Maldese

Ah, the Maldives…The capital is Male. It is a cluster of islands located south of India. There diet is similar to Micronesia in that they consume local produce, wildlife and ocean life. The big difference is that they are heavily influenced by India, Arabic countries and some of Asia. Most of their diet includes curry. They eat a lot of tuna as well. Fact time:

1. The Maldives flag is pretty simple. It is Red (in honor of the lives sacrificed for the country), Green (for peace and prosperity) and, in the middle is a crescent moon (representing Islam).
2. The country’s main economical engine is tourism.
3. Only recently has the country experienced a true multi-party presidential election (held in 2008). A previously jailed activist became the new president…might make for a good movie.
4. Some tsunami victims in 2004 were relocated here.

The food selection for the menu included; Chicken Curry, Roshi, Potato Mashuni and Dhonkeyo Kajuru. The chicken turned out dang good!



I made an executive decision while purchasing the ingredients (by the way, I found everything I needed at Whole Foods and the staff was quite helpful). I decided not to use one of the ingredients, Dorset Naga. Apparently, it is contending for “Hottest Pepper in the World.“ When Becky read about it, it suggested handling the pepper with gloves because the juices would become an issue. I decided to use a Poblano pepper. I really liked the mashuni…it was kind of like coleslaw. Becky only took a bite. She does not like uncooked onions…at all! The Roshi is pretty much a tortilla, but they turned out pretty good. The Kajuru was interesting to make, but the recipe renders quite a bit of it.



It is, essentially, a banana fritter. We decided to have some hot chocolate with the Kajuru…not sure if it is ethnically correct, but was quite delicious.

After dinner, Caleb was up again for throwing the dart. He landed on Newfoundland. Unfortunately, he was pretty bummed about eating Canadian cuisine again and begged for a “re-throw.” Fortunately, that created an opportunity. He was allowed a “re-throw” if he agreed to make dinner the next night as well. He did (we ended up having pasta. I think kids should already know how to boil water by this point.) Becky made some chocolate/nutella covered orange chews for FHE dessert too. YUM! Back to the new dart toss, Caleb through the dart so far that it landed in Timbuktu.