What does Finland and Sri Lanka have in common?

What does Finland and Sri Lanka have in common? The Forbes family. We have made food from both of these countries the last two weeks. Here is a short summary of the meals:

Finland - Salmon Soup (Lohikeitto)

Sri Lanka - Ground-Beef Curry

The Finish salmon soup was a good variety from the baked salmon that we usually eat. And this recipe will probably be used several times again in our home. This recipe goes for 4 servings and we added some more potato and less salmon to save money. The flavor was typical Scandinavian so it fit our senses nicely. However, I have gained a craving after seeing the picture of the crackers with the soup and having just watched a TV-show named "The whole country is baking" (Hele Norge Baker) where they competed with making different kinds of crackers and cookies, I now want to learn how to bake crackers or salty cookies. So that is added to my to do list.

How it ended up

How it was supposed to look like

* 3 Tablespoons olive oil
* 1 leek, chopped (white and light green part only)
* 3 cups plus 1 Tablespoon water, divided
* 1 bay leaf
* 3/4 pound potatoes, cubed and peeled
* 3/4 pound salmon filet, skinned, de-boned and cut into small chunks
* 3/4 cup cream (I used half and half)
* 1 Tablespoons cornstarch (up to 1 1/2 Tablespoons if you'd like the broth thick)
* 1 Tablespoon butter
* salt and pepper
* fresh parsley or dill for topping
* lemon wedge (optional)

I borrowed mom's international cookbook and it said that "cinnamon and coconut are the ingredients that so often make the curries of Sri Lanka so memorable". The curry recipe we used had a nice blend of fun spices - ginger root, cinnamon stick, whole clove, curry powder, chili powder, turmeric and cardamom. It also had potatoes that made it more filling in addition to the ground beef. We have a tendency to buy lots of spices when we are on vacation, so we actually used fresh cinnamon stick and whole cloves that my husband had brought home from Tanzania which gave so much more flavor. We also made a delicious home made pineapple chutney that complemented the curry perfectly.

Ps. Do you like that we have red white doted plates. Makes eating more fun. 

Across the world - Australia, Ghana and Israel

Time goes fast, and now there has been three weeks with three new countries. We went to Australia, Ghana and Israel which is a spread of the world. The first week we went to Australia. There are many dishes Australian claim to be there own, when the origin is actually from Asia, Europe or America. However, they do have original twists to these meals. Most people know the hamburger as a classic American characteristic, but the Australians have something they call 'Burger with the Lot'.

On an Aussie webpage we got a tip to add a little Worcestershire sauce that really brings out a great flavor in the burger. In addition to the regular condiments they stack on beets, a fried egg, a pineapple ring, bacon, and often they fry their onions.With a small mouth this was a hard burger to take a bite off, but ohh.. I have to say it was delicious. Good job Aussies. I liked the variety from the regular burger.

Next country was GHANA with FUFU and Nkrakra soup. I found this one extremely fun to explore because since I was a child I always wanted to travel to Africa and learn their culture and the name is fun as well. This soup is supposed to simmer to flavor for several hours, but don't forget to stir like we did. Yeah, the thick burned layer on the bottom of the casserole took we several hours to scrape away and I ended up with soars on my fingers. Luckily I have an amazing husband that saved the soup from the burned flavor by transferring it to a different casserole and adding some more ingredients. The Fufu itself, if you have a fufu flour pack, only took a couple of minutes to prepare. We tried to eat this with our hands like it is supposed to, it was fun, but messy. Notice we did have a bowl with clean water to wash our hands with though.

How it ended up

How it was supposed to look like

In the Middle East they eat a lot of the same foods in the different countries. We had a course set up with falafel, shakshuka, hummus, Israeli salad, pita bread and mint limeade. It was quite a feast. Hummus and falafel is claimed to be from Egypt, but the answer to the question of their origin is controversial. Knowing that all the inclusions to our dinner are regulars in Israel, we claim Israel this week.

Shakshuka and Mint Limeade

Falafel, Pita, Hummus and Israeli Salad

Making hummus from scratch is great. However, we bought a big glass of Tahin and I don't know what to use the rest for before it goes bad. Tip when you cut the vegetables in the salad real small the flavors blend together a lot better. This was probably not the normal mix of food but we enjoyed it a lot.

I definitely recommend everyone to try this experiment, it is so much fun to think of a new country every week and you learn so much.