Every now and again, my recipe book shelf explodes. I try and keep only the ones I use but I still seem to acquire a few new ones each year. In addition to that, both the Ankle Biters are cooking regularly now and they have their own little collection springing up. The good thing about this is that forces me to periodically and have sort, cull and reorganise. It also reminds me of old favourites and invariably starts a re-exploration of old treasures.

The current clean has inspired a week of cooking from around the world. It will be good for the Ankle Biters, we can use First Born’s atlas to discover where our meals have come from and learn a little about some other cultures on the way. The Ankle Biters love that sort of thing.The challenge for me will be to find recipes that cover a good portion of the globe, not just Asia and recipes that will fit with our seasonal buying.

There will only be 6 journeys undertaken as we are going out to the local bowls club for dinner on Friday night. I’ll deserve a night off after all these masterpieces.

Japan
Hand moulded sushi
Marinated salmon with avocado
Spinach with peanut sauce
Chicken and egg on rice (Oyako Don)
Rather a strange mix of dishes but my aim was to find something that everyone would enjoy, even if not everyone enjoyed everything.
Recipes sourced from Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko and slightly adapted to void buying too many specialty items, cheapskate that I am.

France
Puree of carrots (Puree de Carottes)
Zucchini puff paste (Feuilletes de Courgettes)
Stuffed pork chops with sour sauce (Cotelettes de Porc Farcies Charcuterie)
Recipes sourced from Complete Techniques, Jacques Pepin

Russia
Chicken salad with soured cream dressing (Salat Olivier)
Recipe sourced from The Cooking Of Russia, Time Life Books

Germany
Lamb chops in onion sauce (Hammel Koteletten mit Zwiebelsosse)
Stewed cucumbers with sour cream and dill (Schmogurkn mit saurem Rahm und Dill)
Recipes sourced from The Cooking of Germany, Time Life Books

Thailand
Corn and crab soup with coriander
Cucumber Salad with peanuts and chilli
Fried Rice with dried shrimp
Prawn omelette
Recipes sourced from Step by Step Thai Cooking, Confident Cooking, Bay Books

Vietnam
Beef and Vietnamese coriander soup (Canh Thit Bo Nau Rau Ram)
Steamed salmon with garlic and ginger (Ca Hap Toi Gung)
Steamed rice
Crunchy Pickled Bean Sprout Salad (Dua Gia)
Recipes sourced from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavours, Andrea Nguyen