International Travel Via Food: See the World Now!

Traveling has given me access to some amazing food. There is nothing like a simple street taco when you are in Mazatlan, Mexico, or the also simple - yet bursting with flavor - Croque Monsieur sandwich when you are huddled in a hole-in-the-wall bistro deep in the streets of Paris! In New York City, my husband and I sample every type of ethnic restaurant we can get our hands on while there. There was a fantastic South African restaurant and wine bar we dined at in the Hell’s Kitchen area on our last visit called “Braai” (www.braainyc.com).  We enjoyed such a unique and memorable meal together that night!

I adore authentic ethnic cuisine of all kinds; Mexican, Japanese, Italian, you name it. Several of these ethnic restaurants can be found in our local area. Most of them are really top notch. But Brazilian food? Not readily available to those of us in many mid-sized cities in the Midwest. This is part of the reason we seek them out for our Dinner Club; the desire to sample the flavors of the world right here at home.

Our group has been together for five years now. We’ve traveled an entire planet of cuisine together; and yet, there’s so much more territory to cover! We’ve nibbled tapas in Spain, sipped mojitos in Cuba; we’ve savored blini from Russia, falafel from Africa and the best crepes this side of Paris! Where else can you span the globe from Tuscany, to Taiwan, to Texas while spending so little cash and having all of your best friends right there with you to experience it?

This blog was designed to be a place for me to write. It’s a place to post photos and memorable recipes for our group of friends to re-visit. It’s also becoming (a bit) more widely known. At last check, after only a few months up and running, “Let’s Do Dinner Club” has had a few thousand page hits. In the “web world” this doesn’t count as much; however, in my heart it counts quite a bit! I’d write the blog audience or not. It’s a passion of mine; writing and food, food and writing. Separately… together, any which way I can have them. I love to cook. I love to read. I love to write. So thank you for reading!

Back to my point now: this blog was begun for the aforementioned reasons and for the sake of those in our Dinner Club group, but for anyone else out there who may become inspired to set their table with a bit more thought, to purchase a cook book or print a recipe to experiment with a cuisine they’ve never before prepared…. This is for you. Take the reins now and travel the world through food. (If you can afford to REALLY go to Tuscany, Taiwan and Texas all in one year, then more power to you, and can you invite me along?)

Taste the flavors of the world. Have experiences with friends that will be the memories of a lifetime. Next stop for our travels is Brazil this Saturday night! You can count on me to let you know how the trip was, of course!

Incidentally, a friend of my husbands, who is from Brazil himself, pointed out yet another authentic Brazilian side item that he says they commonly enjoy with their steak. It's called "farofa". Although our menu is set for tomorrow already, I found quite a bit of information online about this dish. This summer I'd like to try preparing farofa myself along with the homemade linguica I've promised to try and some grilled steaks. I've attached just one video link below for you to follow for more information on this traditional dish of Brazil!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5_WUElWx0

Enjoy and see you next week!