A Gastronomically Great Race

One of the fun things about being a traveling family is finding ways to learn about new cultures even while we are at home.  Reading about the Great Automobile Race of 1908 triggered a memory of the 1965 movie The Great Race.  If you haven’t seen this slapstick comedy starring Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood, you should, if only to see the “greatest pie fight ever.”  Not only is at fun family comedy, but it is a great backdrop for some new cultural experiences.

The Great Race pairs the classic hero in white against the villain who is dogged by failure in a race around the world from New York to Paris.   Along the way they have antic filled stopovers in the old west, the arctic, Russia, a fictional principality in Austria, and finally Paris.  With each stop, I had planned to serve an ethnic dish as we marked the route on our large world map.

As the overture faded into the opening credits, I served dinner-hot dogs as a nod to New York and the beginning of the race.  Maybe not the most authentic New York cuisine, but I needed to press the easy button for one part of the meal.  While the kids enjoyed their hot dogs, they cheered for the hero and booed the villain, while laughing at the pratfalls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the racers pull into the old west town of Borracho (Spanish for drunk), I served a frosty mug of sarsaparilla.  I served another glass of berry punch with large chunks of ice (iceburgs) as the racers floated along an ice floe in the Bering Sea.  I hadn’t intended to serve two drinks back to back, but my memory on the movie was a bit fuzzy.

Once in Russia, I served the first of the truly “foreign” foods.  Oladi (Russian pancakes) are made with kefir into a creamy batter and fried in oil.  These are often served with honey or jam, but for a special treat they are served with sour cream and caviar.   Opting for the more economical dish, we served ours with fruit and syrup.  All of the kids gobbled these up and wished for more.

With still a bit of room left in our stomachs, we savored Vanillekipferl, a buttery Austrian cookie as the racers arrived in the fictitious kingdom in Austria.  This was by far my favorite dish of the night with a lightly sweet almond flavor and a perfect crisp.  Don’t tell, but I have a few of these stashed away for my breakfast in the morning.

While in Austria, the racers find themselves embroiled in an epic pie fight with the duke and all his royal cooks.  This movie never knew critical or box office acclaim, but it is remembered as a classic for filming the largest pie fight ever staged.  Watching the rollicking fun of the pie fight, it seemed only fair that we have one of our own.   At first the kids were skeptical, but their disbelief quickly shifted to pie throwing action when they discovered 12 pie tins filled to overflowing with whipped cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had feared that an overzealous pie tin to the face would transform our evening of global fun into a crying trip to the ER.  Fortunately, not only was no one hurt, but the fight will go down in family history as one of the best things we have ever done.  If you have never done this with your kids before, do it now.  You won’t regret it.  The kids were delightfully covered in stickiness, the mister and I laughed until cheeks rolled down our faces, and the ants in my backyard had a royal feast.  It was a win-win-win for everyone.

We hosed off the stickiness and went back inside to watch the last few minutes of the movie.  As a final treat, I had popped brie en croute into the oven before the epic battle and it was just ready to be served in all its ooey, gooey splendor.  “This was the best day ever! I am going to remember this until I am 62,”  Evan exclaimed as he filled his mouth with a cracker covered in brie.    Sitting there with a plate of brie  in my lap, surrounded by my happy kids, I couldn’t help but agree with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

See what other travelers are eating at Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick