Food Around the World!

Whether at home or in fine dining restaurants, we want only the best foods to be serve in our table. We always have our choices, be it Chinese dishes, Japanese dishes, American dishes or European dishes. Whatever it may be, we always crave for a sumptuous ones. But, what if you are given a chance to pick 10 dishes around the world and have it on your menu, what would constitute your list? Below are 10 questions that will reveal my choices for the “10 Popular Food Around the World”.

1. Guess this traditional Mexican dish that consists of a steam-cooked corn dough  and wrapped inside a corn husk.

• A tamale is a traditional Mexican dish consisting of a corn dough (masa) usually filled with sweet or savory filling and steamed until firm. The most common fillings are pork and chicken, in either red or green salsa or mole. Considered by Mexicans one of their most beloved traditional foods, it is said that are between 500 and 1000 different types of tamales all around the country. One popular Tamale variation is to add pink colored sugar to the corn mix and fill it with raisins or other dried fruit and make a tamal de dulce

2. This is a traditional Korean cuisine that is a mixture of vegetables with different types of seasoning. What is it?

• Kimchi is a traditional Korean pickled dish made of fermented vegetables with varied seasonings. Kimchi is the most common banchan, or side dish. There are different varieties of Kimchi like:  the baechu (also known as Chinese cabbage) variety, pa-kimchi (made with scallions),  ggakdugi (made with cubed radish), and oisobagi (a cucumber kimchi with hot and spicy seasoning).  Although the most common seasonings include brine, scallions and seasonings, ingredients can be replaced or added depending on the type of kimchi being made. Common seasonings also include, ginger, onions, fresh seafood and aekjeot (fish sauce).

3. Known as "Japanese horseradish", its root is used as a spice and has an extremely strong flavor. Name it.

• Wasabi is a member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish and mustard. Wasabi’s hotness is more similar to a hot mustard than the capsaicin in a chili pepper, producing vapors that irritate the nasal passages more than the tongue. Wasabi is often served with sushi or sashimi, usually accompanied with soy sauce. It has been claimed that wasabi contains a natural chemical that can be used against certain cancer cells.

4. This soup that came from Russia and Eastern Europe has for its main ingredient a beetroot (a leafy vegetable). Do you know this soup?

• A popular soup in many Eastern and Central European countries, Borscht is made with beetroot as a main ingredient that gives it a strong red color. There are two main variants of borscht, generically referred to as hot and cold. Both generally are based on beets, but are otherwise prepared and served differently

• Hot borscht is more similar to a stew than most soups, and may be eaten with thick dark bread. A hearty soup, it can consists of optional ingredients including, including various vegetables (cabbage, beans, cucumber, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes or onions), mushrooms, and meats (chicken, pork, or beef).

• Cold borscht consists of chopped young beets and raw chopped vegetables (radishes or cucumbers) and boiled together.  After cooling them down, the soup is usually mixed with sour cream, soured milk, or kefir.  Chopped, hard-boiled eggs are often added.

5. Which dish, originally from Marseilles but now found all over the Mediterranean, consists of fish and shellfish boiled in a stock flavored with fennel seeds, saffron, and orange zest?

• Bouillabaisse is a fish soup made from different kinds of cooked fish and shellfish and vegetables. It is  flavored with variety of herbs and spices such as  fennel seeds, saffron, bay leaf, garlic, basil and orange zest. A traditional bouillabaisse consists of at least three kinds of fish: scorpion fish, sea robin and European conger. It also usually includes shellfish and other seafood such as sea urchins, mussels,  small crabs or octopus. The four essential elements of a true bouillabaisse are the presence of rascasse, the freshness of the fish; a real olive oil, and an excellent saffron.

6. What is the Portuguese name for this recipe containing salt cod?

• Portugal’s national dish is a preserved fish or a salt cod called Bacalhau. Bacalhau is often served with potatoes. Green (Vinho Verde) or mature wines (Douro Wine) are served alongside. It is claimed that there are almost 400 ways of cooking bacalhau, at least one for every day of the year.

7. Do you know this popular soup which originates in Louisiana?

• Gumbo which originates in Louisianan is a wide variety of spicy soups. Gumbo consists primarily of one or more kinds of poultry ( chicken, duck, or quail), shellfish (freshwater crawfish, or shrimp), smoked pork,  strong stock, celery, bell peppers, onion and a thickener. The soup is traditionally served over rice. Gumbos can be broadly divided between the use of okra as a thickener, and recipes using filé powder in that role. Roux may be added to either.

8.Popular all over the Middle East, this salad contains chopped parsley, onions, tomato, bulghur wheat, and lemon juice. Do you know the correct answer?

• Tabbouleh is a Levantine Arab dish and is traditionally eaten with a lettuce leaf. Found all over the Middle East, its ingredients are chopped parsley, onions, mint, scallion, bulgur, and tomato with lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper.

9. A Traditional dish of Ethiopa that is served with bread called injera. Do you know this dish?

• Doro wat is an Ethiopian stew made from chicken and hard-boiled egg, a variety of vegetables, and spice mixtures such as fenugreek, berbere, paprika, cardamom and niter kibbeh, a seasoned clarified butter. a stew made from chicken and hard-boiled egg, spiced with fenugreek, cardamom, and paprika, is a traditional dish of Ethiopia. It is traditionally eaten with injera, a local flat bread made from the millet-like grain known as teff.

10. Guess this dish that is made of prawns and chicken fried with eggs and spiced rice. It is popular in Malaysia and Indonesia ?

• Nasi Goreng is a dish that is widely cooked in Indonesia and Malaysia. It literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay. The main ingredients for the plain nasi goreng include pre-cooked rice, soy sauce, garlic, shallot and some spring onions for garnishing. Eaten as a meal, nasi goreng can be accompanied with other items, such as egg, prawns and often spiced with tamarind and chilli. and including other ingredients, particularly egg and prawns.The rice used to make nasi goreng is cooked ahead of time and left to cool down, which is one reason to use rice cooked from the day before. In restaurants, the dish is often served as a main meal accompanied by additional items such as a fried egg, fried chicken, vegetables, satay and kerupuk (meaning crackers or fried potato chips).