Test Your International Cuisine IQ!

By Valerie Watson

Our nation is a fabulous mélange of cultures—and their cuisines! On one block, it's not uncommon to see a Mexican restaurant next to a Japanese teppanyaki house next to a French boulangerie next to an Indian eatery next to a Middle Eastern kebab palace. So now it's time to test how closely you've been paying attention to the various international hash houses you've sampled: match the ethnic foodstuff with the nation where it originated.

1. Chiles Rellenos de Queso – Mexico. Green chili peppers stuffed with cheese and/or meat, coated in thin batter, fried, and served with piquant tomato-based sauce. Made perfectly, they're delectable. Made imperfectly, they're a lot like corn dogs with a vitamin-C-rich, green-vegetable surprise inside.
2. Sauerbraten – Germany. Pot roast of beef marinated in red wine vinegar and spices. Often served with potato pancakes, apple sauce, and red cabbage. Eating this dish can give you the urge to don lederhosen and sing songs with a lot of oom-pah-pahs in them.*
   
   (*Depending on how many beers you consume with your meal.)
3. Coquilles St. Jacques – France. Scallops sautéed with white wine, shallots, and mushrooms, tossed with savory cream sauce, then placed in individual scallop shells, topped with bread crumbs and Gruyere cheese, and broiled. That's a lot of steps for one entrée, but when it's done, c'est magnifique!
4. Caviar Blini – Russia. Blini are thin, yeast-leavened pancakes made from buckwheat flour. Caviar? Well, it's fish eggs, and some folks insist it's a delicacy, so who am I to argue? But if you feel the way I do, you can serve your blini with fillings that are less off-puttingly textured and flavored, including fruit, potatoes, cheese, jam, and chicken.
5. Feijoada – Brazil. Feijoada is a Brazilian stew of black beans with beef and pork meats, traditionally prepared over a slow fire in a clay pot and served with white rice and oranges. The meats in question often include ears, feet, bellies, tail, and tongue, which might go a bit beyond the definition of “recycling” most of us have grown accustomed to.