Global feast: 8 inspiring food blogs from around the world
le jus d’orange, China via Fremont, California
Betty Liu began le jus orange to document her mother’s traditional Shanghai-style recipes so that she could make them independently. “I grew up eating traditional Chinese food, particularly that of the Shanghai area, and when I left for college in the Midwest, I suddenly found myself bereft of authentic, home-style Chinese food,” Liu tells SBS. “When I returned for visits and breaks, I begged my mum to teach me the basics as well as her signature dishes.” Of all the recipes in her repertoire, Liu says red-braised pork belly is her most crowd-pleasing.
Expect Plenty of traditional Shanghai-style recipes, such as steamed spring onion flower buns, small wonton soup, and sweet potato mochi cakes.
Fix Feast Flair, L.A and Hawaii
Alana’s LA-based blog draws on inspiration from her upbringing in Hawaii, her Japanese heritage, and her culinary experiences in general. Part travel and part food blog, there’s a healthy dose of escapism on offer in Fix Feast Flair (warning: FOMO may ensue), which was named Saveur Magazine’s Readers’ Choice for Best New Voice in 2015.
Expect: Fresh fusion recipes with a good footing in Asian cuisine, and plenty of baking.
Matcha Melon Pan (Japanese Sweet Bread Buns) from Fix Feast Flair.
Vikalinka, Russia via London
Julia Frey started her food blog, Vikalinka, to record family recipes that were passed down to her, for her children. “I didn’t want any of our Russian recipes and traditions to be lost, so I figured an online culinary diary was the answer,” she tells SBS.
Expect: Well-known Slavic dishes such as golubtsi (cabbage rolls), blini (crepes and sharlotka (apple cake) plus the more obscure likes of keks stolichniy (Russian pound cake).
Matters of the Belly, Egypt via Australia
Born and raised in Egypt, Noha Serageldin and her husband packed up their life and moved to Australia in 2013, igniting a passion for her home food. Serageldin has also used cooking to combat anxiety and chronic illness – there’s a focus on whole foods throughout the blog.
Expect: A bunch of lovingly created Egyptian recipes with modern, global twists, like pumpkin and feta fritters, Taameyya (the original Egyptian falafel), and harissa and maple-glazed roasted carrots.
Spiced beef with hummus from mattersofthebelly.com.
Green Kitchen Stories, Stockholm, Sweden
Contrary to wide belief, vegetarian food isn’t always easier on the purse, with the swathe of exotic ancient grains (with their exotic price tags) now in stores. But Green Kitchen Stories keeps things simple. It follows the vegetarian food exploits of husband and wife team David and Luise, who create delicious recipes using very humble ingredients. The couple met in Rome while studying and moved to Stockholm to start a family, which explains their global cooking influences.
Expect Colourful grain and plant-based foods, such as coconut and banana pancake cake, autumn kale slaw and raw key lime mousse.
Husband and wife team David and Luise are behind the food blog, Green Kitchen Stories.
Sweet Potato Soul, NYC
Georgia Peach is a New Yorker who loves sweet potatoes, chocolate and big southern flavors. The blog is brimming with indulgent vegan recipes that will challenge what you know of the vegan way of life (donuts and sausages abound). Peach is also the co-founder of an online vegan meal planning service called Buddhalicious.
Expect: Indulgent vegan comfort food like sweet potato donuts and vegan sausages as well as lighter fare like southern Buddha bowls with green limas.
Vegan macaroni cheese by Sweet Potato Soul.
My Blue&White Kitchen, Finland
Finnish Sini Ellen follows in the footsteps of other great Nords from Denmark (ahem, Rene Redzepi), championing foraging. She frequents the woods for fresh berries and mushrooms and makes almost everything from scratch with her spoils. Her most loved recipe? Finnish cinnamon rolls.
Expect: Fresh, seasonal and simple Nordic and European favourites, like plum galettes, pulla (Finnish cardamom-spices sweet buns – below) and lemony mushroom salt.
Finnish pulla (cardamom-spiced sweet buns)
My Tamarind Kitchen
A first-generation Pakistani born in Karachi, Sumayya Usmani’s parents were among many Muslim Indians who migrated to the new Dominion of Pakistan in 1947. “Karachi is a city where the cuisines of indigenous Sindhis, Hindus, Indian Muslim migrants, Arabs, Persians, and many small ethnic communities who settled here centuries ago combine in a unique and eclectic way,” she writes on her blog. As such, her recipes are a melting pot of these cultures.
Expect: Cherished family recipes, like firni (rice pudding with cardamom and saffron), daal aur chawal, and fragrant seafood curries.
A trio of daals with a tempering of red chilli, cumin and garlic from My Tamarind Kitchen.
