Samoa = Oceania

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I can’t believe that its been 5 months since I started this Global Food Adventure. But now here I am, at the start of my last month of my Tour in Samoa, Oceania. Before I thought of this idea to travel, I had never had heard of the little Island I am on now, but how very glad I am. I have never seen a place so vibrant in nature and with such clear water. The picture above I took while on plane flying over the island.

Samoa is a very tropical country with wet and dry season. There air temperature doesn’t really change, just staying around the 29 – 30 decrees. If you like small communities and hot weather, then Samoa is the place for you.

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Samoa has a wide range of diversity in religion. More than half of the population  (57.4%) believe in a Protestant sect of Christianity, 19.4% identify as Catholic, 15.2% identify as Mormon, 1.7% identify with Worship Centre and 5.5% identify with some other form of Christianity. The remaining population of Samoa follow a different form of religion or non at all.

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After the civil war, in the year 1899, Samoan archipelago were divided, Germany taking the west and America taking the east. This resulted in the east being called American Samoa. During the year 1000 BC, the Polynesian made there way across the pacific in ocean-faring canoes, to settle in the town now known as Mulifanua which is situated on the island of Upolu. It is believed that the stone work pyramids and the mounds in star formation, on the island, were made by the first settlers.

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A local cafe in Upolu recommended these no bake, gluten free cookies. They had the ingredients toasted coconut and dates which gave it a very sweet taste without having to put any sugar in it. Because of this you could only have couple at a time but they were very nice. A link to the recipe is below and a picture as well with chocolate on top of it.

• https://www.thereciperebel.com/no-bake-samoa-cookies/

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Located south of the equator, Samoa’s stable crop is tropical fruits. As it is usually hot over here with wet and dry seasons, fruit like bananas and taros are on of the best crops to plant, as it is an near certainty that it will grow and thrive. I went to a local farmer who grows taros and he gave me some that he had just taken out of the ground. It tasted very sweet with an nutty and vanilla texture to it.

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Panama = America

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Its been 3 months since I walked out of my house in Australia. I’ve been to 3rd world countries that only have the bare minimal or nothing at all. I’ve seen men, women and children starving and begging for food. I’ve seen kids of all ages running around, playing soccer with an old ball, laughing and feeling so lucky and grateful that they even have something to play with. But now I’m here, in Panama. This beautiful place is filled with tropical trees, amazing beaches, casinos, nightclubs and astonishing skyscrapers. Its definitely took my breath away when I landed.

Situated on the isthmus, it links Central and South America. It has a total of  4.099 million people. The weather in central America has a mostly consistent temperate with wet and dry seasons.

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2 days ago, I went to the local baker and he showed me how to bake one of his most popular dishes; the cinnamon roll. It had a hard crust but the inside was soft and still warm from the oven. The roll was coated in cinnamon, brown sugar and white sugar. Not the most healthiest dish but still one of the most delicious. The link to the recipe is below and a picture of how they looked.

• https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241917/quick-cinnamon-rolls/

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Rodrigo de Bastida in 1501, Christopher Columbus in 1502 and Vasco de Balboa in 1513. These famous explorers, from all different parts of the world, trekked to Panama and helped shape it into the place we know today. Christopher Columbus established the city of Darien, while Vasco de Balboa crossed the Pacific from the Atlantic Ocean to the Isthmus of Panama. By doing this, he proved that panama could be sailed to, so it become a major trading center. Rodrigo de Bastida was the first European to come to Panama. Before all the people come to Panama, the native Americans tribes of the Cocle and Cuevas had inhabited the country.

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GERMANY – EUROPE

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3 months into the trip and I now find my self in Europe, Germany. I just spent the last four days at a festival called Maifest. It is hold once a year to celebrate the arrival of spring, nature’s bright reawakening after winter’s cold and darkness. It is also the
symbol of ‘spring’s reawakening of fruitfulness’. There was traditional dances, music and food.

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Germans stable crop is potatoes and nearly every dish that they cook includes potatoes. They grow them in a big open field under the ground once the leaves above grow large you are then know that the potatoes are ripe to cook and eat.

Yesterday, I went to a local farmer and bought some fresh potatoes from him and cooked it up for dinner. I found out that, even though the potatoes looked delicious, I do not like the taste them.

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Warm summers and mild winters, Germany has a relative moderate climate with no long periods of hot or cold. This is one of the reason why I love Germany so much! Beautiful landscape and beautiful people, Germany has definitely been an experience to remember.

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The Golden Eagle, one of the most endangered animal in Germany, is a beautiful mammal known for it been one of the best hunters in the world. The name come from its golden feathers and huge claws, used for hunting and catching its prey. Because of its unique and soft feathers many people hunt down the bird, skin it and leave the rest in the wild to rot.

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A couple of days ago I went to a popular restaurant in Germany. The waiter told me that one of the most popular dishes that locals like, are the German Meat Cakes. It was a delicious dish and you could easily make it at home, for something quick to make. They were a bit oily but other then that they were nice. A picture and URL for how to make them are below.

• https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/german-meat-cakes-107905

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Hello, my name is Grace and i am here to teach and share with you, all of my discoveries of the amazing places around the world. I will be traveling to five different countries in five different continents across a span of five months, spending 1 month in each country. The places that we will be exploring is Bhutan in Asia, Ethiopia in Africa, Germany in Europe, Panama in America and Samoa in Oceania. I will be tasting all of the different types of traditional food in each country and I will keep you updated on all the good and bad foods that I taste. Let the Exploration Begin!

ASIA – BHUTAN

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For only two weeks, I have been here visiting Bhutan and I have already learned and experienced so much that is to do with the culture and the life style of these amazing people.

Today I tasted a pancake which is made from Buckwheat flour which happens to be Bhutan’s stable crop for generations. It had a slight nuttier flavor and is a lot more dense then other types of flour but I enjoyed it. I also learned that Bhutan’s weather climate is constantly changing, with warm days and nights going below zero which implies that Buckwheat will always been planted in an open field to get as much sunlight as possible. Bhutan is such an interesting and yummy place.

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Two nights ago, a local Bhutan man suggested that I should try their local Bhutanese red rice, goji berry & hazelnut salad, so later that day I decided that I should have it for my dinner. It had an unusual taste to it, more like your having a heap of nuts with some rice, it also wasn’t like anything that i would usually have at home but, I would definitely recommend the dish to you. Here’s a photo of what it looks. I’ll also link the recipe at the top of the picture.

https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/bhutanese-red-rice-goji-berry-hazelnut-salad

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There are many traditional dances in Bhutan that tell different stories about their ancient and historical past. Some dances are also used to welcome and greet people to cultural and style of life. An example of that is the Joenpa Legso Dance, which is performed to welcome new people and quest to the area. Other dances as well as this one are also performed at cultural festivals which include tradition food. Different festivals include different types of dances and food. The oldest Bhutanese song and dance, Zhungdra, is performed in dzongs and monasteries. Performed by women, dressed in traditional attire and a rachu which is a hand-woven Bhutanese scarf, the performance is considered an offering to the gods.

ETHIOPIA – AFRICA

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1 month into the exploration and I’ve left the wonderful people of Bhutan, to come to Ethiopia which is located in the South – East part of Africa. Ever since i was little, it has been my dream to come and travel around Ethiopia and what makes it more exiting is the fact that scientist discovered a jawbone located here which they believe would of belonged to one of the first ever humans 2.8 million years ago! Ethiopia was the first place in Africa to have people cross its land.

As Ethiopia is situated near the tropic of cancer, areas of the landscape can be very tropical with many mountains and rivers. But this is not the case with all of Ethiopia, having some areas desert like and very baron. This effects how they live and what they eat in there day to day life. But even when things become for hard these lovely people, they will still have a smile on there face and continue doing as much as they can to provide for their family and friends. They are some of the most generous and caring people that I have ever met.

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Throughout Ethiopia the most common crop you will find is Teff. Eragrostis tef, also known as teff, Williams’ love-grass or annual bunch grass is harvested for its edible seeds and is turned into flour which is then used to make flatbread, commonly known as injera. Injera is the national dish of Ethiopia, it is the fundamental part any dish in the country. Because of its major use within Ethiopia I thought that I can’t leave this place without trying some of it, so I decided that i should taste Injera with Syrup. It was amazing but would taste even better with curry.

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Today I learned that Ethiopia has a hidden meaning behind its name. The name comes from Greek ethio, meaning “burned” and pia, meaning “face”. Burned Face. Many
Aeschylus describe Ethiopia as ‘the land far off, a nation of black men.’

Ethiopian life is influenced by there religion and beliefs. Around half of the population follow the religion of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church with believe in Christianity. Christianity was brought into the country around the 4th century and once a year a festival called ‘The Feast of Epiphany (“Timkat”) is held for the day that Christianity was brought into there country and may it forever have a place within there hearts and beliefs. Muslims also make up a large amount of there population, living mainly in the eastern, southern, and western lowlands. The rest of the population believe in an ancient form of Judaism.

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As I have been traveling across Ethiopia there is a couple of environmental issues that I have come to learn. Some of these include Deforestation and the rise of endanger species. The Ethiopian wolf is one of the rarest and most endangered carnivore in the country with only around 500 left. Some of the main reasons that have result in the decrease of numbers is human population. With the amount of people living in Africa, there habitat is being overrun with humans and what they have left is being overgrazed which has resulted in them starving. There is also interbreeding with other dog, which is another cause for the species numbers to go down. Many types of dogs in Ethiopia have diseases and when they mate with the native wolf, it spreads into there blood stream resulting in that wolf, along with its cups dying. To stop this problem from occurring Oxford University has started to vaccinate wolves and save the species from coming extinct.

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