Want to try cuisine from around the world, but can’t afford a flight every tuesday? Same. I’ve come up with the perfect solution. This year, (beginning this month) I will try to cook/bake/prepare and plate a new meal from a different country every month. Shout out to my mom, Christina, who is both allowing me to use her kitchen and partnering with me in this endeavor. This November was my first attempt.
To begin, I prepared a wheel with a list of cuisines from around the world that may be slightly easier to attempt and acquire groceries for from Madison, South Dakota, which rules out a lot of seafood. I prepared a second and third wheel, one with more difficult cuisines, and one with American cuisines. We decided to try two meals a month, one from the world lists, and one from the American list. This month, we tried to replicate a classically French meal from Burgundy. And guess what? It was amazing.
For our first course, a charcuterie board with camembert and french boule. The camembert was topped with both a peach jam and a strawberry, which was delicious. For our main course, we prepared Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. This was likely the most difficult part. Julia Child’s recipe requires several odd steps, including basting pearl onions in butter and water. But alas! We did get it done, and it was absolutely amazing. Some effort, to be sure, is required, but everyone agreed it was definitely worth it. On top of the expected ingredients, bourguignon is served with noodles or rice. We decided to go, after much heated debate, with egg noodles. This worked spectacularly, and I strongly recommend it. The recommended wines for the sauce/gravy are (probably?) all great, but we went with a merlot. The Bourguignon is perfect for the cold rainy autumn days we’re experiencing, and incredibly flavorful with only a few ingredients.
Last, perhaps one of our more brave endeavors, a rustic pear clafouti. This beautiful pear tart requires meticulous preparation, such as slicing the pear into less than ⅛ inch thick slices. Then, (and I believe this to be a required step) the pear slices must be arranged in a colorful circle around the outer edge of the tart, without moving the apple sauce beneath. The smaller pear slices then (again, not required, but heavily recommended) are arranged into a rosette to fill the center of the tart. Beautiful, delicious, and an absolute showstopper, this pear tart is sure to amaze those annoying dinner guests who have a relative that's a chef, and never shut up about it. Mom prepared a homemade vanilla whipped cream, and I set to work on the raspberry coulis for plating. A raspberry coulis is very simple, and I recommend it for anyone who wants to try plating their nicer meals. Raspberries. Sugar, lemon juice, (and more sugar) is all this requires. I would recommend taking it easy on the lemon juice, I personally think I went overboard. Crushed, strained, and then refrigerated, this is a colorful addition to your already stunning tart.
Overall, I know I had so much fun learning techniques, plating, and trying new things in the kitchen for fun. Second shout out to my mom, who this would not have been possible without. I can’t wait to try our next meal, centered around Louisiana cuisine. Keep an eye out! The links are below for all the recipes we used, because I would not gatekeep something so amazing. Good luck!