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3 Foods That Will Bring Authentic Culture To Your Family’s Mealtime
It’s always a good idea to expose your children to different cultures at a young age. Allowing them to realize early on that not everyone around the world lives the same way they do is beneficial for their social development. It will help them understand other people’s perspectives, and improve their taste for all cultures.
Traveling to another country is the best way to introduce authentic cultural flavors. Unfortunately, this option is expensive, stressful, and your children may be too young to fully understand what’s going on.
However, you can bring another country’s culture into your home through cooking!
There are endless recipes available online for native dishes from cultures around the world. Don’t know where to start? Here, we’ve listed a few simple ingredients to trust that work with many recipes:
1. Curry
Curry is a common in many Asian countries. There is red Thai curry, and a wide variety of yellow curries from India that are delicious. You can buy fresh naan at your local grocery store in the bakery section, or serve your curry with rice.
Curry can be very spicy. Be sure to seek out recipes without a hot flavor profile if you have young children. Instead, seek curry with a neutral base.
There are many health benefits to eating curry, as it is low fat and high in protein.
If you are feeling very adventurous, try incorporating the popular superfood Haritaki. It also comes from India and Southeast Asia. The amazing benefits of haritaki are vast. Combined with curry, you’re serving a meal that’s balanced, nutritious, and delicious.
2. Crepes
Bring France to your kitchen with delicious crepes. The options are endless. You can make them with fruit, eggs and ham, or as a dessert with chocolate.
Crepes are simple to mix together, but to cook they require a little more attention. Be sure to use a large, round frying pan and cook over medium-low heat. Otherwise, crepes are easy to burn. Use a ladle to measure the amount of batter to place in the pan. Make sure the pan is well greased.
You can chop up a variety of fruits and let your children build their own. This way they can get involved and learn at the same time. You can place some lavender in a vase for a centerpiece and teach some basic French phrases with your kids during dinner.
3. Pad Thai
This dish is the gateway into Thai food for first timers. Pad Thai has a reputation for converting even the most “meat and potato” people.
Pad Thai often has seafood in it, but if your family does not care for meat at all, there are many vegetarian varieties that taste just as delicious. When serving, you can have chopsticks and teach your children how to use them.
If you want, you can go as far as to pick up a coconut and a few mangos from the grocery store to get a taste of the beach life. Mango and rice are Thailand’s largest exports.
Thailand has some of the most picturesque beaches in the world. To boost the mood, you can even show photos of the Asian elephant and some of the scenery of Thailand with dinner.
Conclusion
These are only three different cultures with delicious foods to explore. Aside from tapping into these cultures at dinnertime, you can look back on your family’s heritage and teach your children about where their own ancestors are from. Your kids might be inspired by their own cultural background and develop a newfound interest in cooking.
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