Food Adventuring Around NYC
One of the things this project has done is made me more aware of countries I had never heard of. Bhutan is definitely one of the more obscure ones. And when I recently dropped it into a conversation, people looked at me like I had two heads. Ok, so you might not know about Bhutan. …
Unfortunately, I could not easily find many recipes from The Republic of Benin, an integral country in Western Africa that is known for being the birthplace of voodoo. Voodoo, as it originated in Benin, is a religion that is very misunderstood and unfortunately not been helped by fictional movies and pop culture. Benin was also …
Some series get an upgrade after a few episodes or seasons in. Not us. We actually have a bit of a downgrade. My wife and I decided to move to a house where Sam could have a bit more space to run around and be a kid. The tiny city apartment wasn’t so comfortable …
Belgium has always sounded amazing to me. The name itself conjures up images (and scents) of waffles for most Americans. The country’s specialties include beer, chocolate, mussels, fries, and of course, waffles. Sounds like an incredible country. And it’s a fitting finale for this journey in one kitchen. Don’t worry – we are not throwing in …
This week’s country is the closest I’ve come to my roots so far. My ancestors come from both Hungary and somewhere in Russia. Although in fairness, it’s possible my great grandparents may have come from present day Belarus or somewhere else that is now considered Russia. Regardless, there is something about the food this week that …
I’m not sure why Barbados wasn’t higher on my bucket list before now, but after doing the research about this island nation, I’m dying to go. In fact, I’m ready to move there. When I explained to Sam we can go swimming with sea turtles, he was on board too. After all, the place is nicknamed …
There is a white American YouTuber who speaks fluent Mandarin and goes around Chinatown shocking people with his perfect language skills. I am not quite that well-versed in Bengali, but there have been times when I’ve met a taxi driver or a food cart vendor and shocked them by asking them “How are you?” or …
Last week we were concentrating on the food of a tropical island in the Caribbean. This week, we’re heading to another island, but a little less tropical. You may not have heard of Bahrain, but it is a tiny oil rich country bordering Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. And its National Dish, which we present …
We’re back after a few weeks away. You didn’t think we’d give up that easily? We still have a giant world out there to explore. And I’m excited that our first country back is also the first country I ever visited outside of my own. Growing up in South Florida, it was not uncommon to vacate …
After a short hiatus, Sam and I are back to explore the food of every country in the world. In Season 2, we turn our attention to the “B” countries. And I do not mean to imply that these are second tier countries. These are not like “B” celebrities. These are the countries whose name …
Last week we hit a milestone – ten straight episodes. This week we have another big accomplishment. We’ve now cooked the food from every country beginning with the letter A. Sam is very excited about this since he’s actively practicing his alphabet. Now on to Letter B. This is also a good time for us …
Amazing we’ve been doing this project for ten straight weeks!!! That’s right. This episode is our ten week anniversary. Mostly, I’m amazed that Sam has not grown bored of this and is still willing to take time with me to prepare a complicated international dish. He wishes we could make pizza for dinner every night, …
I have never been to Australia, but feel a very strong connection with the country and its people. Having worked in the food tourism industry here in New York for well over a decade, I have met more Australians than anybody else. Seriously, we had an Australian (at least one) on every single tour. You …
The number of hearty meat stews on this adventure has so far been overwhelming. We’ve had a sweet beef stew inside a pumpkin from South America, smoky hearty overloaded soup from Europe, and spicy palm oil chicken from Africa. It was time to do something different. We could have easily stuck to the theme in Armenia, but …
What’s new, Argentina? Well, probably lots, but we decided to stay pretty traditional when it came to what to cook this week. Without a doubt, we knew whatever dish we chose from Argentina, it had to have beef as the main component. Beef is perhaps the most important part of the Argentinian diet. It’s almost as …
This week we’re getting very ambitious. It’s the first time we are not making one dish, not making two dishes, but a record breaking three dishes. I had no idea what time dinner might be ready since I was juggling three distinct dishes, a three year old, and a camera on me. Talk about multi-tasking. But …
One of the things I miss most about dining out in New York City is the adventures I would take to neighborhoods and communities that were very unfamiliar to me. For this at home journey, if I want to be as authentic as possible, I’m going to also have to seek out special ingredients at …
So I’m embarrassed to say this but Andorra is the first country we’ve reached that I had never heard of. Have you? I’ve been in the tour industry for over a decade, been eating as much international food as I can find, traveled around Europe, and yet I had no idea this little country ever …
After last week’s success (mostly thanks to Sam), we’re now really cooking (pun intended). And, in fact, this is the week that Sam really learned about a brand new dish and has since fully incorporated it into his diet. He now often eats couscous for lunch – without all the meat and spices, of …
After a less than stellar start with Afghanistan last week (which has nothing to do with the country or its cuisine and more to do with my novice cooking skills), things are really starting to heat up with Albania, the second stop on my worldwide culinary adventure. Not only did I learn from my mistakes …