Eating Around the World... Cup Day 1

I know I've been gone from the blog writing for a while so first a quick little intro on that. Basically, I've been trying to figure out a way to re-brand and figure out what direction I want to go in. Do I write about wine or food or adventures? Is there a way to combine them and make it worthwhile? What about my other interests? It's hard to find a balance between what's interesting for me to write but also interesting for anyone that might find their way here. I'm still trying to answer a lot of questions on what direction I want to take but I know that I can't just focus on food or wine or my lifestyle. I need to hit on all of them somewhat. So the big picture of this blog is still under construction but a had an idea for some posts in the meantime....

A World Cup Eating Challenge!!!

I love food. Like a lot. I also love the World Cup. While I'm a true blue Brazil and USA fan (get it - because they both have blue as a color...), I thought it would be fun to celebrate the rest of the World as well.

So here are the rules:
- Eat something from any of the countries playing on any given day. E.g. today's options are Mexico, Spain, Australia, etc.
- There should be an effort to actually cook something. I have to make some exceptions here because I'd love to have sushi for Japan but I'm not sure I trust consuming raw fish from the super market.
- Bonus points for not repeating. This isn't a strict rule because I plan on showing some preference to Brazilian and American dishes.
- Have fun eating a variety of global dishes and trying to experiment a little bit in the kitchen!

Last night, to celebrate Brazil's victory in the first match, I decided to make two of my favorite Brazilian dishes: Pão de Queijo and Brigadeiros!

Pão de queijo (cheese bread) has always been one of my favorite Brazilian treats. I never knew what amazing mix of ingredients made it possible. What kind of cheese was in it? What kind of flour was used (I knew it wasn't regular flour)? I'd only ever made it from packages so when a friend sent me a recipe for these guys, I was excited to get answers to my questions.

Pão de queijo is gluten free and uses tapioca flour. This is what gives the middle that ooey gooey delicious center. This recipe uses Parmesan and cheddar cheese (which I put in a little extra of) and adding just the right amount of salt really makes the flavor pop. I also used almond milk instead of regular which doesn't seem to make any difference.

The only real difference between making them from scratch and the package seems to be the consistency before they are cooked. When they are from mix, I could roll them into balls. However, the scratch recipe requires ingredients to be blended together and the result is a very liquidy consistency. Therefore you need to use a mini muffin tin to get some shape to them. This didn't bug me though because the final product is delicious!

I had the opposite happen when I made brigadeiros (little dulce de leite based chocolate balls). Normally I made these from scratch using sweetened condensed milk and chocolate powder which are brought to a boil on the stove. However, I found a pre-made container at a corner store in the mission and decided to give that a shot.

There was no indication if it was pre-cooked or not but by the consistency, it seemed to be so I just rolled them into the little balls and coated them in sprinkles. After eating a couple, I'm still not sure if they needed to be cooked or not. The consistency seems off from either. They're still delicious but I prefer the old fashioned method better.


I think Day 1 of my food challenge was a success and I'm excited to continue celebrating soccer through food!