Perspective

A tasty way to enjoy Eurovision

Doune, SCOTLAND, U.K. – Eurovision 2018: Another chance for some zany music from 26 countries and some witty commentary from the UK’s very own Graham Norton. But in my family, we have our own Eurovision tradition that I’d like to share to give you a glimpse into how we annually spend our time during the music competition.

The author’s mum, Jayne Ferguson, made appetizers from Austria. (Owen Ferguson/YJI)

Each year my sister, my mum and I draw the name of a Eurovision finalist country out of a hat. Whichever country you pull out of the hat, you cook something from that country. My dad doesn’t participate in the cooking but enjoys the food anyway.
As there are three of us cooking, we are able to create a starter, a main dish and a dessert from three different European countries. It’s our yearly challenge and own version of the competition.

Starter: As the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 final began, my mum prepared her starter from the country of Austria. She made each of us some Bratkartoffeln mit Eit und Trüffel (Potato Fritters with Egg and Truffle Oil) and Böhmischer Gurkensalat (Bohemian Cucumber Salad) to go with it. It started the night on a high and tasted great!
Main: To continue the night, my sister Lara cooked the main course, having drawn the country of Spain for her meal. She decided to make Spanish Seafood Paella. It included seafood such as mussels, prawn and calamari. It was extremely tasty and smelled amazing.
Dessert: I was tasked with making the dessert and was given The Netherlands as my country. There were plenty of complex Dutch recipes, but I needed something quick as I had to make it right after work. I decided on Dutch Chocolate Cake with Almonds. I also bought some Stroopwafels in case it didn’t work out, but luckily the cake turned out successful and I didn’t have to resort to the shop Stroopwafels.
Everyone was pretty full already but the cake looked so appetising that everyone had a slice anyway!

The author with the Dutch chocolate cake he made. (Lara Ferguson/YJI)

So there it is, a fun tradition that has been around for five years and will likely continue for many more. Even if you aren’t in Europe, why not try it sometime? The food from outside your own country is usually surprising, often has a strange name but is always delicious!
Owen Ferguson is a Senior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.

For more, read this article from a YJI reporter in Australia about Eurovision withdrawal.

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