Welcome back! This week I will be discussing French cuisine. French food is by far one of my favourite types of cuisine. In this blog, I will discuss some types of French cuisine and my experiences from when I went to France and enjoyed their culture and cuisine.

Blanquette de Veau is made of a veal ragout. The en blanquette cooking technique is used when cooking this type of veal. For this cooking technique white meat is cooked together with roughly chopped onions, celery, and carrots.  The meat and vegetables are also combined with stock, yolk, cream, aromatic herbs, and mushrooms. These ingredients are then thickened with a roux. This meal was commonly eaten in World War II and eaten with rice.

Aligot is a type of cheese. This is a version of fondue. This consists of mashed potatoes blended with butter, cream, crushed garlic, and traditional Tomme d’Auveregne cheese.

Ratatouille is very popular among the Mediterranean coast. This dish can be served either hot or cold. Ratatouille is a vegetable stew. Each vegetable in the stew is sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil. Common vegetables that are included in this dish are zucchini, bell peppers, tomato, eggplant as well as aromatic herbs. Once each of these vegetables is sauteed they are placed into a baking dish and baked.

In the spring of 2017, I took a school trip to France. We traveled all over the country. We traveled to Paris, part of Normandy and Brittany, and some other smaller villages throughout our travels. I tried a variety of different foods while in France. One food that was particularly interesting to try was escargots. I was not going to try this, but then my friends convinced me to. I have to say I did not like the taste/texture of escargots, but I am glad that my friends convinced me to try it and have that experience as I do not know the next time that I will be able to try authentic French escargots. We also tried things like fresh baguettes, crepes, sandwiches, and many more. There was definitely some food that I did not enjoy, but there was also a lot of food that I did try that I never thought that I would enjoy but I did. The first thing I ate when we got to France was a Nutella crepe outside of the Notre dame cathedral. Just seeing the process of the vendors making authentic food on the streets, like crepes, was crazy to me. That is not something you see on Vancouver Island unless there is some sort of event that has vendors. Overall, I would love to try some of these foods that I had stated at the beginning of my blog, but I would also like to go to France again and try some of these foods from different areas and also different varieties of food.

Thank you for reading my blog! Next week will be my last blog and it will be a conclusion blog on what I have learned throughout this inquiry process.

(Escargots from France trip)                                                    (Aligot)

Attributions:

“Aligot” by Tavallai under CC BY-ND 2.0.

Information:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/articles/21-regional-french-foods-to-try-before-you-die/

Photo by Anthony Choren on Unsplash

Welcome back! This week I will  be taking a look at Italian cuisine. Italian food has always been one of my favourite types of cuisine. I will specifically be looking at cuisine from Northern Italy. Northern Italy has a variety of different types of foods due to its varied topography and proximity to other countries.

The Aosta Valley of northwest Italy is covered in mountainous ranges. Due to the mountains it is hard to grow crops, so it is mostly an area that has farms with animals. One common food that comes from this region of France is Fontina cheese. Fontina can either be eaten on its own or used to make fondue. This cheese is said to get its sweet flavour from the fragrant herbs in the mountain fields.

Piedmont is known for antipasti. Antipasti has a lot of dishes under its umbrella that are both hot and cold dishes. A common hot dish is fiori di zucca ripieni. This dish is made with pumpkin, courgette, meat, parmesan, and parsley. This dish is then deep-fried. A cold dish that is popular is vitello tonnato. This dish consists of thin slices of veal with tuna-flavoured mayonnaise and capers.

A common ingredient that comes from Liguria is pesto bianco. Pesto bianco is commonly known as white pesto. This sauce is a mixture of walnuts, olive oil, and ricotta. This sauce is often served with corzetti pasta. This sauce is the less common version of pesto Genovese, which is most commonly known as just pesto.

In Italy, panettone is a Christmas culinary tradition. This dish originated in Milan, Lombardy. Panettone is a tall dome-shaped loaf that is light and airy. This dish is said to have a savoury buttery flavour. To contrast the savoury flavour, candied fruit and orange peel bring a more sweet flavour to the dish. This dish can be eaten with any meal of the day. When eaten at breakfast, it is suggested to eat the loaf with coffee, whereas for lunch or dinner it is suggested to eat the loaf with a dessert wine.

A common dish in Friuli-Venezia Giulia is Prosciutto di Sauris. This dish is a ham dish. Friuli-Venezia Giulia has a distinct aromatic flavour when cooked. This flavour comes from a smoking method that is only used in the Udine province of Italy. Beech wood from locak woodland is used in this smoking process and is used in traditional smoking rooms. This dish is both sweet and smokey. It is recommended that Prosciutto di Sauris be eaten with a soft red wine.

Thank you for reading my blog! Next week, I will be discussing French cuisine.

(Vitello Tonnato)

(Panettone)

Attributions:

“vitello tonnato” by jules under CC BY 2.0.

“panettone” by stu_spivack under CC BY-SA 2.0

Information:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/8-foods-to-try-in-northern-italy/

Photo by Anthony Abruzzo on Unsplash

Welcome back! This week I will be taking a look at Spanish cuisine. Spanish cuisine is famous worldwide and I am going to take a deeper look into some of the dishes that help show why that is.

Lots of people worldwide have heard of paella, even if they have never tried it. The cooking utensil that this is cooked in is a large shallow pan. This pan is called a paella, which is where the dish got its name. Back when this dish originated, it was often cooked with water vole and snails. Now, the dish is often cooked with a mixture of seafood and rabbit. There is one part of the dish that is often seen as the best part. This part would be the rice on the edges of the pan that is often slightly burnt.

One ingredient in Spanish cuisine is called jamon iberico. This ingredient can also be used as a dish on its own. This ingredient is strictly cured meat. This ingredient comes in a variety of forms but one to note is jamon iberico de bellota. This form is made of specially raised pigs. These pigs are fed only acorns in the later stages of their life to give them a distinct nutty flavour. The hind legs of the pig are then salted and air-dried for at least 36 months before it will be served. One of the most important parts of this dish is the fat. The fat enhances the meats flavour and should always be savoured.

Another common ingredient in Spanish cuisine is chorizo. Chorizo is more commonly used in Spanish households than jamon iberico. This type of meat is commonly cooked in stews alongside meat, potatoes, and other vegetables. Chorizo adds a certain rich depth and smoky flavour to dishes. Chorizo can also be served in a drier version, that is often served alongside cured meats in a sandwich. As someone who used to work in a butcher shop/deli, I have tried chorizo. I believe it to be an amazing addition to any dish and even to just eat with something as simple as cheese and crackers.

Another classic dish in Spanish cuisine is croquetas. Croquetas are deep-fried, bread-crumbled balls. The croquetas are also stuffed with a mixture of a thick béchamel-like sauce and meat, as well as cheese or vegetables. A few traditional fillings often found in croquetas include jamon iberico, chicken, or oxtail meat. There are, however, vegetarian options as well. The vegetarian options include blue cheese, broccoli, or other fusion flavours.

Spanish cuisine is very reliant on having fresh ingredients and doing things in a homemade manner. A lot of ingredients can also be served on their own, but are often also served within a dish or as a side.

Thank you for reading my blog! Next week, I will be discussing Italian cuisine.

(Jamon Iberico)

(Croquetas)

Attributions:

“Jamon iberico” by Gerard Romans Camps under CC BY 2.0.

“Croquetas” by Jonathan Pincas under CC BY 2.0.

Information:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/spains-top-10-traditional-dishes-you-need-to-try/

Photo by Daniel Prado on Unsplash

Welcome back! This week I will be looking at Greek cuisine. Greek cuisine is known for being an incredibly healthy diet.

The first dish that I am going to look at is souvlaki. This dish is extremely popular not only in Greece but in lots of other parts of the world. This dish is Greece’s version of fast food. It is composed of small pieces of meat or vegetables. These pieces of meat/vegetables are grilled on a skewer. This skewer is then either served still on the stick or wrapped in pita. The pita is also filled with food such as tomato, onion, or creamy tzatziki sauce. The most popular meats for souvlaki are lamb and pork, but grilled chicken and goat are also meats that can be used. This dish can be served as either an entree or side dish.

Spanakopita is a dish that is usually eaten as a snack or appetizer. This dish is commonly made of spinach, feta cheese, onions, egg, and seasoning all wrapped up in filo dough. This dough is a thin, unleavened dough commonly used in pastries. This dough is also usually wrapped in layers around the fillings to create a crisp, flaky package.

Kolokythokeftedes is a traditional Greek dish. This dish in more simple terms is zucchini fritters. There is grated zucchini combined with feta cheese and herbs. This combination is then breaded and served in patty form or shaped into a ball and fried. This dish is usually served with tzatziki sauce.

Pastitsio is similar to lasagna. This dish is made with tubular pasta instead of pasta sheets. The pasta is typically bucatini. This pasta forms the top and bottom layers of the dish. The filling of this dish is ground meat, tomato, cinnamon, and allspice. The dish is then topped with thick, creamy bechamel sauce and cheese.

Greece is very popular for its salads. Horiatiki salata is a traditional Greek salad. This salad has many variations. The traditional version of this salad includes vegetables like tomato, onion, cucumber, and bell pepper. These ingredients are typically mixed with olives and hot peppers. This salad is then seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, oregano, and sea salt with feta cheese on top. This salad has many variations, with the traditional one typically not including lettuce.

A common Greek snack food is horta vrasta. This dish is composed of leafy greens, such as the sweet leaves of spinach or the bitter greens of dandelions. These greens are boiled and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and lemon.

A common Greek dessert is galaktoboureko. This dish is often related to baklava for those who are not Greek. This dish is made by wrapping custard in thin filo sheets, baking them until they are golden brown, and soaking them in lemon syrup until it is ready to serve.

Thank you for reading my blog! Next week, I will be discussing Spanish cuisine.

(Pastitsio)

(Spanakopita)

Attributions:

“Greek Pastitsio” by Jeff Cushner under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

“Spanakopita” by Kim under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Information:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/12-delicious-greek-dishes-you-have-to-try/

Photo by Matt Artz on Unsplash