There are a few known truths about me:
- I don’t generally like sports, but I LOVE the Olympics.
- I love food, and I love to cook.
- And, I am always looking for a new little project no matter how busy I am.
So all of those things are about to come together, and I can’t tell you how excited I am!
Last fall, a friend and I were talking about how much we like the Olympics and that we couldn’t wait until August. I just love the spirit and culture that is shown through the Olympic games and how the world can come together for something positive. My friend mentioned that she tried to cook different foods during the Olympics as something fun to do with her son. So this stuck in my mind as something I was going to do come August.
On the way home from my mother-in-laws on Sunday, with my husband driving the long 5 hours and the kids either sleeping or tuning out the world with their headphones on, I started brainstorming and planning. I knew that I wanted to try cooking unfamiliar foods from other countries, so I just randomly picked a country that I was interested in and Googled away, but the results were overwhelming. So many different recipes! How in the world would I narrow them down? I felt that there had to be someone out there who had done something like this before and written about it. Thats when I found the Global Table Adventure blog. This blog is amazing! I probably spent 2-3 hours of the drive reading about Sasha’s quest to cook a recipe from every country in the world. Why couldn’t I do this, too?! How fun would that be. New Goal!
WAIT a second!! Let’s backup a bit. I would so love to do this, and I got really excited about it and started planning it out, but then, as I was perusing recipes, I started rethinking this plan. I am not that picky of an eater compared to some people I know. I will usually try everything at least once (if I am pressured enough to take that first bite), but there are just some foods that I don’t like, at all. I don’t do olives or mushrooms. I don’t like yogurt, unless it’s Yoplait with strawberries or blueberries. I am very picky about cheese. I love normal cheese such as cheddar, mozzarella, Monterrey jack, but I’m cautious when it comes to branching out. I don’t drink milk. I started noticing that so many recipes from other countries have ingredients that just aren’t my favorite things. Maybe I am pickier than I thought!
NO, I don’t want to be a picky eater! So back to my original plan. Let’s start small. The Whats4Eats website divides the world into different culinary regions, so this is where I started. I wanted to cook at least one meal from each region because this would hopefully allow my family to experience a variety of foods and learn about a few countries that were competing in the Olympics without it being too overwhelming. And surely I can find recipes that my family will try from each region.
So here is the plan: Each week until the Olympics start, we will try to cook at least one recipe from two different culinary regions of the world. Then, once the Olympics start, we will try to cook at least 3 recipes a week from different countries, focusing on countries that my kids have said they want to visit or try food from. Here is the schedule so far:
- July 10-16 – North America, Central America, and the Carribean
- July 17-23 – Africa and the Middle East
- July 24-30 – Central Asia and the Caucuses, Pacific Islands and Australia
- Friday, August 5 – Brazil in honor of the host country, Opening Ceremonies
- Saturday, August 6 – Italy, the country that Hailey wants to visit. She is very intrigued by the story of Pompeii and volcanos.
- Sunday, August 7 – United Kingdom, the region that my husband, Jeremy, most wants to visit.
- Friday, August 12 – Scotland or Ireland, the countries that I most want to visit.
- Saturday, August 13 – France
- Sunday, August 14 – Germany
- Friday, August 19 – Russia
- Saturday, August 20 – Madagascar, this is Mackenzie’s pick because she likes the animals from this small island.
- Sunday, August 21 – South Korea, closing ceremonies. The Winter Olympics in 2018 will be held in South Korea.
I have a lot of European countries and cuisines planned during the Olympics mainly because these are places that I want to visit, but I feel that I have not left time for some cuisines that I would really like to try cooking such as South American, Asian, and Caribbean. So stay tuned. If things go well during the Olympics, I plan to keep trying foods from these other regions throughout the year.
My family seems to really be liking this idea so far, which really makes me happy. It is hard to please everyone all the time, but both girls and my husband have been asking questions and giving lots of suggestions, so I am excited!! I will try to update as often as I can, so hopefully you will join us on this Olympic Food Tour of the World.
Follow me on Snapchat for more on our Olympic Food Journey: Paiger79
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