Tag Archives: World Cup

538’s International Food Association World Cup: Results are In

We wrote a little bit earlier about 538 Blog’s International Food Association World Cup, where users could vote for their favorite national cuisines. While the World Cup of Futebol has been over for a while, the Food Cup just ended. The four teams making it into the semi-finals were Italy, USA, Thailand and Mexico, which seems like a pretty solid match-up. The final round was between the USA and Italy, and Italy eventually prevailed. Not too surprised with the result – who doesn’t love Italian food?

Varieties of Rum Baba (and friends) in naples

Italian Pastries – just one of the country’s many culinary delights

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Post World Cup Wrap-Up

brazilSo the World Cup is over, and it has been quite a ride! While we are sad the Brazil went out the way they did, we were excited to share lots of food links and recipes from the countries featured in the Cup. And of course, we enjoyed the opportunity to feature Brazilian food in all of its glory. And there was some measure of victory, because Salvador’s famous Baianas won the right to sell the emblematic street food acarajé outside Fonte Nova stadium (a rare victory against FIFA)!

Baianas FIFA

 

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The FiveThirtyEight International Food Association World Cup

We are fans of Nate Silver’s 538 for its mix of culture, sports, politics and statistics. However, now they have taken it even one further and incorporated food into the mix. Perfect! In honor of the World Cup, the 538 team has created a ranking based on the national cuisines of the countries participating in the World Cup, as well as other culinary powerhouses. Here’s their methodology:

We polled 1,373 Americans through SurveyMonkey Audience and asked them to rate the national cuisines of the 32 teams that qualified for the World Cup, as well as eight additional nations with bad soccer but great food: China, Cuba, Ethiopia, India, Ireland, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.

So who’s going on to the Round of 16? Personally we think the list is pretty decent, though we’d have picked Turkey over Germany.

  • Mexico vs. Ethiopia
  • Japan vs. Vietnam
  • France vs. Argentina
  • U.S. vs. Belgium
  • Spain vs. Brazil
  • Italy vs. Greece
  • Cuba vs. China
  • Thailand vs. Germany
Acai at Tacaca do Norte

Acai at Tacaca do Norte – a taste of Brazil!

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The National Dish of Cameroon: Ndolé

CameroonCameroon is playing its second match in the World Cup today so we thought we’d do a little research into the country’s cuisine, which is characterized by indigenous ingredients and a prevalent French influence. Ndolé is the national dish of Cameroon, it consists of ground nuts, ndolé leaves (aka bitter leaves – which give the dish their name) and either fish or beef. You can even add some shrimp, which seems appropriate since that is where the country got its name, from them Portuguese word for shrimp – Camerões! Sounds delicious! African Bites has a great recipe for Ndolé, and if you are unable to find Ndolé leaves you can use spinach or kale, as in this beautifully-illustrated Wandecrush recipe.

Ndole in Cameroon

Ndole in Cameroon by Joel Abroad

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Portuguese Pastry Post-Doc for the World Cup: Queijadas from Sintra

Portugal received a trouncing today by Germany in the World Cup, so if you are a Portugal fan, why not drown your sorrows in some delicious Portuguese pastry? One of the most emblematic pastries in Portugal is the Queijada / Queijadinha (simply, “little Queijada”), which is a sweet, baked cheese and egg tart from picturesque Sintra. It is actually kind of hard to describe since “cheesecake” in the USA conjures up memories of cool, creamy New York-style slices. Instead, the filling of a queijada is more solid and granular – not “cheesy” at all! But don’t let that dissuade you – they are delicious and unique in their own right. For the real deal, the best place to get queijadas in Sintra is the Piriquita Cafe/Bakery (Rua das Padarias, 1 – Sintra), a store that has been turning out the delicacies for over a century. If you are not in the vicinity of Lisbon, Honest Cooking and The Age have recipes to make your own sweet treats to smooth over any world cup moodiness.

Queijada

Queijadas at Piriquita by Sandra Rosa

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Getting ready for the Copa do Mundo / World Cup!

The World Cup is almost here! In honor of this global event, we are looking forward to cheering on the Brazil and US teams and sharing some of our favorite stories and dishes from around the globe. Also look for special coverage about the food scene in Brazil, we still have a lot to cover from our time there! 719px-WC-2014-Brasil.svg

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The World Cup of Sausages

The World Cup is only just a few days away. Of course, we will use this global event as yet another way to highlight some of the lesser-known and more delicious foods from all around the globe. For a first little taste, why not check out Bon Appetit’s list of top sausages from every country represented in the cup, from Croatia’s ćevapi to Mexico’s chorizo to Algeria’s merguez!

chorizo taco

A chorizo taco in Chicago

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