My wife and I are cooking one meal from every United Nations member country,* in alphabetical order, as a dinner party and fundraiser. We call it United Noshes, and we document every meal and recipe on our blog.
In just under a year, as I write this, we’ve cooked 37 meals, from Afghanistan to Colombia, and raised close to $7,000 for World Food Program USA. Cooking dinner parties out of our home in New York (and occasionally on the road) has afforded the chance to stay better connected with old friends, meet new ones, and explore the world’s diversity from our own small kitchen.
If you’re from a country whose cuisine we haven’t cooked yet, or at least have some on-the-ground experience there, we’d really appreciate your help in compiling a menu, learning your traditions around the table, maybe even compiling a playlist of music to enjoy while we eat. While I can find the green plantains, Vegeta, fenugreek and palm oil, the seasoning of your traditions, memories, and advice will add the missing flavor to help our project do even more to span cultures and delight palates.
Thank you and bon appétit!
Jesse Friedman
[email protected]
Brooklyn, NY, USA
* We’re also recognizing the two permanent observers, Palestine as a full dinner and the Holy See as a wine-and-wafer appetizer to Honduras. That’s a total of 194 meals.