Around the World in the Hetzel Kitchen

Photo of the Aurora in Iceland courtesy of Flickr user Moyan Brenn via Creative Commons Iceland is an island in Northern Europe, northwest of the UK. It has been fully independent since 1944, and also had three hundred years of independence starting in the 900's. It is about the same size as Kentucky and has a population of over 300,000. It has very high literacy, longevity, and social cohesion. Read more at the CIA World Factbook . I knew that Iceland was going to be difficult. An island nation does not mesh well with a fish allergy. When I saw that fermented shark, Hakarl , was the national dish it was off to a bad start. They traditionally made use of all parts of an animal, so I found a number of references to Svio , or boiled lambs head. I had to go in a different direction. After some searching, I found an Icelandic Asparagus Ham Bake . It seemed kinda like making a frittata which was familiar enough but definitely had some new stuff going on too. It claims to be...

Yes, it has been a really long time.  I'm not going to go into why - that is for next post.  I can tell you that I am back to cooking.  Two more countries checked off and I've already got a few recipe ideas for the countries after that.  No, I have not given up. Please assume I had witty and hilarious things planned for this post.  I just forgot them all. So, China.  I already made duck and vegetable stir fry, pot stickers and kung pao chicken.  I really wanted to make quail for the third day.  Kevin however, had other ideas.  And I obliged him.  Partially because he is cute and partially because it seemed like a good idea. For him I would make Char Siu, or Cantonese Roast Pork.  The best part of that is Char Siu was one of the ingredients in Yangchow Fried Rice.  He could get a lot of his favorite things all in one meal.  It also seemed like a good way to round out our Chinese experience. "Lean pork butt" was the ...

Location : North of the US Area : Almost 10 million sq km; 2nd largest in the world          Slightly larger than the US Borders : Canada is the world's largest country that borders only one country Population : Over 34 million; 37th largest in the world                   About 90% of the population is within 160 km of the US border Net Migration Rate : 5.65/1000 population; 15th highest in the world Capital : Ottawa Life Expectance at Birth : 81.38 years; 12th highest in the world Trade : Have a substantial trade surplus with the US, who takes about 3/4 of Canadian exports each year Source: CIA Factbook There are a number of things that I like about Canada and that make this post exciting.  One: I have been there!  Numerous times, in fact.  I can think of at least four.  Two trips with the family, once to see some plays in Stratfor...