By Celeste Stewart

Tired of meatloaf on Mondays, tacos on Tuesdays, and whatever’s on hand on Wednesdays? If the same old meals have you in a culinary rut, it’s time to get out of the kitchen and head around the world for inspiration! Don’t worry; this adventure won’t cost a fortune and you will still spend plenty of time in the kitchen. You’ll enjoy new tastes, learn new cooking techniques, and add numerous new favorite meals to your menu rotation. If you have children, get them involved in this 30-day cooking adventure. They’ll learn about other cultures and, perhaps, become more sophisticated eaters in the process.

Because this is an ambitious 30-day plan, you’ll need to make a few crucial decisions from the beginning. First, what countries or regional cooking styles interest you the most? Do you want to focus on entrees only or would you like to try breakfasts, lunches, appetizers, and desserts as well? Do you want to do your own cooking or would you prefer to find ethnic restaurants and bakeries? How about a blend?

Depending on how many culinary styles have captured your imagination, you will also need to figure out how many days to spend exploring each one. For example, if you’re interested in Mediterranean, Asian, French, and Russian cuisines, you can spend a full week learning about and preparing meals from each region. On the other hand, if you want to cover the cuisines of France, Greece, Italy, Australia, Russia, Mexico, China, India, Bermuda, and New Orleans, then you’ll only have three days per region.

Let’s say that you like the idea of spending three days at a time on each of ten different regions. Work together with your family to select the ten countries or culinary regions and then use a notebook or a spreadsheet to break down your 30 days into Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 for each region.

Next, devise a specific plan for Days 1, 2, and 3 – regardless of cuisine type. For instance, you may want to focus on breakfasts on Day 1, lunches and specialty drinks on Day 2, and dinners and desserts on Day 3. This gives your culinary adventure structure and provides you with a basic plan. In this case, you now know that on Day 1 for each region, you’ll need to whip up a regional breakfast. Your list is starting to take shape:

France - Day 1: Breakfast
Café au Lait with a toasted baguette with goat cheese and “les oeufs” (eggs)
France - Day 2: Lunch
Ratatouille
France - Day 3: Dinner
Beef Bourguignon, French wine, and Crème Brulee
Greece - Day 1: Breakfast
Greek omelet and Turkish coffee
Greece - Day 2: Lunch
Avgolemono soup, Greek salad, gyro sandwich
Greece - Day 3: Dinner
Lamb Souvlaki with Tzatziki, Mythos beer, and Baklava for dessert

Use the Internet to find out about the different cuisines of the world along with customs, traditions, favored ingredients, cooking techniques, and recipes. Doing this at the beginning of your adventure is not recommended as doing so will soon overwhelm you. Instead, keep the cooking on Day 1 simple (such as simple regional breakfasts or dining out at a regional café or restaurant). That same day, do your research, menu planning, and grocery shopping for the region. You may need to plan the next region’s first meal as well, especially if that meal will be breakfast.

Meanwhile, have your children research regional customs, symbols, and other items of interest on Day 1. Put the kids in charge of printing out flags or creating festive regional table decorations. Other activities include learning basic phrases such as “good morning” and then greeting each other each morning with “Bonjour,” “Kalimera,” or “Jo San.”

This 30-day culinary adventure is yours to make. It is loose by design so that you can create your own culinary itinerary and learn about the cuisines that interest you the most. As you work your way around the world on your first 30 days, you’ll get a taste of the many flavors of the world and may even want to repeat the trip, the next time focusing on different countries or exploring a favorite cuisine in greater depth. Use these ideas as a basic framework for your own adventure and use them month after month if so inclined.
Don’t forget to keep it fun and enjoy the journey!