Eating, Drinking & Watching Around the World - Part One
This week and a half long quarantine project was birthed from a conversation on Snapchat on a Saturday Morning.
Brittnee, a dear friend and former DCP roommate, let our group chat know she was enjoying an ‘Ohana-themed breakfast. (You know about ‘Ohana right? I’ll have to write about that later, but for now just check this out: disneyworld.disney.go/Ohana). She then told us about her plan to watch and eat around the world - Epcot style - from her home. I liked the idea so much, I decided Joel and I had to do it, too.
“Drinking Around the World” is something that’s gained a lot of popularity over the years. Epcot has many delicious things to offer the 21+ crowd. Food and Wine, Flower and Garden and the Arts festivals are amazing events, but even in non-festival season, one of the best things about Epcot is the World Showcase. There are eleven pavilions from around the world, all offering food, shows, drinks, specialty souvenirs and more. I have favorites from each pavilion and we attempted to recreate them for dinner every night.
To seee what we created and watched to celebrate the pavilions of Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, the USA, Japan, Morocco, France, the U.K and Canada… keep reading. In Part One we are reviewing Mexico to the USA.
The first step was planning.
I wrote down all my ideas for each country
(pro-tip: always have a sketchbook on hand)
Next, was looking up all the recipes and buying all the ingredients. I’ll include a link to all the recipes I tried, and write out the ones I made myself. After a few kitchen fails, lots of laughter and learning, we completed the task. We ate, drank and watched around the world and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
The first pavilion you’ll see in the World Showcase is Mexico.
Wonderful Mexico Pavilion, home to all things Coco, Día de Muertos and The Three Caballeros. (Don’t even get me started on my love for La Cava del Tequila.) We played it a little safe for this pavilion, I won’t lie. Chicken tacos and fresh margs aren’t exactly a stranger to our home. If you’re looking for an easy, go-to taco meal for four (or for two with leftovers) - here’s what you’ll need:
For Tacos:
A pack of corn or flour tortillas (we usually pick flour)
2 avocados
Chicken breast (cut into strips or cubes - your choice)
Three peppers (again, your choice)
One white onion
Cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, onion powder, salt and pepper
Sour cream
Olive oil
Take some time and prep all your ingredients. Grab your spices, chop or slice your peppers and onions and prepare your chicken. After you’ve prepared the chicken, dash a little bit of all the spices and let it vibe on the side in the fridge until we’re ready to add it. In a deep saucepan, heat up some olive oil over medium high. When the pan is hot, throw in your onions and peppers. Dash some seasoning in to your liking and stir around occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the pan. I usually saute for around 10-15 minutes, or until the peppers have become soft. Around the 10 minute mark I throw in the chicken. Sauté again until the chicken is cooked through, about another 10 minutes.
Move to a low temp and let it chill while you prepare some sour cream and sliced avocado for topping. Of course, add whatever you’d like. Cilantro, a squeeze of lime, some queso blanco. It’s your taco and I’m not your boss.
For Margaritas:
2 oz tequila of choice (ours was Espolon Silver)
1.5 oz Triple Sec
1 oz fresh lime juice
Salt for the rim
Lime for garnish
Simple and delicious. Prepare a glass by moistening the rim, dipping in salt and pouring in some crushed ice. Mix all ingredients together in a cold shaker, pour into your glass, garnish with a lime and enjoy.
Make sure to enjoy your meal with a viewing of Three Cabs or Coco, they’re on Disney+.
ONWARD TO NORWAY
Skolebrod (Norwegian custard buns/ School Bread). This meal was much more intimidating. I don’t bake. I’ve never attempted anything like this and honestly - it was much easier than I anticipated. I followed this great recipe from The Spruce Eats and I was so pleased with the outcome. I baked these on Saturday mid-morning and ate one (or two) (or three) while watching Frozen.
Did someone say Mulan? We must be in China.
Not only is Mulan one of the greatest, it’s Joel’s favorite. We created chicken rice bowls for this night, but we often make the same recipe with beef as well. Chopsticks, optional.
To make my rice bowl you’ll need the following:
Chicken breast tenderloins or beef tenderloins
One bag of your local Kroger’s stir fry veggie mix, nothing fancy - just whatever you want
White rice
Soy sauce
Ginger paste
Garlic
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
Start your rice in one pot, or in your rice maker if you’re fancy like that. Start a saucepan with some oil over medium. When it’s hot, toss in a dab of ginger and garlic, saute for a little bit and toss those veggies in with some soy sauce. Once they’ve simmered for 10 minutes, throw in your meat of choice, season with your red pepper and salt and pepper and cook through. I usually add my rice to the pot and mix it all together. But you can keep it separate if that’s what you want to do.
Germany
When you think about the Germany Pavilion in Epcot, you also think about beer and pretzels right? That’s what I thought. It’s a classic - I couldn’t change it up here too much. To make it a full meal I sauteed some brats in beer and onions. I followed these recipes: Bon Appetite’s Pretzel Bites and a simple AllRecipe’s Beer Brats. Finding unbleached bread flour during the COVID-19 crisis wasn’t exactly easy - thankfully Publix came through. While you’re cooking up these delicious meals be sure to tune into Snow White, like I did. Or enjoy the Tangled soundtrack - there’s no wrong choice here.
Beer I suggest snagging for Germany: Schofferhofer Hefeweizen Grapefruit, for a true Epcot classic - and if you can’t find that (like us) try König Ludwig Weissbier.
Sing for me, Paolo - Italy
Via Napoli… I miss you so. Neapolitan-style pizza is easily the most delicious. It’s simple to make, and easy to eat. We waited until Friday night, gathered the ingredients and made Negronis to go with them. A Negroni is a classic Italian cocktail - a little on the bitter side but very enjoyable. Follow Bon Appetite’s recipe and enjoy during prep, meal and after while you watch The Lizzie McGuire Movie.
I followed a really easy recipe for the pizza, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.
We’re ending part one with the USA.
The American Adventure Pavilion
A favorite of mine in Epcot is enjoying a showing of the Voices of Liberty, an a cappella group that sings before the start of every American Adventure show. I know there’s a new BBQ restaurant (hopefully I’ll get down there soon to try it) but for these meal we went with a classic, burgers and fries. I suggest pairing it with a local beer - a super American thing to do. Although there are many American Disney movies to choose from, we chose to view Captain America while cooking and eating.
I didn’t follow a set recipe here, and I also live in an apartment and don’t have a grill. I do, however, have a griddle - you can follow along with this recipe if you’re unsure how to cook burgers on a griddle. It made some very delicious burgers. Simply grab some burger patties, season them to your liking and top accordingly. I cooked mine with onions and holy cow - they were to die for. For fries, cut your own or buy them frozen. It’s really up to you.
To read about what we did for the remaining pavilions go to part 2!
