International Eats-Scotland

In my explorations into cuisine of the world, I have discovered that there are some foods that are universal. Pretty much every culture has some kind of a pancake. Sandwiches are another food that appears in countless regional variations. And people around the globe, regardless of nationality, have a love of gravy. Seriously, who doesn’t love gravy? And whether it is served with rice, noodles, dumplings or mashed potatoes, those gravy-based dishes are often described as home style or comfort food. 

When Scotland was mentioned during our initial discussion about cultural foods we wanted to try, the only food I could think of was haggis. And there was no way I was going to make my family eat that. In fact, there is no way I was going to make myself eat that. Scottish shortbread came to mind as well, but I was trying to focus on meals rather than just desserts, so I knew some research was in order. I came across a number of recipes that looked tasty, sausage rolls for one, oatcakes, steak pie, but I when I came across a number of recipes for mince and tatties, I thought it would be a good option. In Scotland ground beef is called mince and tatties are potatoes, so the main ingredients were things I knew my family would eat. Add to that the fact that the mince is cooked in a lovely gravy, and I was pretty sure I had a winner. 

We ate our mince and tatties this evening and as predicted, it was a hit. Gravy. Yum. Mashed potatoes. Yum. Carrots. Yum. It definitely fit the comfort food profile. And everybody liked it. It reminded Matthew of a family favorite, green beans and hamburger gravy minus the rice, but Malia loathes green beans, so the inclusion of carrots instead was a plus for her. The only alteration I needed to make to the recipe was the fact that peas are generally included in the gravy or served on the side. Matthew is allergic peas, so I left those out and served our meal with asparagus instead.

I suspect that mince and tatties will be appearing on our menu again. It was a simple to make variation on the theme of gravy.

Mince and Tatties: 4 forks

International Eats-Poland

When my fam told me they wanted to sample food from Poland, stuffed cabbage rolls were the first thing that came to mind. However, my family is not crazy about cabbage. In fact, most of them avoid it in most forms. They’ll eat it if it is hidden in something like the filling of potstickers and some of them will happy consume it as part of a hearty minestrone soup, but overall, they either avoid it like the plague (Malia), pick around it when it’s noticeable (Matthew), or eat it as a part of a meal but not select it if given a choice (Kevin-unless it’s something like okonomiyaki, a Japanese pancake that includes a hearty helping of cabbage). I like cabbage, but I figured that there was not going to be much hope of my family liking a traditional Polish food if it had cabbage right in the name.

I went trolling on Pinterest to see what else I could find and discovered several recipes for Polish beans and sausage. It was described as Polish comfort food, something that someone’s Polish mama or grandmama would make as a hearty meal to fill the bellies of their loved ones. The ingredients were simple, the flavors basic, and it looked like something even my pickiest eater might enjoy. So I decided to give it a try. 

The results of this sampling were positive. As I expected, the flavors were basic but as Matthew says, sometimes basic is really good. I agree with him as does Malia, who had two servings. Kev enjoyed it as well and as for its heartiness factor, no one went away hungry. It was very filling. It may not have the visual appeal of some of our other experiments, but it certainly tasted good!

Sausage and Beans Rating: 4 forks

International Eats-Japan

I cheated a little bit. Our International Eats protocol was put in place so that we can try some new foods. But I opted to make a dish that most of us have eaten before. Due to my Chinese heritage and Kevin’s missionary service in Japan, we eat a lot of Asian foods around here. As such, I didn’t really feel like we needed to include these countries in our experimentations. However, I also have two food allergy kids that 1) don’t get to experience all the foods we eat in restaurants and 2) are the younger half of my children and weren’t around for many of the experiments and activities I sponsored when Daniel and Nathan were small. So I decided to cheat a little.

Way back in the early years of our marriage, Kevin and I were living the “Early American Poverty” lifestyle. That meant a night on the town consisted of some very careful grocery shopping and a movie at home with the occasional splurge by eating at Wendy’s. Only on our anniversary did we feel like the occasion warranted a bigger investment in a fancier restaurant. One of our favorites back then was the Kyoto, a local Japanese restaurant that was much more authentic and far tastier than some others. One of my favorite dishes to order when we went was sukiyaki, a Japanese hot pot style dish that had noodles, beef, tofu, and veggies all nestled in a flavorful broth. Since we couldn’t afford to eat out like that very often, I searched the internet and found a recipe to recreate sukiyaki at home. But even making it at home was a splurge, so it was a once in a long while kind of a dinner. 

Our finances are not anywhere near as tight as they were back then, but sukiyaki is a meal I haven’t even thought about for a long time. While I was exploring recipes for this summer’s grand food experimentation, I happened to come across a sukiyaki recipe and realized that neither Matthew nor Malia has ever eaten it. It only took me about two seconds to decide that a little cheating was in order. And honestly, my motivation was not entirely selfless. This stuff is good. So, so good. 

When the kids asked what we were having for dinner, I described it as a cross between broccoli beef and chicken long rice with some other stuff thrown in. They seemed to think that was ok, but Malia took a look at the fixings as I was prepping food and looked highly skeptical. Things improved somewhat when it came time to dish her dinner and she discovered there were a variety of things she knows she likes-rice, beef, long rice (which are mung bean noodles). That, and the fact that it smelled really good, gave her hope.

Kevin and I were both happy to revisit and old favorite. Matthew liked it as well, though he picked around the tofu and the cabbage. Malia picked around the mushrooms, tofu, and cabbage, as I knew she would, but really liked the other parts. I think if I left out some of the interesting bits it would have been an all-out winner with the kids, but Kev and I like the interesting parts so I left them in knowing the kids would opt not to sample those portions. I do have to admit that Kevin was the only one who added a raw egg to the meal the way the Japanese traditionally eat sukiyaki. I just can’t make myself eat raw eggs. Far to slimy. (Full body shudder)

The only thing I would do differently next time is marinate the beef and possibly the tofu for a bit before cooking the dish. The broth was enormously flavorful, but the beef and tofu didn’t have enough cook time to really absorb the lovely flavor. Darn. I guess that means I have to make it again. 😜

Sukiyaki Rating: 3 ½ forks 

International Eats-Spain

Tonight’s dinner took us to Spain. Although paella is the dish that comes to mind first when I think of Spanish food, it is much too labor intensive for me right now. So I did some searching and found something different. I was initially really excited to try the Spanish cod stew and Spanish paprika and garlic carrots. The stew is definitely a departure from what we normally eat, combining familiar ingredients in a very different dish. However, I have to say that this evening’s meal was not a success. The stew was…ok. Kev and I could eat it, but we would not choose it if we had other options. Matthew and Malia tasted it and that was about it. So big flop on that one. The carrots were also…ok. Matthew liked them but I think the rest of us were of the option that we could eat them but would much prefer our carrots in a different dish. So a medium flop on that one.

I had such high hopes for Spain. Maybe I’ll give it another try with a different dish. Or maybe I’ll move on to another country. We still have quite a long list of countries to sample, after all.

Cod Stew Rating: 1 fork

Paprika and Garlic Carrots: 1 ½ forks

International Eats-Sweden

When folks around here thing of Swedish food, I’m pretty sure the first thing that comes to mind is the Swedish meatballs served at our local rat maze with a cinnamon scented reward at the end, IKEA. I’ve sampled the IKEA meatballs and while many people rave about them, they are still cafeteria food and I think the quality reflects that. Since cafeteria food isn’t generally something that is safe for my kids, Matthew has never eaten at IKEA and Malia ate there only once when she was tiny and in her pre-food allergy days. But of course, when my kiddos decided they wanted to sample some Swedish fare, meatballs were the first thing that came to my mind. 

This evening was our Swedish sampling test and let me tell you, homemade always beats cafeteria. Always. Seriously, these little gravy coated wonders were a delight. They were tender and flavorful and absolutely delicious. Our meatballs were accompanied by mashed potatoes, a Swedish cucumber salad, and a side of the traditional lingonberries. While the meatballs were a favorite all the way around, the cucumber salad got mixed reviews. Malia hated it. Matthew loved it. Kev thought it was ok but wouldn’t choose it if asked. And I thought it was a nice change of pace, a good dish for once in a while. 

I have a feeling the meatballs will be requested again. The salad? Maybe not. We’ll see if Matthew liked it enough to remember it later.

Swedish Meatballs Rating: 4 forks
Cucumber Salad Rating: 2 ½ forks

International Eats-Romania

While Romania was not on our original list of countries whose food we wanted to explore, I came across a recipe while I was browsing for options that looked like one my family might like. Since I’m the boss of my kitchen, I decided to give the Romanian stuffed peppers (ardei umpluti) a try. They were remarkably simple to put together, had a long, slow bake time, and only incurred some silent cursing when the tomato sauce they bake in bubbled out all over my oven. I always hate when that happens and before I even tasted them, I was a little bit biased due to the soiling of my appliance. That’s how much I hate cleaning my oven. I’m willing to judge a dish before I ever taste it based simply on its potential to make a mess. 😂

Hard feelings aside, I decided to give the peppers an honest taste test. The filling was very moist, and the peppers were roasted until sweet and tender, but the overall flavor fell a bit flat. The peppers were served with some Romanian country bread (tara paine) to soak up the creamy tomato sauce. I have never made a yeast bread that uses cornmeal and trying new things is what this whole adventure is about, so I felt like using this more traditional bread rather than one of my tried and true bread recipes would be worth my time. I was very pleased with the texture of the bread, a spongy soft interior with a light crispy crust, but the flavor was definitely a bit different and had a bit less flavor than I expected. This was not a bread that I think I would choose to eat on its own. 

Most of my family agreed with me. The general consensus was that everything was a little bland, the pepper filling, the bread, the sauce. When it was all eaten together, the flavor was a bit better. But even then, we wanted more flavor. Kevin suggested that we just use our normal meatloaf mix and stuff that in the peppers. That actually sounded like a pretty good idea, so I think I’m going to try meshing the two recipes. Daniel (our guest food critic for this meal) and Matthew both agreed with Kevin and I. Malia, on the other hand, didn’t like the peppers at all. First of all, she doesn’t like peppers yet. Second, she doesn’t like dill and that was one of the main flavors in the meat. She did eat the bread dipped in the sauce though. 

Because I feel like the separate elements of this meal really needed each other to make it all work, I’ve opted to rate it as one, rather than two separate recipes. Malia gave only half a fork as she liked the bread but not the stuffed pepper. The rest of us gave the meal about three fourths of a fork apiece, deducting a bit for the overall blandness. But we will likely try it again and if the filling tastes less strongly of dill, I’ll bet Malia would be happier about eating that part.

And as a side note, I'm definitely going to have to clean the oven tomorrow. 😒

Romanian Stuffed Peppers and Country Bread Rating: 3 ½ forks (out of 5)

International Eats-Germany

Cory and Michelle, Kevin’s brother and sister-in-law, both served missions in Germany. As such, German food turns up from time to time at family gatherings. A few years ago, when their daughter, Sharlee, was preparing to leave on her mission to Germany, they shared one of their family’s favorite German desserts: Bienenstich, or Bee Sting Cake. The cake was nice and light, not too sweet, and filled with a lovely cream. But the thing that made this cake special was the crunchy topping. Of course, Matthew and Malia were unable to taste the cake, but I did a bit of research to see if making a safe version for them would be possible. To my delight, I discovered that what makes this cake special is almonds and honey, both of which are safe for my kiddos. With a few substitutions in the cake and the pastry cream filling, an allergen free version was completely doable. 

When Malia told me she wanted to try some food from Germany, the bee sting cake immediately came to mind. I want to try some other recipes as well, but the cake was first up. Traditionally, this is a yeast raised cake. As I was looking at recipes, there were quite a few that took a shortcut and used a baking powder cake batter instead. While that definitely makes the cake much faster to create, I wanted to be as authentic as possible, so I selected a yeast raised version. 

Ironically, my nod to authenticity was what ended up shooting us in the foot. The cake looked spectacular, but most of us were a bit off put by the strong, yeasty taste of the cake. Don't get me wrong. We love bread and the wonderful flavor that yeast brings. But it was so strong that it overpowered the rest of the flavors. The vegan pastry cream turned out well, if a bit heavier than a standard one, the texture of the cake was nice and light, and the honeyed almonds on the top were a delight, but Kev, Matthew and I would have preferred the flavor of a standard cake. Malia, on the other hand, loved it as is. If I decide to try it again, which I might because I really wanted to love this cake, I will try a standard cake mixture. I have a feeling the bakery produced version we ate at Cory’s house used a standard cake recipe as well based on the flavor of the cake.

So did we love this cake? Nope. Did we like it? Sort of, some more than others. Would we try it again with some alterations? Probably. Did it look spectacular? Absolutely. 

Bee Sting Cake Rating: 3 forks

International Eats: Norway

 After the great success of last summer’s Pancakes Around the World, I decided this summer needed a similar venture. It was so much fun, and we found a bunch of types of pancakes that we really liked. Rather than sticking to one specific food this time, I decided to branch out and experiment with a larger variety of foods. We will be sampling dishes from a variety of different countries selected by my family. Matthew is interested in trying foods from Norway and Sweden. Malia wants to try some German foods, and Kev suggested we taste some traditional recipes from Spain. There will be a few other countries scattered in as well as I come across recipes I think my family will enjoy.

Our culinary globe-trotting has been somewhat delayed by the whole refrigerator debacle, but this evening we had our first international meal. Our Norwegian salmon with dill sauce was accompanied by some lovely Norwegian oatmeal molasses bread. The salmon was a hit all the way around. And while the sauce was tasty, we all felt like the salmon didn’t need it. The flavor of the fish alone was delightful. But we really like salmon, so a little salt, pepper, and lemon juice flavored the fish perfectly. The bread was also very good. Matthew, Malia and I really liked it. It was a lovely, soft loaf with a slightly crisp crust and a lovely flavor. The taste of the molasses was weird to Kev though. He associates the flavor of molasses with cookies and having it in the wrong form was a bit off putting for him. Buttering the bread downplayed the taste of molasses though, so Kev at it that way while the rest of us ate it plain.

Overall, our first taste testing of the summer was a great success. Stay tuned. There is more to come!

Norwegian Salmon with Dill Sauce: 4 forks (out of 4)

Norwegian Oatmeal Molasses Bread: 3.5 forks