Around the World in the Hetzel Kitchen

Former names : Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Congo/Leopoldville, Congo/Kinshasa, Zaire Location : Central Africa Area : Over 2.3 million sq km; 11th largest in the world          Slightly less than one-fourth the size of the US Noun : Congolese Official language : French Population : Over 71.7 million; 19th largest in the world Capital : Kinshasa Literacy : 54.1% for women (2001 estimate) Drugs : One of Africa's biggest producers of cannabis Source: CIA Factbook These next two countries are going to cause me some problems, I promise.  I won't get into all of it here, but basically it is hard to distinguish between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo from a cultural and cuisine perspective based on the research I was able to do .  Not saying they are the same, or even as similar as I may think.  But the internet was not very helpful when it came to differentiating recipes. There was actually a s...

History : Gained independence from France in 1975.  Since then has had more than 20 coups or attempted coups. Location : Islands in Southern Africa, at the northern mouth of the Mozambique Channel, near Madagascar Area : 2235 sq km; 180th largest in the world         Slightly more than 12 times the size of DC Terrain : Volcanic islands Official languages : Arabic and French Religion : 98% Sunni Muslim Population : Almost 8 million; 162nd largest in the world Capital : Moroni Diplomacy : The US does not have an embassy in Comoros GDP : $800 million; 205th largest in the world Military : Women were first allowed in in 2004 Source: CIA Factbook Back to Africa, where we will stay for a little while.  I didn't know much about Comoros, and didn't know there were so many island nations around there.  This is why I do this.  Learning. Finding a recipe wasn't as difficult as it was for some other African countries, but there also weren...

Excuses.  I could find a ton of them for why I have not written.  I bet I could even make a list.  I will not give into that desire, however.  I will limit myself to two.  One isn't really a good one, but it is true nonetheless.  I think the second one is legit.  I guess you can judge for yourself. Months ago, I very quickly found a recipe that I wanted to do for Colombia.  It had all of the makings that I look for.  New ingredients, delicious-sounding.  AND it was published in the Washington Post from the cook at the Colombian Embassy.  How perfect! Here it is.   Sorry it is annoyingly on multiple pages. I went out and bought all of the ingredients except for two: papa criolla (Colombian potatoes) and dried guascas.  Couldn't find them in the Latin American section.  No worries.  Visit to the Latin American grocery store: no luck.  I even asked and the guy there couldn't help me.  A trip to the g...