Taste of the USA

Here in the Inter-Franciscan Missionary program, every Wednesday is “Taste of ___” night. So far we have had Taste of India and Taste of the Philippines. The representatives from that country are responsible for preparing a meal. The evening also includes a small presentation of the country. It was my turn last night.

I really could not come up with food that was singularly from the United States so I opted for Cincinnati Chili. I also served Caprese Salad and Apple pie for dessert. For snacks before the meal I served corn chips and salsa, cheese and crackers and Fruit juice with Tequila. I explained that the US is a melting pot and that our food not only is regional but also reflects many countries of our origin since as Pope Francis said so well – we are nation of immigrants.

Have you ever tried cooking a meal in a foreign country? Let me tell you it is an adventure that tested not only my patience but the patience of many shop keepers in and around Belgium. Shredded cheddar cheese- no problem, spaghetti - no problem, hot dogs – problem. Belgians do eat sausages they call “hot dogs” but they are not really what I was looking for. After standing at the counter for twenty minutes, picking up everything that looked like a hot dog only to reject one after the other because there were too small, or too red, or weirder yet coiled. (My record was thirty minutes at the dairy case looking for heavy cream. Don't ask.) Finally found a package that said there were Frankfurters. Yea! In the cart they went. Oh by the way the stores do not offer any bags with your purchases. One must bring your own. Nice idea but I learned a very hard lesson. Luckily, I had enough pockets and hands to carry the things I bought. And the dogs were great, tasted like a hot dog. Imagine that. They were a hit with all the friars. Served of course with Cincinnati chili.

Guess what? Pie as we know it is not made in Brussels so pie pans are not available, at least not in grocery stores. So I had to settle for a spring pan like you would use for making cheese cake. A little weird, imagine a pie with very tall sides. Brussels and the rest of the world is metric. So recipes have to be translated from cups to grams and there was no scale available. So I used equivalencies. I found a small bowl that looked like one cup and made my own measurements. It worked. So after all the improvising and adapting the meal came off well. The chili too was a hit. I warned everyone that it was spicy and was told many times that Indians (There are seven friars from India in the program) like spicy food so there is no need for a warning. I responded that in the US if you don't warn your guests about spicy food some become irate. Welcome to the US.

By the way Belgium waffles here in Brussels are just waffles, but it seems Brussels sprouts are Brussels sprouts every where. Go figure.

Peace.  ODE