Dinner Around The World

Ever wonder what other people eat for dinner? The New York Times Food section did and published a fascinating pictorial of main meals and favorite dinners?Are there difference yes. Yet there are more similarities that unite us.

Food section reporters and  photographers, Sara Bonisteel, Kim Gougenheim and Lisa Dalsimer interviewed sixteen families from sixteen countries around the world. We find out what they cook and eat on a typical weeknight. There are no fancy or multi step holiday meals. These are just everyday ones, with locally sourced foods from their local groceries and markets.It really is an interesting window into what the world eats. The Levy family of Rehovot , Israel, a city not far from the Mediterranean, south of Tel Aviv, observed their Shabbot night meal with  Yemeni soup, chicken schnitzel and chraime. The last is a spicy Moroccan fish dish eaten by Sephardic Jews and it's served with rice and bread. The Charles family of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, use oranges and limes from their yard to marinate their lalo, a flavorful stew made with both beef and blue crab along with spinach and jute leaves. Do the French go all out with their weekday suppers?No. Home chef Marina Pajovic-Devouge serves leftover roasted chicken from the butcher around the corner and pairs it with couscous from a popular frozen food store Picard Suegeles. Her kids get cheese for dessert. Monterrey Mexico couple, Luis Leduc and Katia Barragan take turns cooking. Her turn had huevos revueltos, scrambled eggs served with chorizo and onions. dinner was shared with their daughter, Emma, and dog, Polly.

Good Italian cooking begins at home and that's how home chef , Claudia Bellucci ,from Rome works magic in creating saltimboca alla Romana. This is veal rolled with ham and sage, the herb coming from her balcony garden.There was also pesto with trofie pasta, made with basil along with baked tomatoes au gratin which her daughter Fiamma puts through a taste test. South Americans are notorious steak lovers and that was evident in the Guevara's of Lima,Peru's dinner. Jesus and Margot shared grilled steak along with corn and potatoes with their kids. They're lucky because they have a housekeeper who cooks and cleans up for them. Another lucky family who has a cook is the Osans of Gurgaon, India, a  thriving town, southwest of New Dehli, The family of four, usually eat around nine PM and enjoyed a meal of palek paneer, spinach with cheese, raita - a cooling yogurt and cucumber sauce and kadai aloo, potatoes with onions and spices.  Cucumber salad and chapatis round it out.  Food writer,Ozoz Sokoh of Lago , Nigeria shares a meal of plantain flatbread stuffed with chicken suya, a sweet and spicy dish, with her three children. There is also peanut butter sauce and papaya chutney. Other countries such as Australia, Russia, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. The two things missing? The US and recipes. It would have been nice to have some of them printed so US homes chefs can try them.

Dinner around the world is the same, no matter what the food and the nationalities. It's eating together and sharing good food and talk. It's the recipe that keeps families together.

The Year In Review Foodwise

What did the year soon to be past contribute food wise? What were the new tastes and treats that stunned us for the last twelve months?What did we like  and what did we go "Ewwwww" over?

Food wise we had a Mid East summit. Za'atar and harissa seemed to be the stars of 2015. Everyone went crazy over the first, a mix of different spices such as sumac (not the poisonous kind)thyme, marjoram and oregano. Toasted sesame seeds is added for crunch as is seas salt. It is then mixed in with olive oil and served with another 2015 fad, the had rolled bagel. This is not the big New York puffy kind that kind of looks like a butt (sorry , but it does) A real Israeli bagel looks like a big circular pretzel.It is torn into bits and then the ends are dipped in the za'atar and oil.The bled can also be used in cooking veggies along with being sprinkled on salads and scrambled eggs. North Africa gave us harissa. a spicy paste that goes well with veggies or lamb. This is soaked red chili peppers mixed with olive oil, garlic and salt. A trio of spices, cumin, coriander and ground caraway seeds round it out and temper the heat.


Artesanal foodstuffs went amok. Hipsters throughout Brooklyn started their own food companies, from pickles to bacon. Entrepreneurs who have Smith Brothers beards  are churning out handmade goodies in old Brooklyn factories that were probably churning out the same products 160 years ago. Flea markets  were the battleground for these food makers as they vied to get hip foodies attentions and taste buds.Despite at how annoying it is, the movement is actually a good thing. Artesenal baby foods led to some of top manufacturers like Gerber and Beechnut to create preservative free ones along with ones featuring more avocados and squash. The homemade movement has also influenced bread companies as well. Our stores sell much more whole wheat and whole grain now than they ever have done. Even companies like Stop & Shop have their own artesenal foods like crackers and cereals,

What will 2016 bring? We'll find out tomorrow .Foodie Pantry has some interesting predictions.