Flavours of the World

A while back I talked about the bucket list that my housemates and I created at the beginning of the year. When we make a cultural dish we cross off the country it originated from on this huge list that we have aimed to get through by the end of the year. We're moving through the list at about a snail's pace because in order to cross off a country the dish has to be kind of a big deal, it can't just be any random dinner but more of a group effort. How's our progress you ask? Well let's just say that we're 3/4 of the way through the year with a whole lot of countries to go, but the international potluck we had recently definitely helped!

We all know a few international and exchange friends through volunteering as language buddies and such, so we invited a bunch of these friends over for a potluck dinner. Everyone brought a dish from their home nation except for the girls of our house. I feel slightly guilty for not representing Canada but Canadian food is just so boring and restricting. We didn't want to make poutine or beaver tails so I decided to be Swedish for the day instead. The other girls picked Italian, Indian and Argentinian recipes and we ended up with some really great food! Our guests were from China, Norway and France and they all brought something delicious, so naturally, I overate. I really wish I was blessed with the ability to stop eating when I'm full...

On the potluckin' menu:

Hasselback potatoes
Empanadas - in a savoury corn and sweet potato variety
Vegetarian lasagna
Pork dumplings
Fried rice with shrimp
A spicy, curry dish
Norwegian meatballs with cranberry sauce
Pasta with pesto
A spinach and cheese tart
Crepes for dessert!

It was pretty exciting crossing off Sweden, China, Italy and France all in one night (we have already crossed off Argentina and India). I'm not going to post a formal recipe for the Hasselback potatoes because it's pretty straightforward and easy:Preheat the oven to 425F. You take as many potatoes as you desire, and wash and dry them. Next create very fine slices (about 3-4 mm intervals) through the potato from end to end, but making sure not to cut all the way through (leave about a cm or 2 from the bottom side). Next carefully open up the slivers and drizzle olive oil over them and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. It's also nice if you create a garlic butter to rub over the potatoes. Bake them in the oven for about 40-50 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. They will start to crisp and curl when they're done :)