Olympic Food Challenge - The home straight

As the torch is extinguished for the last time in the Olympic Stadium in London, so we see the end of the Olympic Food Challenge.  I set this challenge back in April, thinking that it would add an other dimension to the summer of sport.  I didn't know then that our Olympic and Paralympic athletes would steal the hearts of the nation and truly be an inspiration to us all.

The Olympic Food Challenge has also been an inspiration to me.  In April I had an idea, it was quite far fetched and, looking back on it, it was also a bit over ambitious.  Cooking food from all 204 National Olympic Committees was always going to be hard.  I realised early on that I would need help to complete the challenge and he fact that 14 complete strangers from 11 food blogs decided to help me carry out this momentous task is an inspiration in its self.

Sadly we failed in our original goal of completing the challenge by the end of the Olympic Games*.  We moved the goal posts* and, with the remaining countries distributed, we started to cook our way towards the closing ceremony of the Paralympics.

Since 12th August we have cooked recipes from: Armenia, Belarus, Bermuda, Botswana, Cayman Islands, Djibouti, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Gambia, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Liberia, Libya, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu.  There are still one or two blog posts to be written up by the team, they will be posted on the National Olympic Committees page as soon as possible.

So that's it, between us we have researched and eaten recipes from around the world.  We have picked up some wonderful cooking techniques (boiling chicken, braising, making noodles and dumplings to name a few), tried new ingredients (breadfruit, ducks tongues, goat) and found out the odd fact that will be useful in future pub quizzes (Gambia gained independence from Great Britain in 1965).

Thank you to Catherine, Clare, Dan, Dave, a couple of Garys, Jo(e), Rachel, three Rebeccas, Sam and Steph.  With out your hard work none of this would have been possible.  You are my inspiration to continue to come up with daft and far fetched ideas.  I doubt I will try anything on this scale again, but I will keep pushing my boundaries and each time I do I'll remember the 2012 Olympics and the Olympic Food Challenge.

Ewan


*Real life has a habit of getting in the way of daft ideas. 
*something that would be frowned upon by most in the world of sport.

Olympic Food Challenge - The final push

As I mentioned in the last post, we unfortunately fell short of eating food from all 204 nations that were competing in the London 2012 Olympic Games.  We really tried, 160 meals were cooked and consumed in only 19 days.  In my book that's great going.  But my book needs a final chapter and a happy ending.

The Olympic cauldron may have been extinguished, but the Olympic spirit lives on in the hearts of the Paralympians who are days away from swelling their nations pride.  Between now and the end of the Paralympic Games we will cook and blog about the remaining 44 nations from our list.

"But what are the remaining countries and who are the adventurous bloggers who will be joining you in the task?" I hear you cry.  Below is the list of the countries and a link to each of the participants blogs.

Armenia - Tonight's Menu
Belarus - Tonight's Menu
Bermuda - 366 Recipe Challenge
Botswana - 366 Recipe Challenge
Cambodia - 750 Miles
Cayman Islands - Tonight's Menu
Comoros - 750 Miles
Djibouti - Soup Tuesday
Dominica - Tonight's Menu
Egypt - 750 Miles
Equitorial Guinea - 366 Recipe Challenge
Finland - Exploits of a Food Nut
Gambia - The Food I Eat
Georgia - 750 Miles
Hungry - Geek Leeds
Iraq - Tonight's Menu
Israel - Exploits of a Food Nut
Jordan - Really Nice Food
Kazakhstan - 366 Recipe Challenge
Kyrgyzstan - Tonight's Menu
Laos - Feast and Glory
Latvia - Exploits of a Food Nut
Liberia - Exploits of a Food Nut
Libia - Tonight's Menu
Mauritania - Exploits of a Food Nut
Mexico - 750 Miles
Monaco - Soup Tuesday
Montenegro - Feast and Glory
Pakistan - Tonight's Menu
Palestine - Tonight's Menu
Papua New Guinea - Tonight's Menu
Peru - Geek Leeds
Poland - 750 Miles
Qatar - Tonight's Menu
Seychelles - 750 Miles
Sierra Leone - 366 Recipe Challenge
Somalia - The Food I Eat
Spain - Geek Leeds
Switzerland - 750 Miles
Tajikistan - 366 Recipe Challenge
Timor-Leste - Really Nice Food
Trinidad and Tobago - Exploits of a Food Nut
United States of America - 750 Miles
Vanuatu - Tonight's Menu

With a dash of luck and a favourable wind we will have cooked, photographed and blogged about a dish from each of these countries by Sunday 9th September.

Blogger No.12 The Food Nut

Gary, the blogger behind Exploits of a Food Nut is the final final challenger to accept the Olympic Food Challenge.  To be fair to Gary he was one of the first to agree to be involved, but he was the last name out of the hat when the draw took place.  Gary's exploits in food have seen him bake cakes and make his own bacon, but as a graduate in Food Science and Nutrition I'd expect nothing more.

You can follow Gary on twitter at @TheFoodNut

For the Olympic Food Challenge Gary has drawn:

Albania
Bolivia
Brunei
Cape Verde
Cote D'Ivoire
Eritrea
Finland
Indonesia
Jamaica*
Kenya
Latvia
Liberia
Luxembourg
Mauritius
Namibia
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey*
Tuvalu
Uganda

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.11 Feast and Glory

Feast and Glory is the food blog of Sheffield foodie Clare.  Clare writes about the food she has cooked at home and meals in restaurants in Sheffield and beyond.  Along with a fellow Sheffield foodie, Ros, Clare has also created Appetite in an attempt to bring the people of Sheffield together through food.

Clare is the second of the two bloggers who could only agree to help out with a limited number of nations during the challenge.  I'm still very grateful that she's on board.

You can follow Clare on twitter at @FeastAndGlory

For the Olympic Food Challenge Clare has drawn:

Congo
Greece*
Guinea-Bissau
Honduras
Iran
South Africa
Vietnam

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.10 Food and Biscuits

Joe and Jo are the couple behind Food and Biscuits.  Until very recently it was a daily food blog charting the meals cooked by Jo(e) and included reviews of restaurants around Leeds.  After hitting their 365 post they have decided to take a deserved break from daily blogging but they are still writing about the food that excites them.  I hope the Olympic Food Challenge is exciting enough.

You can follow Joe and Jo on twitter at @foodandbiscuits

For the Olympic Food Challenge Joe and Jo have drawn:

Angola
Bahrain
Belarus
Botswana
British Virgin Islands
Chile*
Dominican Republic
Ghana
Guatamala
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Malawi
Maldives
New Zealand*
Nicaragua
Norway
Sierra Leone
St Kitts and Nevis
Zimbabwe

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.9 Come Dine With Rach

As you may expect, Come Dine With Rach is the food blog of Rachel.  Over the past year it has charted reviews of restaurants in Leeds, meals cooked at home, meal planning for the week ahead, and includes a wine of the week section.  Rachel was the first blogger to get behind The Olympic Food Challenge so I have a lot to thank her for.

You can follow Rachel on twitter at @comedinewitrach

For the Olympic Food Challenge Rachel has drawn:

Aruba
Bangladesh*
Croatia
Cuba
Democratic Republic of Congo
Fiji
Italy*
Japan*
Malta
Micronesia
Myanmar
Netherlands
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Singapore
Suriname
Syria
Uruguay
Virgin Islands
Yemen

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.8 366 Recipe Challenge

366 Recipe Challenge  is the food blog of Rebecca and charts her attempt at eating a new recipe every day for a year. Rebecca was one of the earliest to sign up for the Olympic food challenge as it fits in with her own blog so well.  Rebecca is already well over 200 new recipes into her own challenge in a valiant attempt to widen her families food horizons.

You can follow Rebecca on twitter at @lilmssquirrel

For the Olympic Food Challenge Rebecca has drawn:

Algeria
Belgium*
Bulgaria
Columbia
Cyprus*
Denmark*
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Guinea-Bissau
Lesotho
Macedonia
Nepal
Nigeria
Oman
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Romania
Senegal
Soloman Islands

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.7 Really Nice Food

Really Nice Food (When "nice" food isn't enough) is the food blog of Rebecca.  Like me Rebecca shuns the term 'Foodie' in favour of a less prescriptive lover of food.  In case you were wondering, really nice food, is the food that excites you and tantalises your taste buds.  I hope there is plenty of excitement to come from the Olympic Food Challenge.

You can follow Rebecca on twitter at @reallynicefood

For the Olympic Food Challenge Rebecca has drawn:

Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cameroon
Czech Republic*
Ecuador
France*
Gabon
Germany*
Guyana
Haiti
Kiribati
Kuwait
Liechtenstein
Mozambique
Nauru
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Slovakia
United Arab Emirates

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.6 Tonight's Menu

Hello, I'm Ewan Mitchell, creator and curator of this here Olympic Food Challenge.  Whilst not setting a group of strangers ridiculous food related tasks I blog at Tonight's Menu, a daily food blog about our evening meals at home and occasionally, out and about in Leeds.  I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into my allotted 19 countries and can't wait to see what dishes the other 11 bloggers come up with.

You can follow me twitter at @EwanMitchell

For the Olympic Food Challenge I have drawn:

Afghanistan
Andorra
Argentina*
Azerbaijan
Central African Republic
Great Britain*
Grenada
India*
Lebanon
Lithuania
Marshal Islands
Mongolia
Philippines
Russia
Slovenia
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Uzbekistan

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.5 The Food I Eat

When setting up the Olympic Food Challenge, I quickly realised that the number of nations taking part wasn't divisable by the length of the games.  I would have found it very difficult to find 10.736842 bloggers, each of whom would have taken 19 nations.  Fortunatly a couple of bloggers wanted to take part but couldn't commit to a recipe a day.

Steph and Dave, from The Food I Eat, are the first of two bloggers with a short list of nations.  The Food I eat is a blog of the experience of eating in restaurants and occasionally at home.  It was born out of Steph's love of food and photography.  Whilst Steph is incharge of the blog and the photographs, it is Dave that is incharge of the cooking.  Steph also runs The Food Place, a UK wide, independant restaurant and take-away guide.

You can follow Steph and Dave on twitter at @missstephwalker and @davepullig respectively.
For the Olympic Food Challenge Steph and Dave have drawn:

Barbados
Brazil*
Guam
Moldova
Rwanda
St Lucia
Ukraine

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.4 Geek Leeds

Geek Leeds is a blog about life in Leeds, taking in beer, cafes, pubs and restaurants.  Geek Leeds is also the second, non-food specific, blog that has taken up the Olympic Food Challenge.  When Gary, the author of Geek Leeds, started writing back in August last year, he threw away the blogging rule book, deciding not to restrict himself to a specific topic.  This way he could write about what was exiting him at any point in time.  Hopefully the Olympic Food Challenge will keep him excited.

You can follow Gary on twitter at @GeekLeeds

For the Olympic Food Challenge Gary has drawn:

Bermuda
Bukina Faso
Caymen Islands
Dominica
Gambia
Hungary
Jordan
Libia
Madagascar
Mauritania
Monaco
Montenegro
Moroco
Pakistan*
Peru
Somalia
Spain*
Sri Lanka
Thailand*

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.3 Soup Tuesday

Soup Tuesday is the food blog of Dan and Catherine and you won't be surprised to find out that it started as a weekly blog, focusing on soup, eaten on Tuesdays.  As with most blogs, mine included, it didn't take long before non-soup related recipes posted on other days of the week started to creep in.  It was in fact an other challenge that got Catherine on-board the Soup Tuesday blog-bandwaggon, a weekly bake off.

With a combined love of food, blogs and challenges these two should have no problem with The Olympic Food Challenge.  You can follow Dan and Catherine on Twitter at @souptuesday and @KasariW respectively.

For the Olympic Food Challenge Dan and Catherine have drawn:

American Samoa
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia*
Bahamas
Chad
China*
Chinese Taipei
Cook Islands
Hong Kong*
Mali
Niger
Panama
Paraguay
South Korea
Swaziland
Tonga
Turkmenistan
Venezuela
Zambia

*Seeded Countries

Blogger No.2 750 Miles

Sam is the author of one of two non-food related blogs who are taking part in the Olympic Food Challenge.  750 Miles is a blog dedicated to Sam's own personal athletic challenge, taking part in "a bit of an assault course".  It's a 12 mile course, featuring 27 obstacles devised by British Special Forces.  Sounds less than fun to me, but then the last strenuous exercise I took was running for a bus and that nearly killed me.

Sam is also about to start guest blogging for The Globe Trotters, so she's not worried about food writing and clearly she loves a challenge!  You can follow Sam on Twitter at @vogue_ismybible.

For the Olympic Food Challenge Rebecca has drawn:

Armenia
Cambodia
Comoros
Egypt
Georgia
Israel
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Mexico*
Palau
Palestine
Poland
Qatar
Seychelles
Switzerland*
Tajikistan
Timor-Leste
United States of America*
Vanuatu

*Seeded Country

Blogger No.1 Big Spoon, Little Spoon

Big Spoon, Little Spoon is the food blog of Rebecca from Leeds.  According to her bio she's only 23, but lets not hold that against her.  She started her blog at the start of 2012 with a post outlining her New Years resolutions. These included the standards, loose weight and save money.  She also resolved to eat something new or use an ingredient that she was scared of at least once a week.  Hopefully the Olympic Food Challenge will help her with the latter part of her resolutions if not the former.  You can follow Rebecca on twitter at @eatlittlespoon.

 For the Olympic Food Challenge Rebecca has drawn:

Austria*
Belize
Benin
Burundi
Canada*
Costa Rica
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Estonia
Iceland
Ireland*
Malaysia
North Korea
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sweden
Tunisia

*Seeded Country.