The Unofficial World Cup of Food 2010 - Update

It is precisely one week today that the biggest sporting event of all, the FIFA World Cup, kicks off in its nominated destination for 2010, South Africa. This is the first time that the four-yearly tournament has ever been held on the African continent and it is likely to prove to be something special, for that fact alone.

As advised a couple of weeks back, I have decided to invite and engage the assistance of a number of food writers from around the world to showcase their talents on this blog during the month long tournament, preparing a dish representative of their respective countries, on a date upon which their country is actually playing a match. I have labelled this project, "The Unofficial World Cup of Food 2010." I hope that you will pay a return visit to see some of the dishes prepared in relation to this project and meet some of those people who will be creating them. With this in mind, below is a short guide to some of the writers who will be featured in the first week (approximately) of the tournament and the countries they will be representing... I have to keep some things back as a surprise!

Saturday, 12th June

This one day had to be a special one, for the reason that England and the USA open their campaigns against each other. As the majority of readers of this blog are in one of those two countries, I decided to feature both!

Cooking for England will be Marie Rayner and for the USA, The Thrillbilly Gourmet (aka DixieMockingbird).

Sunday, 13th June

Representing Germany will be Chef Keem, sharing with us some Bavarian delights, which I personally love so much.

Thursday, 17th June

Colene Pefley from the USA has kindly agreed to, "Guest," feature on behalf of Mexico, a country of which she has substantial knowledge of the food and culture.

Saturday, 19th June

This day will see Susanna Duffy cook for Australia, as her country goes up against Ghana on the field of play.

The 2010 World Cup is likely to be a very different spectacle for me personally from the 2006 tournament in Germany. At this stage of the lead-up four years ago, I was counting down the hours until a couple of friends and I flew out to Munich to take in the first couple of weeks of the event. Unfortunately, only two of us actually made it out there but we set off with high hopes of actually getting match tickets, ideally for the Brazil v Australia game which was taking place in the city during the period of our stay. We were offered two tickets on the underground market - at a cost of US$2,000 each! Needless to say, we watched the match on TV in one of the city's biergartens...

It was my first taste of the true atmosphere of the World Cup and the multi-national, multi-cultural spirit which it incorporates. I will never forget until the day I die being one of two Scots sitting in the huge Michaelibad Biergarten in Eastern Munich on a beautiful, scorching hot day as Germany prepared to play a match. I think that we were the only two foreigners in the place and the roar as untold thousands of Germans rose for and sang, "Deutschland Uber Alles", certainly made the hairs stand up on the backs of our necks. It was a fantastic spectacle, however, and an incredible experience.

What will follow on this blog over the next few weeks is my humble attempt to bring some of that variety, entertainment and multi-culturalism to food. I hope that all who follow it are in some way at least educated and entertained.

The tournament itself? UK bookmakers Ladbrokes still make Spain the favourites to lift the trophy, followed by Brazil, Argentina, England and Holland, in that order. Time will of course tell...

The FIFA World Cup, 2010 (South Africa) - Special Food Feature Coming Soon!

The FIFA World Cup is the most eagerly anticipated sporting event on Planet Earth. The finals of the tournament take place once every four years, following an approximate two-year qualifying campaign, and last for one calendar month. Thirty-two nations from around the planet, all hoping for the glory of scooping the greatest sporting prize of all, the FIFA World Cup.

So what has the FIFA World Cup got to do with what any of us may intend having for dinner tonight, or indeed any night during the course of the tournament? Won't most people simply sit in front of their TV with some microwaved meal or some takeaway fast food? No doubt many will, but hopefully - with the indispensable assistance of some other food enthusiasts from around the world - I can encourage many of you to make a little bit of extra effort this time around and add a whole new dimension to your enjoyment of the FIFA World Cup.

In simple terms, what I intend to do - for the duration of the tournament - is feature a whole host of dinner suggestions from around the world, representative of one of the countries which happen to be playing a match that particular day. As World Cup tradition dictates that the first match of the tournament always features the host nation playing another country who happen to have been drawn in their group, Friday, 11th June, will feature something representative of South Africa. That was always my intention from the outset.

With regard to Saturday, 12th June, I initially appeared to have hit my first major snag. I am aware that the vast majority of readers of this blog are in either the UK or the USA. Although the UK does not compete as one team in the World Cup, England are featured and not only were England and the USA drawn in the same group (one in eight chance!) but they both play their first match on the same day...against each other! "Which to feature?" was my first thought...

Inspiration fortunately saved me in due course: why not feature both? Particularly as the day in question is a Saturday and a majority of people will have more free time than on a weekday, why not ask an American chef/cook to go up against an English chef/cook in advance of the match itself? Two very different dinner suggestions on the same day: two for the price of one! More details on that one to follow very soon...

I will update in advance on the blog which countries you can find represented on each day, throughout the tournament, as and when I can. I very much hope that whatever happens on the pitches around South Africa, the culinary diversities which we can and will explore here can be appreciated by all who view them.

As for the World Cup itself? At the time of writing, UK Bookmakers, Ladbrokes, make Spain the pre-tournament favourites, followed by Brazil, England, Argentina and Germany, in that order. Interestingly in this respect, no European team has ever won the World Cup when it has been hosted outwith the continent of Europe. Time will of course tell whether that is about to change...