Mashed sweet potatoes with roasted garlic (Virgin Islands)

Virgin Islands are a part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. They were originally named by Columbus, after a Catholic legend. The eastern islands form the British Virgin Islands and the western ones form the United States Virgin Islands (which used to belong to Denmark). [...]

Khagina, or spicy scrambled “eggs” with tomatoes and onion (Pakistan)

With almost 180 million inhabitans Pakistan is one of the most populous countries of the world. Considering that fairly little is known about it in the west, save for its nuclear weapons and it being a neighbour of India. Disputes over some areas have led to wars between India and Pakistan. There have been several [...]

Podvarak, or braised sauerkraut and seitan (Serbia)

Serbia is a landlocked country located in Central/Southeast Europe, formerly a part of the state of Yugoslavia. Over 30% of the country is covered by forest and it also has significant mountainous area. The river Danube also runs through Serbia. Spas, festivals, river cruises and mountain resorts are the main tourist attractions. The country has [...]

Bánh xèo, or mung bean crêpes stuffed with tofu, vegetables and herbs (Vietnam)

Vietnam is a quite long but mostly very narrow country located in the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. A former colony of France, the country suffered a a war from the 1950s/1960s until 1975, which killed millions of people, also many in the neighbouring countries. (For some reasons, many Americans think the U.S. “won” the [...]

Curried sweet potato and pea soup (Uganda)

Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa, unfortunately mostly known for negative things like the past dictator Idi Amin, recent not-so-fair elections, and the current ban on homosexuality, with even plans to introduce death penalty for it. Even now gays are shunned in the media and often killed. Despite these atrocities, Uganda has been [...]

Beet salad with walnuts (Moldova)

Moldova is a small country in Eastern Europe, a former Soviet state. It is located near the Black Sea, but landlocked. Most of the people are of Moldovan ethnicity, Orthodox and speak Moldovan, though there is dispute whether they are a separate group from Romanians or not. Moldova is not known for much, except for [...]

Curried peanut “chicken” (Curaçao)

Curaçao is an island country in the Caribbean. It was a part of the Netherlands Antilles until October 2010, when they were dissolved. However, it remains a constituent country of the Netherlands. Originally inhabited by Arawak Indians, the culture of the country has been influenced by both Dutch and Spanish ones. There is also a [...]

Daraba, or peanut buttery vegetable stew (Chad)

Chad is a large landlocked country in Central Africa. It is one of the poorest and most corrupted countries of the world and most Westerners probably know nothing about it. As is common in Africa, it is home to over 200 ethnic groups and like many African countries, it unfortunately has a history of civil [...]

Oi kimchi, or spicy pickled cucumber (Korea)

Korea is located in the Korean peninsula in East Asia, near Japan. The area has a rich culture and history dating back thousands of years. Traditionally Confucianism was the main religion and taekwondo the most popular sport. After the second world war the country was divided into two politically and socially very different states, South [...]

Lechona Tolimense, or stuffed “pork” skin (Colombia)

Yes, today’s recipe is vegan “pork” skin filled with “pork”. More about that below. Colombia is a large country in the northwestern South America. Considering that it houses almost 50 million inhabitants I’d say it is very poorly known here in Europe, compared to other Latin American countries. Ethnically it is very diverse and ecologically [...]