let the adventure begin

"An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." - G.K. Chesterton

This project begins as a simple effort to travel the world. I've always had an adventurous spirit, but as a long-term graduate student, I know that actual travel -- at this point -- isn't in the cards. However, I love to cook - I love exploring different techniques and cultures, and I love sharing the fruits of a day in the kitchen with the people I love. So rather than travel the world via plane, boat, catamaran...  I will travel by fork. 

My goal is to cook a full meal from every country in the world -- 192 by many counts -- by the time I graduate. From Germany to Tonga, I plan to scavenger fun, approachable recipes (on a graduate student budget) to cook and enjoy with my newlywed husband and our friends. I will try to keep the techniques and ingredients as authentic as possible, although I look forward to blending international themes with my own "healthy southern" cooking style. Through this project, I hope to bring a taste of culture to our every day lives, as well as to bring some fun, vibrant techniques to my novice cooking repertoire. With my fire-extinguishing husband at my side, I look forward to the inevitable (and hopefully laughable) mishaps, as well as many delicious, exciting meals to come.

As a disclaimer, the number of countries in the world is apparently disputed, so I'm going by the following list for now (to extend outside of the UN). Bon appetit!

1.             Afghanistan

2.             Albania

3.             Algeria

4.             Andorra

5.             Angola

6.             Antigua and Barbuda

7.             Argentina

8.             Armenia

9.             Australia

10.         Austria

11.         Azerbaijan

12.         Bahamas

13.         Bahrain

14.         Bangladesh

15.         Barbados

16.         Belarus

17.         Belgium

18.         Belize

19.         Benin

20.         Bhutan

21.         Bolivia

22.         Bosnia and Herzegovina

23.         Botswana

24.         Brazil

25.         Brunei

26.         Bulgaria

27.         Burkina Faso

28.         Burma

29.         Burundi

30.         Cambodia

31.         Cameroon

32.         Canada

33.         Cape Verde

34.         Central African Republic

35.         Chad

36.         Chile

37.         China

38.         Colombia

39.         Comoros

40.         Congo

41.         Costa Rica

42.         Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

43.         Croatia

44.         Cuba

45.         Cyprus

46.         Czech Republic

47.         Denmark

48.         Djibouti

49.         Dominica

50.         Dominican Republic

51.         East Timor

52.         Ecuador

53.         Egypt

54.         El Salvador

55.         Equatorial Guinea

56.         Eritrea

57.         Estonia

58.         Ethiopia

59.         Fiji

60.         Finland

61.         France

62.         Gabon

63.         The Gambia

64.         Georgia

65.         Germany

66.         Ghana

67.         Greece

68.         Grenada

69.         Guatemala

70.         Guinea

71.         Guinea-Bissau

72.         Guyana

73.         Haiti

74.         Honduras

75.         Hungary

76.         Iceland

77.         India

78.         Indonesia

79.         Iran

80.         Iraq

81.         Ireland

82.         Israel

83.         Italy

84.         Jamaica

85.         Japan

86.         Jordan

87.         Kazakhstan

88.         Kenya

89.         Kiribati

90.         North Korea

91.         South Korea

92.         Kuwait

93.         Kyrgyzstan

94.         Laos

95.         Latvia

96.         Lebanon

97.         Lesotho

98.         Liberia

99.         Libya

100.     Liechtenstein

101.     Lithuania

102.     Luxembourg

103.     Macedonia

104.     Madagascar

105.     Malawi

106.     Malaysia

107.     Maldives

108.     Mali

109.     Malta

110.     Marshall Islands

111.     Mauritania

112.     Mauritius

113.     Mexico

114.     Federated States of Micronesia

115.     Moldova

116.     Monaco

117.     Mongolia

118.     Montenegro

119.     Morocco

120.     Mozambique

121.     Namibia

122.     Nauru

123.     Nepal

124.     Netherlands

125.     New Zealand

126.     Nicaragua

127.     Niger

128.     Nigeria

129.     Norway

130.     Oman

131.     Pakistan

132.     Palau

133.     Panama

134.     Papua New Guinea

135.     Paraguay

136.     Peru

137.     Philippines

138.     Poland

139.     Portugal

140.     Qatar

141.     Romania

142.     Russia

143.     Rwanda

144.     Saint Kitts and Nevis

145.     Saint Lucia

146.     Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

147.     Samoa

148.     San Marino

149.     Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe

150.     Saudi Arabia

151.     Senegal

152.     Serbia

153.     Seychelles

154.     Sierra Leone

155.     Singapore

156.     Slovakia

157.     Slovenia

158.     Solomon Islands

159.     Somalia

160.     South Africa

161.     Spain

162.     Sri Lanka

163.     Sudan

164.     Suriname

165.     Swaziland

166.     Sweden

167.     Swizerland

168.     Syria

169.     Tajikistan

170.     Tanzania

171.     Thailand

172.     Togo

173.     Tonga

174.     Trinidad and Tobago

175.     Tunisia

176.     Turkey

177.     Turkmenistan

178.     Tuvalu

179.     Uganda

180.     Ukraine

181.     United Arab Emirates

182.     United Kingdom

183.     United States

184.     Uruguay

185.     Uzbekistan

186.     Vanuatu

187.     Vatican City

188.     Venezuela

189.     Vietnam

190.     Yemen

191.     Zambia

192.     Zimbabwe