Ireland - Our Fourteenth Meal

For our fourteenth date night, we "traveled" to Éire. Ireland was an interesting one to plan, since I've never been to the country, but like most Americans, have eaten various Irish (or Ir-ish) foods for St. Patrick's Day. I wanted to mostly stay away from things we've had before -- so no Jameson or Guinness at this meal! 

Historically, Ireland has apparently not been known for its cuisine (though I understand it has an excellent "larder" and a well-regarded modern food scene) -- but as Mark said, "I like this kind of food." Simple but good fare.

For the main course, I made us Irish Stew. I don't eat lamb normally, because I feel sad for the little creatures, but I tried it for this dish. The flavor was pleasant but unusual (to me), deeper and stronger than beef or pork. Apparently the inclusion of carrots in this dish is controversial... some purists would have them omitted.  

The colcannon was nice -- mashed potatoes with cabbage, onion, and bacon folded in. Mark really loved it.

I've had soda bread before, but had not made it myself. It was very good-- though I should have left it in a few more minutes. I think the big X on top is rather attractive. It was interesting baking with baking powder instead of yeast or levain, for a change.

 

For dessert, we had Irish scones with black currant jam. Yum! I forgot to put the egg in - doh! - but they turned out quite tasty anyway.

I used Kerrygold butter in damn near everything, so that surely helped. :) Ireland is apparently known for its dairy farms.

After dinner we watched Waking Ned Devine (1998), which was innocent and charming. They gave the traditional Irish toast, sláinte, pronounced "slahn-chuh." See this page for some more Irish toast ideas. :)

When? November 21, 2020

Who cooked? Lauren

What's for dinner? (Recipe links) Irish Lamb Stew, colcannon, soda bread with Kerrygold butter, Irish scones with blackcurrant jam

Ireland Stats

• Population: 4,882,495 -- so small! WA State has 7.2 million people. Impressive that Ireland has been so influential despite being so small... or perhaps as an American I have an outsized impression of Irish world influence, due to the large influence of Irish immigrants in America?
• GDP: 344.8
• Life Expectancy: 82.1 -- high, 16th in the world!
• Founding Date/Age in 2020: 1542 (formation of the Kingdom of Ireland) / 478
• Official Language: English & Irish
• Most Eurovision wins (the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual international song competition, organised by the European Broadcasting Union and featuring participants representing primarily European countries)
• Most globalized country according to Globalization Index (a measure of the openness of a country to international trade)
• Highest gross national savings

Argentina - Our Thirteenth Meal

For our thirteenth meal, Mark took us down to South America, for an Argentinean feast!

For this meal, we had delicious steak with chimichurri sauce, a salad of hearts of palm, avocado, and tomato, and beef and egg empanadas. Everything was delicious!! This was also our first date night dinner on the beautiful oak table Mark built us. :)

I'm a big steak fan, and we eat it very seldom, so it was happy news for me, to learn that grilled meats from the asado (barbecue) are the iconic Argentinean dish.

The empanadas were awesome. Mark even made the dough himself-- they turned out so beautifully! The egg inside was interesting, but good.

Chimichurri is soo good. 🤤 And he made a balsamic version, too.

I really enjoyed the enselada de palmitos de primavera (heart of palm salad)! I don't think I'd ever had heart of palm before... I didn't even know what it was (apparently, the inner core and growing bud of various palm trees). I liked it! It had a nice mild flavor, like a less crunchy water chestnut. And of course, I love EVERYTHING with lime. 

We also tried yerba mate in a traditional calabash gourd with a bombilla (metal strainer straw). I was surprised to find I did NOT like this, I found it quite bitter. In college I drank yerba mate... but chilled and sweetened, in a can. The authentic version was less palatable to me... I'm a pleb, what can I say. :) I'm sure it would grow on me.

Apparently, by far, the most popular cocktail in Argentina is fernet con coca, also known as fernando, fernandito, or various other nicknames. Conceived of by college students in the 80s, it went on to enjoy explosive popularity. I did not expect to like this - plain fernet is too earthy/herbally for me - but I actually really did! It was very refreshing. The national love affair with this drink makes sense to me, after tasting the yerba mate -- there is a similar flavor profile.

For dessert, we had vanilla bean ice cream with dulce de leche. Mark made this by taking an unopened can of condensed milk, and boiling it for 2.5 hours (although apparently you can go even longer for a darker color and more intensive flavor). This was quite nice! Although I forgot to take a picture (doh!).

After dinner, we watched a terrific dark comedy anthology film, Relatos salvajes (Wild Tales; 2014), about violence and revenge. I'm not sure I learned much about the culture of Argentina from this film, except that bribes and government corruption may be common social concerns. And I suppose that they appear to enjoy a high standard of living and dress fashionably. (I like playing sociologist with these films, but of course, recognize the limitations in making any aasumptions.) 

I was delighted to see one of the characters drinking yerba mate in the traditional fashion, as we had just done. 

A very pleasant evening.

When? November 7, 2020

Who cooked? Mark

What's for dinner? (Recipe links) steak with chimichurri, empanadas mendocinas, hearts of palm, fernet and coke, ice cream with dulce de leche (can method)

Argentina Stats

• Population: 44,361,150 (31st in the world)
• GDP: 911.5 (27th in the world)
• Life Expectancy: 76.5 (60th in the world, just after China, at 76.7)
• Founding Date/Age in 2020: 810 / 210
• Official Language: Spanish (de facto)
• Highest central bank interest rate (26.25%)
• Largest exporter of pears, vegetable oil, and "football" (soccer) players
• Highest consumption of beef per capita (65.2 kilograms aka 143.7 pounds [!!] per year) -- well, we did our part! 
• Southernmost city in the world (Ushuai)