I have been creating recipes and some have been fabulous. Today is mothers day and breakfast in bed for my wife consisted of Mango, Banana and Orange fruit salad, fresh Costa Rican coffee and Breakfast Burritos made with scrambled eggs, feta, Berkshire applewood smoked bacon and seasoned hashbrowns topped with vine ripe tomatoes. This afternoon we went strawberry picking and I will be putting up a small batch of jam and some different purees for toppings.
To top it all off, I have been building toward an experiment in the kitchen and today was the day I took the plunge. I have officially begun homebrewing. If you know me, you know how much I appreciate a quality craft beer and I am fortunate enough to have a great local brewery right around the corner from my house. I know the head brewer and partly through his encouragement I decided to take on brewing. It does make the task easier when you have a professional brewer as a reference.
In many ways, this is the closest thing I have done to a national dish in awhile. Many of the countries we have visited so far and many that we have yet to cook count beer as a national beverage. Germany for instance is famous for its many delicious brews and of course Belgium, Scotland and the list goes on and on. Beer has been with us almost as long as we have been with us. Well, 5000 years or so before Jesus walked the earth and changed water into wine, if you so believe. Ancient Iraq and ancient Sumerian writings record beer as a tradition. The oldest known barley beer was recorded in ancient Iran about 3500 B.C..
I could go on and on about this most dear of culinary subjects, but basically I wanted to quickly touch base with the world and let everyone know that I have not been inactive, I simply do not have much time to write. I plan to post some updates as my first attempt at beer progresses. So far it looks very promising. Cross fingers that I kept everything sanitary enough and that my yeast begin to bubble at a rapid rate…
Here are a few pics of the first steps, cooking and 1st stage fermentation…
Eric Ackerson is a food writer, blogger and seafood marketing professional. His work takes him to many ports of call around the world. Currently Eric is cooking the national dish of every country on Earth at his blog My Hungry Tum. Eric enjoys travel and says his favorite food cities are Singapore and Vancouver. He lives in Charlotte NC with his wife and two daughters who he says are quickly becoming “foodies” themselves…
