Catablogue: Morsels and Musings

Morsels and Musings: A Scattered Collection of Recipes and Thoughts

Surprise, surprise: another food-related blog has caught my eye! Morsels and Musings has a decidedly international bent; it makes recipes from around the world look and sound appealing and, with clear instructions in the numerous recipes, perfectly accessible, too. Well, so long as you can get your hands on all of the ingredients, that is. Local grocers do not offer cavolo nero in the produce aisle or stock smoked salt amongst the spices, so I can just cross out this recipe. Oh, and I can't find persimmons. Or sumac. Or kaffir leaves. Or . . .

But the point is that, supposing you're able to obtain all the necessary ingredients, you can access any number of recipes from Morsels and Musings to expand your culinary horizons by trying dishes from across the globe. If you're on a mission to find and prepare an international recipe from someplace in particular, start with the blog's sidebar and scroll down to "Regional Categories." You have some very specific options to choose from--not just "Asia," for example, but "Central/South Asia," "North Asia," "Southeast Asia," or "Oceania/Australasia"! (I love options.)

Or you could scroll down a bit further and find (still in the sidebar) "My Favourite Blogs," each blog listed with the country represented by its blogger. This list--and "Chefs Online" and "Food-Related Links" still further down in the sidebar--expands your opportunities to explore multicultural cuisine via Morsels and Musings.

If you peruse Morsels and Musings in reverse chronological order, you will enjoy the blogger's stories about traveling and dining out interspersed with posts about her cooking and baking, and you will get to know personal details about the cook behind the diverse dishes. If you'd rather use the blog strictly as a source of new recipes, however, I recommend the recipe index, which is organized by category so that you can choose from a list of soups, or a list of appetizers, etc. Either way, it's a very user-friendly and appealing blog.

Why should Morsels and Musings take an around-the-world approach to cooking and eating? Well, it might be a result of the blogger's being a half-American Australian omnivore living "down under" with her vegetarian Swedish husband! She writes, "My aim is to explore international cuisines and try to cook my way around the world as well as use interesting and exotic (to me) ingredients that I stumble upon" (citation). I'm glad that she's also sharing it all on the Interwebs with you and me!

(What is a catablogue?)