Around the World in the Hetzel Kitchen

Location : Western Africa, north of Ghana Size : Almost 275,00 sq km; 74th largest in the world         Slightly larger than Colorado Population : Over 16.75 million; 61st largest in the world Birth rate : Almost 44 births/1000 population; 5th largest in the world Capital : Ouagadougou Infant mortality rate : About 81 deaths/1000 live births; 10th highest in the world Former name : Republic of Upper Volta Borders : Unresolved boundary alignments with Mali, Niger, and Benin Source: CIA Factbook Sorry for the rarity of posts lately.  Summer is going to be a sporadic time with weddings and vacations and such.  Luckily I have still been cooking so far. Often, when searching for recipes, I narrow it to a few and then send them to Kevin for his opinion.  In this case, it was down to  Munyu Caf Couscous  and Riz Au Gras .  I mention this specifically to point out that my husband got to choose between these,...

Background : The introduction in the Factbook doesn't read very well.  Losing side of both World Wars.  Became Communist under the Soviet influence.  Struggles with the Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Turks. Location : Southeastern Europe, between Romania and Turkey on the Black Sea. Size : Over 100,000 sq km; 104th largest in the world         Slightly larger than Tennessee Population : Over 7 million; 99th biggest in the world Birth rate : 204th largest in the world Death rate : 13th largest in the world Capital : Sofia Drinking water and sanitation : 100% of their population has access...This seems to be a new stat for the Factbook. Source: CIA Factbook There were a lot of resources out there for Bulgarian food, which is not such-a-bad problem to have.  I found some nice listing sites, and was able to cross-reference things to make sure they were authentic.  I made Kevin pick some recipes, and then I compared ou...

The idea for this post really came from Kevin.  Because apparently he didn't read Azerbaijan .  But anyway ...this format will probably work a little better anyway.  Reviewing after every letter doesn't work.  B's go (are still going...) on forever, where as H will feel like it barely happened. Twenty-five is a good milestone for a number of reasons, but perhaps most importantly because it should be  about 6 months.  Eek!  Half a year and it feels like I have barely gotten anywhere.  Such is the life of a...well, I'm not really sure what I am, to be honest. There is no recipe to follow for this, so I'll try some things out and see what happens.  Ready?  Break! Stats -I have cooked from every continent except Antarctica (and that one is never going to happen).  Please note that some countries are tagged as both Europe and Asia as they identify with both.  I only counted them once below.    ...

Background : The same family has ruled Brunei for over six centuries Location : Southeastern Asia Area : Under 6,000 sq km; 172nd largest in the world          Slightly smaller than Delaware Borders : Malaysia Population : Just over 400,000; 174th largest in the world Capital : Bandar Seri Begawan Per Capita GDP : Over $50,000; 9th largest in the world Unemployment : 3.7%; 32nd smallest in the world Drugs : Some drug crimes are serious offenses and carry a mandatory death penalty Source:  CIA World Factbook Ambuyat is the national dish of Brunei.  The main ingredient is sago rumbia, which is something that returns foreign language sites on Google.  Not very easy to find.  Strike one.  Additionally, eating glue  is not my idea of a good time.  Strike two.  And I didn't want to make it.  Strike three.  More searching! I didn't have to look much farther than this site , and one thin...