Malta - stuffat tal-fenek (Rabbit stew)

To Malta. Tossing up between rabbit stew and 'beef olives' (look them up) we decided on the rabbit because we've never cooked with rabbit previously.  To the butcher to buy a rabbit - we had the boys with us and I stopped myself just in time when I pointed to the whole rabbits and started to say "Look Tav, there's a rabbit like [your favourite toy] brown rabbit."

Chopped into chunks, marinated and then slow cooked for 3 hours, the results (although not photogenic) were deliciousness. Tender meat with an amazing rich tomato sauce. 

According to our research the sauce from Maltese stews are used as a pasta sauce for entree so that's how we started:

Followed up with the stew itself. 

Pro: always keen to eat different animal and the rabbit was very tasty. 

Con: small bones; annoying small mammals have a lot of tiny tiny bones. 

Next stop:  the recently formed country South Sudan. 

Canada - planking

So it was off to Canada on Sunday. We decided to attempt multiple courses, starting with a main involving fish, chips and a plank. The above shot is us  warming the cedar, which ends up smoking the fish as it cooks. Below is us painting salmon with a delicious glaze made of maple syrup, amongst other things.

 The asparagus also took on an amazing smoky flavour.

 Below is our version of poutine. I think they traditionally make their own chips and gravy, and use cheese curd rather than bocconcini. So we didn't accurately achieve any single ingredient, but we were going for the vibe....?

 Dessert was an extremely rich nanaimo bar (mostly butter with a few other ingredients playing minor roles), served with a glass of ice wine (a dessert riesling made from grapes which have frozen on the vine).

So, thank you Canada - we enjoyed our stay, and hope to come back one day soon.

Next stop... Malta. K, we're going to be asking questions.