebanon. As it was NYE the main course was paired with a Christmas gift… a silky smooth bright blue wine-based cocktail.
• The Main Event: Lebanese Chicken Shawarma – marinated chicken served with salad in warm flat bread with a creamy cucumber sauce.
• Dessert: Graybeh (a delicious sweet shortbread cookie) and Baklava (another Christmas gift!)

Country 29 Bhutan

Ingredient options were quite scarce for the most mountainous country in the world, there is a distinct lack of yak meat and milk in Carlisle, North England! 98% of Bhutan is classed as mountain range!

• Aperitif: Dragon Warmer – an rum and apple juice based cocktail served warm… warm cider-esque
• The Main Event: Gondo Datshi, essentially scrambled eggs swimming in butter and “farmers cheese” (I assume the intention would be to use yak milk cheese – we used feta), accompanied with boiled potatoes (Kewa Datshi)
• Dessert: Kheer – a ludicrously sweet rice based dessert, with condensed milk and a bag of sugar! We used basmati rice whereas dessert rice may have been more appropriate as such it was rather al dente to say the least!

Country 30 Belgium

Along with my Dad we headed to Granny’s house to treat her to the fine cuisine of Belgium, a country where she lived for some time when dad was growing up. As our cooking skills are not the strongest and we didn’t want to disappoint Granny on her 95th birthday, mum kindly prepared the main course in Carlisle for us to drive down and heat up in the oven…

• Aperitif: Mimosas, because they are easy enough to prepare and delicious, served with generic homemade muffins (but served in paper cases the colour of the Belgian flag!). A strong Belgian beer for dad and the left over Mimosa Prosecco for Granny and Auntie Jo!
• The Main Event: a delicious stew, Carbonnade Flamande, in which you could really taste the caramelised onions and Belgian beer! Of course served with long frites and mayonnaise.  
• Dessert: Belgian Waffles with strawberries, ice cream and chocolate sauce!

Country 31 Croatia

• Aperitif: Sonyakamoz… a rather sweet sparkling wine / lime / mint based cocktail
• The Main Event: Burek with green salad and greek yoghurt. Not too bad, it reminded me a little of the South African main course.
• Dessert: the heavily butter based Bajadera! It had the appearance of being a biscuit dessert but had a texture more similar to soft nutty cookie dough. It was very tasty, however, I saw how much butter went in to it so I limited myself to only a half portion.

Country 32 Hungary

Coming home for Easter, for some reason I was craving dumplings and so mum decided Hungary would be a suitable destination to continue our culinary journey (after all they are quite renowned for their dumplings!).

• Aperitif: Froccs Cocktail… basically white wine with soda water… it didn’t take long for me to top up with some more white to phase out the soda! Described locally as the ideal summer drink… somewhat refreshing but not enjoyable.
• The Main Event: Dumplings!!! with a rich beef goulash served with seasonal vegetables. The star of the show being the sweet dumplings!
• Dessert: Almas Pite – apple pie meets apple cake and the result is deliciously sweet triumph! It is described as a cookie crust deep-dish apple pie and it certainly exceeded expectations.

Country 33 Germany

Not sure if this one counts for me… but going to Germany for three football games I was sure to experience the local culinary delights and steins!! Whilst away, in keeping with tradition mum and dad prepared and enjoyed some German food.

Country 34 Malaysia

Returning home for the long jubilee weekend was the perfect opportunity to squeeze in three more countries!

• Aperitif: Junglebird Cocktail – rum, Campari, lime and pineapple juice. However, this was not the start of the Malaysian experience, we were treated to a morning “coffee”, which appeared to be a coffee / tea combo in the same mug… and later for afternoon tea we had a Teh Tarik (Malaysian tea.. no coffee combo this time).
• The Main Event: the well known and very popular Nasi Goreng (my dad’s favourite meal when he lived there in his younger years).
• Dessert: Gula Melaka… not too near the top of the dessert table. It might have been lacking the sago, we substituted in tapioca.

Country 35 Romania

• Aperitif: White Romanian – vodka, Kahula, banana liquer, milk and bananas for decoration. Not bad!
• The Main Event: Romanian Moussaka, enjoyable but it won’t worry those at the top of The Main Event premier league table.
• Dessert: Romanian Salam de Biscuiti – similar to the sweet and buttery Croatian Bajadera biscuit.

Country 35 United Kingdom

Given it was the Queen’s Jubilee it was only fitting that we treated ourselves to one of the finest British culinary traditions… Afternoon Tea (twice). The first being at The Midland Hotel in Morecombe on their sea terrace and the second being in our local village hall on Jubilee Sunday. Believe it or not I may have preferred the food at the village hall, the local villagers certainly put on a delicious spread with sandwiches and cakes as far as the eye could see! The quiches were certainly the MVP of the day 10/10!!!

Country 36 Norway

• Aperitif: just back from Norway for a long weekend trip, where I ate no Norwegian food, provided the perfect opportunity for country 36… we started with the Prince of Norway cocktail!
• The Main Event: Lapskaus… beef stew… with chewy bread. Not bad but nothing too crazy.