London 2012 Olympic Food Challenge

• 204 Nations
• 19 Days
• 11 Foodies
• 1 Challenge

I found out about the Olympic Food Challenge through Twitter and it seemed like just the thing for me to take part in and liven up the blog for a couple of weeks.  The challenge is the brainchild of Ewan Mitchell, a fellow food blogger over at 'Tonight's Menu', and most important someone who - like me - likes to fill his readers in on what drives him to make a certain recipe.  Or waffle as some people prefer to call it.

You can read more about the challenge over on Ewan's own blog and over the coming weeks, he'll be posting bios of all the challengers.  In a nutshell, we have to cook one recipe a day from our list of allotted countries for every day of the challenge.

Each blogger was assigned a number and then the countries were randomly split between each of the eleven pots.  I drew pot eight so my list of countries is below, along with a (tiny) world map showing where they are.

Having not managed to travel as extensively as I would like, I'm really excited about finding out different world cuisines from the comfort of my own home.  And I love the idea of doing the research.  Of course, the internet is my friend, but I'm also hoping to make it down to the library to find some books on a few of the countries.

I will update this page over the following weeks with my selected recipes for each country and then from the 25th July onwards, my posts will be about those recipes.  One a day for 19 days. As I mark the recipes off, I'll update the map so that it shows the countries I've 'visited'.  By the end of the challenge, all of the green countries should be blue.

Daunting?  Of course not!  Not for someone who's managed to try a new recipe and blog about if for over 300 consecutive days*.

1. Algeria - Keftah with Harissa Hummus (31st July 2012)
2. Belgium - Chicory with Cheese and Ham (30th July 2012)
3. Bulgaria - Kebapche with Shopska Salad (9th July 2012)
4. Columbia - Pan de Yuca (27th July 2012)
5. Cyprus - Halloumi Parcels (2nd August 2012)
6. Denmark
7. El Salvador - Pollo Enceballado (1st August 2012)
8. Ethiopia - Bamya Alich'a with Injera (8th August 2012)
9. Guinea-Bissau - Abacate Com Atum (5th August 2012)
10. Lesotho - Pap and Chakalaka (26th July 2012)
11. Macedonia - Tavče Gravče (7th August 2012)
12. Nepal
13. Nigeria - Jollof Rice (29th July 2012)
14. Oman - Swayweih and Kahwa (9th August 2012) 
15. Portugal - Mousse de Limão (3rd August 2012)
16. Puerto Rico - Funche (4th August 2012)
17. Romania - Romanian Apple Cake (6th August 2012)
18. Senegal - Avocat aux Crevettes Senegalaises (28th July 2012)
19. Soloman Islands - Toiyo with Paw Paw Salad (25th July 2012)

*I had my fingers crossed behind my back as I typed that bit!