Embassy of Mexico’s Chef Raùl Guerrero shares this traditional red snapper recipe. By Amélie Crosson

Photography by Photoluxstudio.com - Christian Lalonde, styling by Noah Witenoff

Chef Raùl Guerrero has been cooking at the embassy of Mexico for the past 11 years. Though himself a native of Mexico City, chef Guerrero aims to highlight cuisines from around the country: fish from Veracruz, for instance; a cactus salad from the Mexico City area; chiles en nogada from Puebla; and sopa de lima from the Yucatán. When dignitaries from Mexico are at the table, Guerrero goes with a Canadian theme, serving salmon seasoned with maple. He finds some Mexican specialties — canned cactus, for example — at Video Latino on Somerset Street and heads to Herb and Spice on Wellington to source fresh ingredients such as chilies serranos, tomatillos, and guanabana.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ambassador Else Berit Eikeland shares this traditional Norwegian dish of gravlax with mustard sauce. By Amélie Crosson

Photography by Photoluxstudio.com - Christian Lalonde, styling by Noah Witenoff

Unless there’s a special event or dinner, Ambassador Else Berit Eikeland and her teenage children are the cooks at the embassy of Norway. “Kids need to learn how to cook,” says the ambassador, who arrived in Ottawa in September 2009. Ms. Eikeland, who grew up in a village on the southwest coast, enjoyed the typical Norwegian diet of the time: fish almost every day, with meat on Sundays. “Today in Norway, people eat more spaghetti than potatoes, but I am introducing my kids to traditional Norwegian cuisine,” she says. That means fish and fresh vegetables — especially potatoes, carrots, peas, and cabbage. Visitors to the embassy always enjoy the ambassador’s own gravlax with mustard sauce.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mrs. Hafna Benamara, wife of the ambassador of Algeria shares this national dish of couscous and lamb. By Amélie Crosson

Photography by Photoluxstudio.com - Christian Lalonde, styling by Noah Witenoff

This is the second Ottawa posting for Mrs. Hafna Benamara, wife of the ambassador of Algeria. When she first came in the late 1980s, she was a newlywed, the wife of the first secretary. “Ottawa was completely different then,” she says. Finding the ingredients for couscous, the national dish of Algeria, was impossible. “There was one tiny Lebanese store, but that was it,” she explains. Fortunately, by 2006, when Mrs. Benamara returned to the capital as the wife of the ambassador, the culinary landscape had been transformed: she’s now able to find everything she needs. Couscous may be the national dish of Algeria, but each region of the country has its variations. In the east of the country, where Mrs. Benamara is from, couscous is served with a buttery white sauce; in the mountains, it would be prepared with lots of oil from locally grown olives; in the west, cumin is the principal seasoning. She finds her ingredients at Nedroma Market (375 St. Laurent Blvd.) and Chez Jamel (89, boul. St. Raymond, Gatineau).

Read the rest of this entry »