Food that your country/state/city/region is known for...

[catknit 144]

Hey All!

I am currently working in a senior center and we have a monthly cooking class. My participants are all independent, able to take care of themselves 60+ year olds. We just started a cooking class and they loved it. They especially liked learning about "new" ingredients they hadn't tried before [greek yogurt, baby arugula, etc]. Also, they like history/cultural info/current events - so a recipe straight from somewhere else would be met with ooohs and aaahs.

Since you all are a treasure trove of people from across the world I was hoping you may want to share some recipes??? Of course you do !

The very limited requirements:

1 - Easy to make

2 - Everyday ingredients - for example we can't get a durian to save our lives out here in no man's land - would love vegetable heavy recipes as the participants get farmer's market vouchers every summer

3 - If it has a "story" relating to it's place of origin or the reason for a specific ingredient that I can share - that's the type of thing that my participants love

4 - can easily be scaled down and still work - ie it can be scaled to make 2-3 servings - OR freezes well [i have a ton of widows/widowers who just don't need a gallon of soup taking up fridge space].

I'd very much appreciate it!

[AKSinghSingh79 143]

This is a wonderful post. Why has nobody chimed in yet?

In my area, there is a large population of Eastern Europeans (including my grandparents who immigrated from Poland) so you have the traditional dishes like pierogies, halushki (cabbage and noodles), golumpki (cabbage rolls), and borscht (chilled beet soup). Also the Italian population is significant.

My region itself has become famous for quite a few things (I can give you the recipes if you want). These include the "Burgh" sandwiches, hearty meaty sammiches on fresh thick sliced Italian bread piled high with french fries and slaw (I'm getting hungry ), also ham BBQ, thinly sliced ham slow roasted in sweet BBQ sauce and served on rolls. Last but not least, my personal favorite, ham salad, finely minced ham mixed with mayo and sweet relish served on hearty Italian bread.

I will consult with my future hubby about the regional specialties from the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, India. He's more qualified to delve into the details than I

This is not related to my area at all, but you said you wanted to get creative with your seniors. I made a pasta dish yesterday that was very unique and very good (Got the recipe from one of my mother's magazines). I sauteed fresh kale and added white kidney beans. Then I made a peanut sauce and poured it over the kale and beans and served it over whole wheat pasta. It was good. Kale is typically very bitter but this recipe made it tasty

[catknit 144]

The pasta dish sounds great! We're sort of in the south [not deep south] and a lot of my seniors like mustard greens/collards/kale so that may be a hit since it would be a new way to make a known vegetable.

I will be doing a class on soups - probably closer to the fall - I think a borscht would go well as beets are a huge hit when served for lunch.

I'd love to know more about both or links to recipes [or recipes that are close to the ones you already know]...