Resources For Cooking With An International Flair
The most ethnically diverse food I ate growing up was French fries.
Or was it tacos?
TOUGH CALL.
In my mom's defense, the world was not the Global Village in the 70s and 80s that it is now. Back then, it was a big adventure to use the new and exciting "taco seasoning" and then wrap the meat in a tortilla.
Or a "tor-TILL-uh," as I'm guessing we first called it.
But since then, I've been slowly branching out in my Adventures With Food.
Going to China a couple years back was a shock to my system. A good shock, mind you. But still a shock. Until then, I hadn't even eaten Chinese food in the states. (Gasp!) But the whole trip was such a fun adventure, and out of a love for my girl and her country, I tried as many new things as I could.
And you know what?
Mikey liked it! He really liked it!
Okay. There were a few things I didn't like. Pig skin, pig fat, bouncy undercooked mystery meat, and gristly meat on the bones (a.k.a., "chainsaw chicken.")
But still. It was a great adventure, and it was in China that I made this promise to myself:
I wanted that to become part of our family culture, if you will. Not just a love for the people around the world, but an appreciation and enjoyment of their foods as well.
We fortunately live in an area with a lot of ethnically diverse restaurants, but HELLO, that gets to be really expensive for a family of five. But when I set out to cook some new foods at home, I don't even know where to start. The internet is great, but whoo! OVERWHELMING.
I finally found a set of books for beginners like me: The Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks. I doubt these cookbooks win any "food photography" awards, but they do offer just the right amount of variety, and the recipes use basic ingredients you can find around town. Simply looking at the set of recipes each book includes helps me get a grasp on the Types Of Foods Eaten Around The World.
There are many titles in the series. I have organized them into regions:
Africa
Cooking the African Way
Cooking the East African Way
Cooking the North African Way
Cooking The Southern African Way
Cooking the West African Way
Asia
Cooking the Chinese Way
Cooking the Indian Way
Cooking the Indonesian Way
Cooking the Japanese Way
Cooking the Korean Way
Cooking the Thai Way
Cooking the Vietnamese Way
Australia
Cooking the Australian Way
Europe
Cooking the Austrian Way
Cooking the English Way
Cooking the French Way
Cooking the German Way
Cooking the Greek Way
Cooking the Hungarian Way
Cooking the Irish Way
Cooking the Italian Way
Cooking the Norwegian Way
Cooking the Polish Way
Cooking the Russian Way
Cooking the Spanish Way
Cooking the Swiss Way
Middle East
Cooking the Israeli Way
Cooking the Lebanese Way
Cooking The Mediterranean Way
Cooking The Middle Eastern Way
Cooking the Turkish Way
Central and South America
Cooking the Brazilian Way
Cooking the Caribbean Way
Cooking The Central American Way
Cooking the Cuban Way
Cooking the Mexican Way
Cooking the South American Way
Multiple Regions
Vegetarian Cooking Around the World
Desserts Around the World
Holiday Cooking Around the World
At our house, I use these cookbooks alongside our study of the different countries of the world. I also have a daughter from China, so the Asian books come in handy for the different celebrations we do throughout the year.
Help a girl out. What are some other ways we could put these books to good use?
Or was it tacos?
TOUGH CALL.
In my mom's defense, the world was not the Global Village in the 70s and 80s that it is now. Back then, it was a big adventure to use the new and exciting "taco seasoning" and then wrap the meat in a tortilla.
Or a "tor-TILL-uh," as I'm guessing we first called it.
But since then, I've been slowly branching out in my Adventures With Food.
Going to China a couple years back was a shock to my system. A good shock, mind you. But still a shock. Until then, I hadn't even eaten Chinese food in the states. (Gasp!) But the whole trip was such a fun adventure, and out of a love for my girl and her country, I tried as many new things as I could.
And you know what?
Mikey liked it! He really liked it!
Okay. There were a few things I didn't like. Pig skin, pig fat, bouncy undercooked mystery meat, and gristly meat on the bones (a.k.a., "chainsaw chicken.")
But still. It was a great adventure, and it was in China that I made this promise to myself:
I'll do what I can to help my kids love the adventure of trying new foods.
I wanted that to become part of our family culture, if you will. Not just a love for the people around the world, but an appreciation and enjoyment of their foods as well.
We fortunately live in an area with a lot of ethnically diverse restaurants, but HELLO, that gets to be really expensive for a family of five. But when I set out to cook some new foods at home, I don't even know where to start. The internet is great, but whoo! OVERWHELMING.
I finally found a set of books for beginners like me: The Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks. I doubt these cookbooks win any "food photography" awards, but they do offer just the right amount of variety, and the recipes use basic ingredients you can find around town. Simply looking at the set of recipes each book includes helps me get a grasp on the Types Of Foods Eaten Around The World.
There are many titles in the series. I have organized them into regions:
Africa
Cooking the African Way
Cooking the East African Way
Cooking the North African Way
Cooking The Southern African Way
Cooking the West African Way
Asia
Cooking the Chinese Way
Cooking the Indian Way
Cooking the Indonesian Way
Cooking the Japanese Way
Cooking the Korean Way
Cooking the Thai Way
Cooking the Vietnamese Way
Australia
Cooking the Australian Way
Europe
Cooking the Austrian Way
Cooking the English Way
Cooking the French Way
Cooking the German Way
Cooking the Greek Way
Cooking the Hungarian Way
Cooking the Irish Way
Cooking the Italian Way
Cooking the Norwegian Way
Cooking the Polish Way
Cooking the Russian Way
Cooking the Spanish Way
Cooking the Swiss Way
Middle East
Cooking the Israeli Way
Cooking the Lebanese Way
Cooking The Mediterranean Way
Cooking The Middle Eastern Way
Cooking the Turkish Way
Central and South America
Cooking the Brazilian Way
Cooking the Caribbean Way
Cooking The Central American Way
Cooking the Cuban Way
Cooking the Mexican Way
Cooking the South American Way
Multiple Regions
Vegetarian Cooking Around the World
Desserts Around the World
Holiday Cooking Around the World
At our house, I use these cookbooks alongside our study of the different countries of the world. I also have a daughter from China, so the Asian books come in handy for the different celebrations we do throughout the year.
Help a girl out. What are some other ways we could put these books to good use?
5 comments:
I think I'll see if the WCPL has a couple of these for my Geography class.
Oh, if my students knew *I* was contemplating cooking for them, they'd be running the other direction as fast as they could go.....
I guess I'll stick up for myself!!! You might remember we used to have 5,000 chickens, so eggs were a staple at our house. Then we converted the chicken barn into a hog barn, so we had LOTS of pork. Boy, do I miss those days. Now I have to PURCHASE our meat and eggs. Gardening is just around the corner with fresh veggies, which you love, and I wish I could share them with you. I like cashew chicken at the Chinese restaurant my boss takes us to (without the rice) - your Dad would not like to go there, as he is strictly a meat and potato guy (except for navy beans and corn bread). Happy dining!!
I just re-read your last request - I would use those books as bookends for each other.
Well, since you home school, you might be able to involve the children in the cooking process for school credit. The daughter of a friend of mine earned home ec credit when she made a quilt with her grandmother.
I also think you could make a really neat game out of the types of food used. Like a quiz show kinda thing. You call out different ingredients and the kiddos try to put them in the correct region?
Or Ethnic Food Bingo?
Yes, I have an education degree.
I personally like Tina Marie's suggestions. I wouldn't be surprised if your son turns out to be a chef. Between making you breakfast in the mornings and now insisting on making a cake, I think you better be prepared, and these cookbooks might be just the thing for him.
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