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Lene ekstravirgin

@lene_allverdensmat

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I am Lene. I live om the countryside in Norway with my family. Starting January 2022 I will be cooking my way around the world. 2. acc @ekstravirgin

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I disappeared for a while, life got busy and cooking became just another thing that had to be done. Now after a three month hiatus I started missing the project and I jumped back in where I left off. One thing will change and that is the amount of meals made - from two week intervals in 2022 I will be giving myself more leeway and produce maybe once a month.
Our first #foodaroundtheworld meal was from Germany. We went for a rather easy but definitely tasty comfort food: chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes and mustard, and a warm Apple strudel with ice cream for dessert. A big hit - the schnitzel will definitely be made again! #allverdensmat #cookingchallenge @jocooks @platedcravings by @lene_allverdensmat

Kosovo 🇽🇰. Life got busy and one thing I have had to cut back on is time spent on this project. Not because I am quitting, but because I will keep going next year, so the countries I did npt finish from my '22 list will be done next year. I did cook a lovely meal from Kosovo though; for main course we thoroughly enjoyed Cevapi with Solum bread (I failed miserably on the dough which turned out more like a batter, but however battered they look they tasted lovely) and ajvar (which have since been eaten with fish and meat with great success). For dessert we had Tulumbe. All in all a lovely meal, we'll definitely cook cevapi again. #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #foodfromkosovo @thebalkansandbeyond @chasing_the_donkey @thespruceeats @philosokitchen by @lene_allverdensmat

Lebanon - I totally forgot to post from our Middle-Eastern meal, even though it has been weeks since we enjoyed the food. I went for something thst is praise and enjoyed many placed around the world, and we were not disapointed: chicken shawarma served with garlic sauce, hummus (a long time favourite of mine), and salad. I should probably made my own bread, but went with store bought liba bread which was lovely too.
For dessert I tried to make sesame snacks, but by the time I could make balls from the syrup it was probably overcooked and the treats could break teeth when bitten into... guess I should put a candy thermometer on my christmas wishlist. #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #lebanesefood @amiras_pantry @cookinwithmima @tasteofbeirut by @lene_allverdensmat

Nordic neighbour Finland was behind today's menu. Even though you'd think the countries are similar (as we are geographically), the people, the languages and the cultures are rather different from each other. One thing that we might have in common is a tradition for eating meat, fish and root vegetables. We went with a karelian stew, Karjalanpaisti, with mashed potatoes for our main course. It is perfect for a cold and wet autumn Sunday - just whack it in the oven and go for a walk. This is a very basic dish, not exactly exiting for the taste buds, but a great warming and hearty dish. For dessert we tried a blueberry cake, a mustikka piirakka. It is my first time making a blueberry cake/pie with a yeast dough but it worked really well (and hubby who isn't very fond of pies was very happy). The blueberries were picked right outside our house this summer and were just waiting for the perfect dish, and this was it. Served up with some ice cream and a hot cup of coffee it was a perfect end to the meal. #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #foodfromfinland @astapavift @svt by @lene_allverdensmat

Autumn is here, so a culinary trip to Lesotho felt just right. We decided to try a well known dish, chakalaka, with pap (or pap-pap), and for dessert we enjoyed makoenva (fried cinnamon rolls). The teen-section of the family were not sold on anything but the dessert. The adults found the chakalaka to be quite enjoyable but the pap was a bit bland. Everybody loved the makoenva, but what's not to love about deep fried dough rolled in cinnamon and sugar? #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #lesothianfood @internationalcuisine @kitchenfrau by @lene_allverdensmat

We stayed in the Baltics for another meal. This time we went to Latvia, and I must admit that I almost chickened out when my first search gave me cold beetroot soup and potato pancakes (see previous post), but I persevered and I am glad I did. I did decide to stay safe and go fore some familiar ingredients this time, but the preparations was not as we normally do it here so it made for an interesting meal. We had karbonade (eggwashed pork cutlets) served with a lovely creamy mushroom sauce. I added some of my foraged chanterells and I loved it. The kids aren't too fond of mushrooms but still enjoyed the meat, cream and potatoes.
For desserts we had Debesmanna, which is traditionally made with fresh cranberries. I could not find that, but luckily I found a recipe where strawberries was used and I went with that instead. Farina or cream of wheat is also not to be found here - I concidered semolina but that needs to be boiled for too long, and opted for flour which cooks much quicker. I was honestly anticipating the dessert to turn out bland and boring, but I was very wrong - it was fresh, creamy and absolutely lovely! All in all I would say this experience was a win! #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #latvianfood @internationalcuisine @ilzeievina by @lene_allverdensmat

I have not updated for a while, not because I stopped cooking, but because for a while I lost the energy and inspiration, and I have also been struggling with how to word this very post.
Food is such an important past of a country's culture and identity, and I am afraid I will offend by what I have to say about our Lithuanian experience. I may have stretched it a bit with the chosen menu, but these foods came so highly recommended I went against better judgement.
First of all - I do not like beetroot, I never have, and yet I chose to make cold beetroot soup... bad choice! The dish was judged inedible by the whole family. Moving on to the second dish, pork filled potato pancakes - also not a hit. Now members of the family went to make themselves sandwitches 😫. I don't know exactly why these dishes don't resonate with us, but the all over flavour, the cold earthy beetroots with a lingering acidic aftertone. The stodgy pork filling with a slight raw potato flavour. The lack of spices? Too much of the sour kefir and sour cream? I won't know. I followed the recipes to the best of my ability, but I might have got it wrong still... Whatever the reason, This was a fail, completely. We had to take a breather before embarking on dessert; mini Apple bakes with icecream. Now these were a hit (but you really can't go wrong with Apples and cinnamon. #cookingchallenge #foodaroundtheworld #allverdensmat #lithuanianfood @verdensmat @lithuanianintheusa by @lene_allverdensmat

Liechtenstein proved to be more@difficult than I expected - googling and searching I found it difficult to come up with genuine Liechtensteinian (? that sure is a mouthful) recipes, until I stumbled upon their own tourist information website. I was thrilled to find cheese fondue there, as I have had it many a time in my "pre-marriage and children" life, and I did spend more than a year in Switzerland - we are definitely having that! After visiting every store lightly to have the right ingredients and only finding one of three cheeses I opted for a Little cheat and bought fondue in a box. I did prepare it according to the recipe with sambal and chili and added some wine and spices. I also got what was called Alp bread, which I diced and lightly toaster i the oven. Now I did dream the night before that nobody liked it, and that was kind of true - the kids tried (more than once) and deemed it inedible and made ramen, while hubby ate the fondue without much enjoyment. I, on the other hand, found it hard to stop. For dessert we had Teeringli, and as most of the household were still hungry we had icecream with it. The teeringli was wonderfully crisp and citrusy and made me think of christmas. #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #liechtensteinfood #memories by @lene_allverdensmat

We have been to Malaysia - for me it was a return, as I spent a couple of weeks there way back in 2001 (see pics ⏩). It is summer vacation and we felt like a light and easy meal, so the Char Kway Teo was perfect, with so much punch and flavour packed into it. As we always go with something sweetnfor after I decided to try a honeycomb cake... the batter was very runny - too runny, it turned out, to stay in the baking tin (so now I have to clean my oven). Some tin foil made it much better, I wish I had thought of that sooner. To be fair, the cake was lovely, so sweet and moist and spongey - my eldest ate from it every day for the next week, which also proves it keeps very well inntjening fridge. Now I just wish I could go back to Malaysia for real! (Pictures are from Melaca and from the bus back to KL) #foodchallenge #allverdensmat #cookingaroundtheworld #cookingfails #malaysianfood @christieathome @raspberricupcakes by @lene_allverdensmat

Bienvenue en France. I have been stuck lately, trying to find inspiration for the country that was next on my list... until a friend told me to veto it, and I did, and "went to France", and I thoroughly enjoyed it. With a Little help from my lovely friend @elossimplejoys I made the menu; coque au vin with a freshly baked bread and profiteroles for dessert. I got to try several things from my "bucket list"; flambeing (I have tried that before, but I haven't succeeded), baking choux buns (my granny always baked those but I have been to intimidated to try) and making pastry cream (because I've been to lazy and bought it). The food was amazing, and I have regioner my inspiration for the food around the world. #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #frenchfood @veenaazmanov @lisefinckenhagen by @lene_allverdensmat

Today we tried food from Syria, and it was a big hit. I was a bit unsure about the spices required, but a dear former colleague from Syria came to my rescue... not that he knew either, but he introduced me to a couple of Syrian ladies who were more than willing to help. I had a lot going today, and kind of forgot to take pictures during the preparations, but for once I did remember to shoot the final result, so that is a win!
Our meal today was kibbeh served with bread, fattoush (with parsley, mint and radishes from our garden) and tahini sauce. Everything was amazing. For dessert we had roz bi-haleeb mbattan on which the verdict was divided (I found it refreshing and I suspect the one who wasn't sold on it didn't find it sweet enough). #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #cookingchallenge #syrianfood @tarasmulticulturaltable @omayahcooks @etkjokken by @lene_allverdensmat

I was so exited about "going to" Guatemala, trying genuine Mayan food in a traditional Pepian, so I was devastated when essencial ingredients were not available here. I did however find a decent replacement dish in caldo de res (beef soup). We had it with the traditional chirmol and corn tortillas and I think we got a new favourite winter warm-me-up dish. For dessert we enjoyed bananas in sweet cream served on ice cream, and I never have to deep Fry bananas again - fried with butter and cinnamon is equally good (or even better). I will try Pepian ig I ever get my hands on the chilies I missed - but for now we thoroughly enjoyed our Guatemalan meal. #allverdensmat #foodaroundtheworld #guatemalanfood #cookingchallenge @growingupbilingual @atastefortravel by @lene_allverdensmat