In search of healthy and fun meals to feed my family, with an eye toward sustainable living.

Here you'll find recipes & ramblings about keeping my family fed with what's available in Alaska between local produce, a little bit of wild harvest, and the modern grocery store.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

What if...

What if I cooked a different international theme every week for a year?
Sort-of like one of those haute cuisine restaurants that does not have a menu, but instead offers a unique menu every week -- shall I call it "Cuisine du Monde Chez la Mademoiselle Naturelle" (Naturelady's Eat-around-the-World Project)?
I'd cook with seasonal ingredients, but cook my way thru cuisines from all over the world, maybe taking my cue from cultural holidays or events.

Hey, I could really get into this! When I ran this by my husband, I explained it like this: "How about Cajun during Mardi Gras, German for Oktoberfest, Jewish during Rosh Hashana, Chilean during Dieciocho (Independence Day)..." He liked the idea, but thought it ought to be Cajun week once a month! I certainly could try to make sure there's something hot & spicy in there every month.

Would I run out of world cuisines?
Eventually, then it's time to give it another"spin around the world"...

Before I get too carried away, I shall state right here that I won't drive myself crazy with this (see my last post!) Here's a list some sanity-preserving "restrictions":
1.) I insist on occasional holidays or "Betriebsferien";
2.) At least once a week we'll have left-overs, or someone else cooks besides MOM!
3.) Input is valued, but NO COMPLAINING! The point of this is to learn about new foods, so everybody needs to keep an open mind and try at least a few bites...

Last but not least, this is about making us more aware of how the rest of the world eats -- and that not always feast food. In fact, there is a a lot of plain old "rice & beans" type food that people survive on.... and that too is part of the international eating experience. So here comes Fufu, hominy and, of course, lots of rice!

Here is what it might look like:

Aug 16-22 Africa: Ethiopia, Marocco, etc
Aug 23-29 Mediterranean
Aug 30-Sep 5 Carribean Islands
Sep 6-12 Jewish week: Latkes, Borscht, etc.
Sep 13-19 South American, esp. Viva Chile
Sep 20-26 Himalayas (India, Nepal, Tibet)
Sep 27-Oct 3 Down Under (Australia/New Zealand)
Oct 4- 10 German
Oct 11-17 Hungarian/Rumanian & Gypsy
Oct 18-24 Indochina
Oct 25-31 Irish/Scottish/English
Nov 1-7 Mexican
Nov 8-14 Polish/ Baltic
Nov 15-21 Middle East
Nov 22-28 Native American
Nov 29-Dec 5 Russian
Dec 6-12 Dutch
Dec 13-19 Scandinavian
Dec 20-26 Swedish-German-American
Dec 27-Jan 2 Black America/ Cajun

...Call me crazy?... YES, decidedly so...

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