Episode VI: Djibouti

The menu

Tonight, we took a "slight" detour up the Eastern coast of Africa to little place we like to call... Djibouti.  The original design was to head from Mauritius to Tanzania, but our quest to find a Tanzanian restaurant went awry.  It did, however, lead us to a fantastic place in South Minneapolis called the Goda Cafe. 

Sambusa and Soup

The Goda Cafe specializes in Djiboutian, Somlian, and... American cuisine.  Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by a friendly man named Musa who said we could pick any table we wanted.  Seconds after we were seated, Musa brought over two bowls of soup, and two bottles of water.  Before he could take our order, we told him that we were on a mission to find some Djiboutian food and wanted his recommendation on what would make our experience most complete.  His eyes became watery and a huge smile broke out on his face.  He told us that was the best thing we could have asked him, and gave us a slew of options for what amounted to a delicious three course meal, complete with bottled Cokes and Chai tea.

Sizzling main course

For an appetizer, he brought out Sambusa, which was a meat and vegetable filled pastry accompanied by a white cucumber cream sauce.  C went so far as to say that the Sambusa was possibly her favorite dish she has had on this expedition thus far.  Next came the main courses.  Christina got chicken on rice, with veggies, a spicy pepper sauce, and... a banana.  Musa highly recommended slicing up the banana and eating it with the rice which was SHOCKINGLY delicious.  He suggested Zack get the beef tips, which came out sizzling in a skillet, surrounded by a plethora of peppers.  According to Musa, in Djibouti this meal would be cooked around an open flame in the middle of a table.  The food would be thrown into a big skillet and each person at the table would take what they wanted.  We did not get to experience this, but the beef tips were still mouth watering... and now we have more motivation to go to Djibouti. 

Trying out bananas and rice

We thought we were done and were in a full recline in our chairs when Musa announced that our meal was far from complete.  He disappeared for a few minutes, then came back with a sampling of small Djiboutian cakes, most of which contained roasted dates.  He also brought out two mugs of Chai tea, at which point the feast concluded.

Cakes and Chai

Musa's enthusiasm for not only the meal, but also for TCGC made tonight's experience complete.  He told us that he's been taking his thirteen year old son to restaurants from different countries in the Twin Cities, and highly recommended that we add a meal at a Tibetan restaurant on to our itinerary.  We would like to highly recommend Goda Cafe to anyone looking to explore Saharan cuisine while staying within the confines of the Twin Cities metro area.

Zack, Musa, and Christin

Djiboutian food brought happiness to our diverse St. Paul/Minneapolis. 

Episode V: Mauritius

Bean slicing up the pineapple

Today we took a new step on our trans-continental culinary trip: cooking.  Mauritius, while one of the greatest places on earth, does not have much to offer in terms of restaurants in the Twin Cities, so we decided to make a Mauritian meal ourselves.  A quick google search of Mauritian recipes made it clear that chicken curry would give us the best sample of what we'd be eating if we were actually 300 miles off the coast of Madagascar.

Z working on not messing up the curry

We began with a trip to Whole Foods to lock down some previously unknown spices, such as chopped coriander stem and cumin seeds.  We were unable to find curry leaves, which the recipe demanded we include ten of, but we decided to roll the dice and power through without them.  We also stumbled upon a recipe for a Mauritian cocktail featuring rum, coconut cream, and pineapple juice. 

After the grocery expedition, Christina began work on the beverage by clearing out the inside of a pineapple so we could place our cocktail contents inside, while Zack chopped the onions, chicken, garlic and ginger root. 

Mauritian cocktail!

The first attempt at the drink, while valiant, did not produce the results we were looking for, mostly because the organic pineapple juice we purchased tasted like a jar of salsa left out in the sun.  The pineapple-coconut combo was scratched and the decision was made that Mauritians would be just as happy drinking rum and coke out of a pineapple, which we were too.

Enjoying the curry

Christina proceeded to slice and dice the potatoes while Zack started the curry cooking process.  The recipe called for everything to cook for at least 45 minutes.  After 25 minutes, C-Z checked in on the curry and determined it to be outrageously spicy.  Several attempts were made to balance out the kick, including the addition of pineapple, coconut milk, sesame seed oil, and salt.  Lots of salt. 

Despite a hearty helping of rice and some Mauritian-ish spinach, the spice proved to be a bit too over-powering for C to fully enjoy the meal.  Z, on the other hand, downed his curry in about six minutes and was scavenging on C's left-overs before she'd set her plate down. 

CAT in a BAG, eh?

As with many aspects of life, the process of making this meal proved to be much more enjoyable than the meal itself. 

Obvious next step: go to Mauritius and see what their food and pineapple beverages are truly about.

Thoughts of Mauritius bring happiness to our chilly St. Paul/Minneapolis.

What in Blazes is This All About?

Word

This blog is about two people, Christina and Zack, who share a common interest in food from around the world.  The decision was made not long ago that we would embark on a global culinary journey right here in our very own Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area.

The goal: to eat meals from at least 33 different countries over a period of roughly 33 weeks (note: pending actual global adventures these weeks may not be consecutive.)

The plan: place stickers on a map for all 33 countries whose food we want to consume, and then create a path, beginning in India, that goes all over the world until we conclude our journey in China.  Every time we eat at a restaurant, we will add a shinier, slightly cooler sticker to the country which we have conquered. 

The stats: we're keeping stats.  Lots of stats.  As we embark on this expedition, we will be tallying every single type of meat that we encounter (and subsequently destroy), in addition to keeping rough estimates on the amount of rice we consume, and thanks to Christina's very thoughtful addition of a pack of Beer Rating Sheets, going into great detail about every trans-continental adult beverage we drink.

The Map

The Countries:   In order, India, Afghanistan, Palestine, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Tanzania, Nigeria, Morocco, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Samoa, Seattle (USA), Canada, Minnesota (USA), New Orleans (USA), Boston (USA), Ireland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Phillipines, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, and China.  Yes, we are aware that several of these places are not technically countries, but if the food/drink is unique, that's good enough for us.

The other stuff: we were pretty impulsive with many of our country choices, which left some obvious choices off (Vietnam, oops) and put some ambitious options at the forefront (Mauritius, it's on.)  In the event we cannot find a restaurant for one of our countries of choice, we will be doing research and cooking our own variation of that country's finest cuisine ourselves.  Questions, comments, and above all else, restaurant suggestions are greatly encouraged!

"Bringing global culinary happiness to our own St. Paul/Minneapolis."

Episode IV: Ethiopian

Day 4: Today we began the African portion of our culinary adventure by dining at Fasika, an Ethiopian restaurant near University and Snelling.  Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by three signs proclaiming this eatery to be one of the Twin Cities finest Ethiopian restaurants.  Needless to say, expectations were high.  The menus did not disappoint, as each dish included a description of the meal, in English and in Amharic.  Not everything was translated though, as the first meal Christina ordered turned out to be raw beef... which the waitress said she could only try during a future visit, once she'd experience something else.  The waitress highly recommended she get the beef tips instead, which she did.  Zack continued his recent lamb theme by ordering the lamb tips.

CP3 and the Ethiopian brews.

C and Z were pretty amped about ordering two of Ethiopia's finest imported beers.  Zack ordered "Harar" which he described as being pretty hoppy, but overall worth getting again.  The consensus was that Christina's choice of "Meta" was superior, describing it as "just lovely."

C looking fairly skeptical of the beef tips.

The food was brought out on giant plates, with both dishes being served over flatbread.  The lamb tips came out with the flatbread and salad, while Christina's beef tips came out on a fajita like skillet, which did nothing but raise expectations further.  Unfortunately, the beef turned out to be a bit overcooked and "vealish."  The lamb tips were well spiced and pretty darn tasty.  Both meals were much spicier than anticipated, with onions, tomatoes, and a small type of pepper that C and Z could not determine to be Okra or Jalapeno.  Either way, they were pretty spicy.

Z's lamb tips.

Overall the Ethiopian experience was very enjoyable.  Though the beef tips did not live up to expectation, the consensus is that Fasika is a place that should be eaten at again... possibly 29 restaurants from now.

Ethiopian food brought happiness to our own St. Paul/Minneapolis.