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The
Cyberspouse: February, 2002
Cooking in Cyberspace
We've all been there. Standing in a new kitchen, apron strings tied, American cookbook in hand, preparing to cook the first meal at a new post.
But the stove is really weird. Strange little symbols instead of words on the dials, and the oven temperature apparently only goes up to 250 degrees. Your favorite quick casserole recipe calls for one 10-ounce can of cream of mushroom soup. Let's see, you have 200 grams of something that sure looks like cream (although you can't actually read the package, so it could be yogurt, sour cream, or goat cheese for all you know), and a handful of funny-looking mushrooms, caked with what you really hope is peat...will that do?
Probably not, as most of us have learned to our sorrow. Cooking family meals while posted overseas with the Foreign Service is, to say the least, more interesting than cooking at home. But never fear, no matter where in the world you are, help is available with a few mouse clicks!
Here are a few ways that the Internet can make life easier for the family chef:
1.) Use your own recipes and convert the ingredients to local measurements. The Cyberspouse often uses Convert-it to convert recipe ingredients. Just type in "2 cups" for example, and this handy little tool will convert that to "400 grams." This site is also useful for up-to-date currency conversions.
There are several software programs on the market that will also convert recipe measurements. The Cyberspouse uses Recipease, a shareware program that stores and also converts entire recipes with a one click. Download a 30-day trial and pay $19.95 if you decide to keep the program. To find other software of this type, try ZDnet's download section.
2.) Use local cookbooks, translating the recipes into English if you don't speak the local language. Babelfish; an online translator, is quite handy for this purpose, however, it only supports a few world languages, such as German and Spanish. If your needs are a bit more specialized, you might find an online translator somewhere else. The Cyberspouse typed in "online Czech to English translator" and found the Langenberg online translator which will translate Czech words even if, as often happens, they are completely devoid of vowels.
3.) Find recipes online that either use the same measurements that your host country does, or that are accompanied by converting tools. This is an area in which the Internet really lives up to its potential. Online recipe sites are lots of fun, with searchable databases which answer pressing questions such as how to make dinner out of 2 leeks, a potato, and some ground beef. As one Foreign Service spouse notes, "Boy, could I have used this in the U.S.S.R: a recipe that would pop up when the available ingredients were one wilted carrot, one brown cabbage, one rotting onion, and one sheep's head!" Another spouse reports great success in searching online to find ways to use the limes growing in her Bahamian backyard.
Recipes are rated by a lively community of cooks, and can often be stored and categorized online in a personal account. Best of all, most recipes can be scaled to serve as many people as you want by clicking a button, and can be converted from American to metric measurements. In this category, the Cyberspouse is particularly fond of AllRecipes, with Recipezaar as a runner-up.
But where to find sun-dried tomatoes in Mali? Or cumin in Prague? The Cyberspouse has been shopping online for specialty food items for many years, and has a few favorites to share. For bakers there is no equal to King Arthur Flour. Great service and very high quality of merchandise make the slightly higher than average prices well worth it. The website also offers an excellent database of baking recipes. KAF has a good selection of spices, or for an even wider selection try Penzey's Spices.
For more everyday items, try Netgrocer, a favorite of many Foreign Service families. For cooking tools and supplies, Cooking.com is a winner. And, of course, the brick-and-mortar outlets such as Williams-Sonoma and The Cook's Nook all have online outlets now as well.
Cooking in the Foreign Service has always been an adventure. Of course we all want to try our hand at cooking the local specialities from time to time, but there are also nights when you just want to make a family favorite dish without any hassle. The Internet can make cooking easier, whether you are ordering familiar or specialty ingredients online, converting recipes to local measurements, or trying to figure out how to cook celeriac!*
*"An edible variety of celery (Apium graveolens var. rapaceum) cultivated for its swollen knobby root. Also called celery root, turnip-rooted celery." This official definition is from Dictionary.com. Always found in Czech supermarkets and known to local Americans as "that funny-looking blob that looks like something the dog dug up in the back yard."
The Cyberspouse is contributed by Kelly Bembry Midura, website designer, freelance writer, stay-at-home parent, and veteran Foreign Service Spouse. Click here to read more "Cyberspouse" columns. Email Kelly at kelly@aafsw.org.