Foodie Challenge: Cook the F1 (Formula 1)

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In one of those random moments of madness, I decided last night, that I would challenge myself, and Jon, to “cook” the Formula 1.

Jon is a huge fan of the F1 and I guess, in a way I am too, I sit and watch the races, get enthralled in the various team tactics and feel a slight edge of loyalty toward Ferrari. I’m enchanted by the personalities of the drivers and the passion they show for their sport. I even enjoy the Twitter bants when Susie Wolff chooses a slightly less than flattering outfit to wear.

I’d love to go to a race, perhaps one day we will get to watch the racing at Silverstone, or even better, at Monaco.

The F1 takes drivers and their teams across the world to exotic and exciting countries, which is where the inspiration for my challenge came from.

Admittedly, I have missed the first two races in Australia and Bahrain but have many more exciting opportunities to experience the cuisine from these countries, right in my own home.

The Challenge:

Each race day we will cook a regional dish from the host country, I have set no specific challenge that dictates that it must be a main meal. So everything is an option, pastries, dessert, savoury breads, meals or side dishes etc.

Some countries are going to be a lot easier to choose from China, USA and Mexico for example. But, others are going to be a bigger challenge – such as Azerbaijan.

I’m not going to choose an easy dish just because I know I can cook it, this is a challenge afterall!

The races:

Taking us almost throughout the whole year the race season, which started back in March in Australia, with the second race (and a rather eventful one at that, my healing thoughts go out to the Ferrari mechanic injured during a pitstop) this weekend in Bahrain, continues right through until November finishing in Abu Dhabi:

• Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai, 13-15 April
• Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Baku, 27-29 April
• Spanish Grand Prix – Barcelona, 11-13 May
• Monaco Grand Prix – Monte Carlo, 24, 26-27 May
• Canadian Grand Prix – Montreal, 8-10 June
• French Grand Prix – Le Castellet, 22-24 June
• Austrian Grand Prix – Spielberg, 29 June-1 July
• British Grand Prix – Silverstone, 6-8 July
• German Grand Prix – Hockenheim, 20-22 July
• Hungarian Grand Prix -Budapest, 27-29 July
• Belgian Grand Prix – Spa-Francorchamps, 24-26 August
• Italian Grand Prix – Monza, 31 August-2 September
• Singapore Grand Prix – Marina Bay, 14-16 September
• Russian Grand Prix – Sochi, 28-30 September
• Japanese Grand Prix – Suzuka, 5-7 October –
• United States Grand Prix – Austin, 19-21 October*
• Mexican Grand Prix -Mexico City, 26-28 October
• Brazilian Grand Prix – Sao Paulo, 9-11 November
• Abu Dhabi Grand Prix -Yas Marina, 23-25 November

The Aim:

To take a worldwide tour through food yet not leave my own doorstep (other than to get ingredients of course!), to challenge ourselves to try new cuisine we wouldn’t usually attempt. I want to combine two of my loves in life.

I’m not expecting to have a success with every meal I cook during the challenge, but what I do hope is to build a recipe list for use again and again – outside of my regular favourites – and perhaps even try the failures again to see if I can do it right!

I like experimenting with food and love challenging myself to cook new things, though I must admit it only ever goes well when I copy from a recipe – even then, it’s not always a success – I think back to the orange cake I made a couple of weeks ago which ended up in the bottom of the bin because it quite easily could’ve been used as some sort of sinking device!

I may even have attempted to cook the host countries dishes before!

I’m look forward to taking on this challenge – you will be able to follow my progress on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #CooktheF1

Are you able to provide me with any recipes to try for the host countries? I’d love your thoughts and inspiration!

Peace out!

Jangles x

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