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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Fall Carnival - Food Edition

Last Friday we attended the Fall Carnival at our kids' school. There were games and candy and all the things that make a fall carnival fun. One thing that makes our carnival unique is the International Cafe. Since the kids go to an international school they have kids from all over the world in their classes. On carnival night everyone brings a dish native to their country to sell in the cafe. This is my absolute favorite part of the carnival! Getting to eat food from all over the world prepared by actual people from those countries. I did my duty in partaking of the food, AND because I knew you would need a full report I took pictures to go along with my findings. So without further ado I present to you the Fall Carnival 2008 food review.


Nigerian - These were pretty good. They had the consistency of the breading on the outside of sweet and sour chicken from a chinese food place. They had a slight chicken flavor, but no visible pieces of chicken.


No explanation necessary!


Meat pies - kinda tasted like a sloppy joe. I have no idea what country this is from!


Nigeria - These tasted like a stale beignet or sopapilla. Ok but probably much better hot and fresh.


The Sudan - Falafal - Kinda like a hush puppy, but different. I ate two of these and could have eaten more. Yummy!


Brazilian Empadhinas - These were filled with chicken and mushrooms. They tasted ok, but since they had been sitting out they weren't hot. I'm sure if they were served hot they would have been better.


Sweet, greasyish cakes sprinkled with coconut. Not sure where this is from.


Romanian something or other. I didn't try this one. I'm not sure how I missed it!


Korean rolls. Some people call these sushi, some call them California rolls. I don't care what they are called...they were delicious!


Yep...some good ol' American food!


Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria - Katayif - These were sweet...like sugar and nuts in a pancake.


South African Cheese Scones - tasted just like a dry biscuit.


Some sort of rice balls. I never did try these!


Malaysian Screwpine Sesame Cake - Slightly sweet, thick texture.


Romania - I only tried the things on the right side of the plate. They were like crescent roll dough with carrots and something else mixed together on top. Good. The stuff on the left is a squash fritter which I've had before and then the deviled eggs. Not sure if the Romanian ones taste any different or not.


Japanese - The brown things are egg filled with sweet rice. Pretty good stuff!


Jordan & Palestine - Monakeesh - I never did try this! I know...I'm falling down on my job!


Turkey - Mercimek Kofte - exactly what the sign says. Red lentils and spices shaped into a ball. I love these!

Now I must admit that after I tried almost all of the above items I was about to burst. I finally had to walk away from the cafe, because people just kept bringing more and more food. It was easier to just walk away than admit defeat in my goal of trying at least a bite of everything! And it is quite possible that I am wrong about the origins of a couple of the food items that weren't clearly labeled. I asked the people serving the food and have reported what I was told. I didn't fact check my story with actual people from the country in question.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The two American items are desserts - what does that say about us?

Andrea said...

Some of those look delish! It seems there were carbs, carbs, and more carbs....thanks for sampling and sharing!

I have a great California Sushi Roll recipe from my SIL, Kazumi. It takes some time to make them...but yum!

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the multiple comments on the last entry. Not sure what happened and I don't know how to delete them.

Looks like you had a nice time with your international tasting. Everything looks so good!

Sra said...

You're killing me with all these food items. WANT!

Anonymous said...

Wow. I am a complete chicken when it comes to trying new foods. No pun intended. Really, I am. I won't try it unless it looks/smells good to me. Amazing!!

Anonymous said...

Some of that food looked fabulous!



peace
#2

Natalie said...

citizen of the world - i know. there was also a plate of pb&j sandwiches and some m&m cookies. made me laugh!

andrea - i agree. lots of yummy carbs! i learned how to make california rolls/kimbap from a korean friend. hers are still way better than mine!

mamadallama/anon - i fixed it for you! it was all pretty good!

sra - i know. i have become known for making people hungry when they read this blog!

supersmartkooger - you'll never know if you like it if you don't try it. i am so going to make you some turkish food when we get back to the states. would you eat it?

#2 - it was awesome!

Lost In Splendor said...

Interesting. I always love seeing the foods that other cultures enjoy. I wish our fall festivals were more like that here.

Gina said...

I believe I gained weight just looking at the pictures.

Billy

LiteralDan said...

I'm somehow not surprised that the American dishes are totally outclassed by every other country.

Our ethnic diversity and its resulting surplus of interesting food options has never really encouraged us to branch out and invent much of anything besides junk food.

But you know what? We're the best in the world at that!

LiteralDan said...

P.S. I am now incredibly hungry. Thanks, and no thanks.

Lynn - the piggy bank painter said...

great pics!

<('(..)')>

Anonymous said...

Umm- I might. My dad probably will. He can eat anything. That's how he can travel over the world. My brother definently won't but it's so-so for me. :)

The Over-Thinker said...

Oh man. That looks good. ALL of it.

I had to laugh at the "Rice Balls." Because I'm apparently five.

Natalie said...

sparkliesunshine - the only kind of fall festival i've been to in america that had any kind of culture to it was octoberfest near houston. it was quite interesting i must say! good food too!

billy - i know. i did too!

literaldan - we are the best at junk food. we beat turkey hands down in the sweets department for sure. of course that is just my opinion!

you're welcome!

lynn - thanks! yummy!

supersmartkooger - i'll have to see what i can come up with!

over-thinker - if i had known you would like the rice balls so much i would have eaten some for you!