On The Menu - Travel - 250

Objective:

Go to a restaurant and sample the food of a country whose cuisine you have never tried.

Details:

We all have our favorite cuisines, but it's time to step out of our comfort zones and try something new! 

1) Identify a country whose cuisine you have never tried before. It should, of course, be a type of food you can feasibly travel to, even if that means a road trip will be needed to get there!

At this point, many of our more adventurous quest scouts are grumbling at their screens, saying something to the effect of "But I can't do that! There is no food I haven't tried!" If this is you, try the following:

Option A- First, please REALLY dig deep for this one. This is a difficult objective, but for most people it should be doable! Try your hardest to identify a country whose cuisine you've never tasted.

Option B- If it's impossible for you to do option A, choose a country whose food you haven't tried often. 

2) Go to and eat at a restaurant that serves the type of food you previously identified. If you chose option B, try to order food that is different than what you have tried in the past. 

3) Document your experience with a photo and post it on Instagram, Twitter, or our Facebook Group.
If posting to Instagram or Twitter, use the tag #questscouts. (As always, using a non-private account is best so we can see what you're up to!)

4) Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

Where did you go?
Who did you go with?
What did you order?
What did you think of the food?

On The Menu - Literature - 300

Sitwell has removed one of the sources of pleasure we get from cookbooks, which is the illusion that we are actually going to make every recipe we fancy the look of. But being asked to read recipes for their own sake, rather than with a view to cooking, gives a clearer sense of how they stimulate our imaginations. The vast majority of the recipes we read are hypothetical. 

-Bee Wilson, The New Yorker

Objective:

Read A History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell.

Details:

1) Read A History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell.

Check out the book from you local library, buy it at your local bookstore or get it on Amazon.

2) Write a short book review and post it in the comments below. 

On The Menu - Media - 150

Objective:

Watch one of the food themed movies/documentaries from the list provided.

Details:

1) Choose and watch one of the food themed documentaries/movies listed below.

2) Let us know which you watched and what you thought of it in the comments below. 

Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Directed by David Gelb.

Available from Netflix and Amazon Video Prime.

Spinning Plates. Directed by Joseph Levy.

Available from Amazon Video.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

Available from Netflix DVD and Amazon Video.

On The Menu - DIY - 300

Perfect Pasta Dough from Jamie Oliver's FoodTube.

Objective:

Make pasta from scratch.

Details:

1) Find a recipe for making pasta from scratch. This recipe from Cooks Illustrated looks promising, as it doesn't require a pasta machine. Of course, there are endless recipes to choose from, so go for whichever works for you.

2) Make and eat your pasta! 

3) Photograph a part of the pasta making process, and/or your finished product, and post it to Instagram, Twitter, or our Facebook Group. If posting to Instagram or Twitter, use the tags #questscouts and #pastafromscratch. (As always, using a non-private account is best so we can see what you're up to!)

4) Let us know how your pasta making adventure turned out in the comments below.

What recipe did you use?
Did you cook solo or with a friend?
How long did the process take?
Did you enjoy yourself?
What did it taste like?
Had you made pasta from scratch in the past?
Would you do it again in the future? 

On The Menu - Art - 250

Objective:

Create a print using a vegetable as your stamp.

Details:

1) Watch the above video with Stephen Chambers from Northern Print.

2) Choose a vegetable to use as your printing medium. Potatoes and large carrots work well, but feel free to experiment.

3) Carve your vegetable stamp.

4) Create your print. Paint is usually the best medium for vegetable prints, but again, feel free to use whatever you'd like. 

5) Share a photo of your finished print on Instagram, Twitter, or our Facebook Group. If posting to Instagram or Twitter, use the tags #QuestScouts and #VeggiePrint. (As always, using a non-private account is best so we can see what you're up to!)

On The Menu - Visit - 300

Objective:

Tour a food production facility.

Details:

1) Locate a food production factory/facility that offers tours. This could be a guided or self guided tour. Examples include The Jelly Belly Factory and Bob's Red Mill. 

2) Go on the tour! While there, listen/read carefully for interesting facts.

3) Tell us three things you learned while visiting the factory in the comments below. 

4) Post a photo of yourself at the factory on Instagram, Twitter, or our Facebook Group.

If posting to Instagram or Twitter, use the tag #questscouts.
(As always, using a non-private account is best so we can see what you're up to!)