Kick it! THE Food World Cup Round-up ... do I need to say more?

This is the day you all have been waiting for! Right, only if you followed or joined or joined and followed the Bloggers Around the World - World Cup 2014 - Brazil challenge. It has been a few weeks of intense football cooking action kind of action in the kitchen and ... beyond. Now, there are only a few things left to do while I type things away until my fingers start to bleed and my brain starts to say 'no more, no more'.
However, first things first and last things last and a lot of cooking in between ...

First of all, I wish to thank everyone for their great support. So, thank you very very very much Galina, Cheryl, Vohn, Caroline, Ruth, Alison, Deon, Gayathri, Karen, Anchu and Catwoman. It has been a lot of fun with you and I hope we can do such a thing again in the future.
Besides that, one of you has won a lovely price of some lovely chocolate. For me, though, you all deserve it. However, as the rules go, there can only be one winner. Obviously, that one is not Catwoman. In order to find out, who the winner is, you have to bear with me for a while.
Another thing we have to find out is, which country made it to be the winner of the Food World Cup. Before we like to kick that off, we need to get you in the mood with a few recipes from the host of  the event, from BRAZIL ...

One of the most popular dishes in Brazil is Feijoada. Lovely Galina from Chez Maximka saw that, too and so she gave us her version of it.  

Still, you could do it slightly different as well and go and visit the Madhouse Family Reviews! blog and see what amazing Cheryl has done in that direction ... and ... check out her Feijoada, too.

Now, before you think, it's just beans and all and it will give us all a lot of wicked air, try Cheryl's Fruity Brazilian Burgers with Coleslaw. If you love burgers, you will love that one, too.

Then again, you could have a Brazilian Potato Salad, too. Let Galina introduce you to such a delightful version ...

Next comes another famous Brazilian dish I already had my eyes on. However, there was one lady, that was a bit faster then me. No, I'm not complaining. I could only complain about me as being Captain Slow, but hey, why should I. Here I have a wonderful recipe for Vatapa, a creamy fish/prawn stew, I can still try any time I feel like it.

Another one to tune you in for Brazil comes all the way from Scotland and from Vohn and Vohn's Vittles. Well, originally it was supposed to bring you happiness in a cold winter, but it will bring you happiness now, as well. Try some Papaya and Melon Jam.

Vohn has something else going for us, Brazilian slow-roasted lamb. That made me very hungry the moment I read it. Additionally I was due to get some food at that time.

Care for a drink now? Then let Vohn serve you Strawberry, Melon and Mint Sucos.

We are not yet ready to start properly, there is still one more Brazilian post of a non match day kind. Cheryl gives us Beef Churrasco & Farofa.

So far to the the prologue for our event. Now we are going to kick it and I'll give you the countries in ascending order until we get to the winner ...



In the real World Cup itself Honduras just scored one goal and ... strangely ... we also had just one entry for HONDURAS.
However, it's just a coincidence, that Cheryl felt the recipe she tried for Honduras was a total disaster. In this case, though, there is still the opportunity to adjust the settings to get a different outcome, whereas you can't change the fact that Honduras didn't make it too far with the World Cup. What am I talking. Have a look at Cheryl's recipe for Pupusas from Honduras. I still feel the name has something intriguing ...

Let Cheryl tell you what went wrong.

The question, what went wrong with JAPAN and why we have just one entry for that country as well, has to go to ... I don't know. Caroline, though, knows how to give us a delicious Japanese dessert with chocolate: Chocolate Mochi. She dug deep in the depth of her blog to present this to us ...

GHANA also left us after the first round with one entry. Cheryl was so kindly and go that way to bring us Bananas Ghana to satisfy our sweet teeth as well. So, next time you have extra bananas, don't do banana bread, but Bananas Ghana. Right, you don't need to wait until you have extra bananas.

We like to stay a bit with Cheryl ... because she thinks, she is totally clever. There is no denying this from my side now. She thought, she could do a South American post and get quadruple points for it, because the dish covers four countries. Clever thinking! Sure, there are quite some dishes that don't know any borders. This one here is called Black Bean Soup. While it could represent Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil, today it goes for URUGUAY. This way we have at least one entry for this country.

So far for all the countries that got just one entry ...

Now to the ones that fought a little bit harder. Did they? Ah, of course, it was due to your amazing efforts to give them a higher ranking. So let's continue with the group of two ...

This brings us right away to PORTUGAL. Here Galina has some chicken for us, Portuguese-style chicken. Oh, what makes a chicken Portuguese-style? Head over and find out and ... you will reader as well about some disasters that have absolutely nothing to do with that chicken.

I don't know whether it is essential to have chicken for a proper Portuguese meal, but here we go again with chicken. Caroline has a Piri Piri Chicken recipe for us. By the way, do you know what's the difference between Piri Piri and Peri Peri ... apart from the obvious difference of the two 'i' and 'e'?

So far regarding Portugal. Let us move a bit to the East, well a bit more even. That will lead us to KOREA.
Cheryl has something for us, I have never heard of before: Japchae. However ... have a quick guess ... yes, chicken is involved here, too. At least we are familiar with that.

So you see, there is a bit more to it, not just chicken.

The next entry for Korea is making me a little bit sad. Hm, no, it's not the entry, it's Vohn that is making me sad. Ah, I'm kidding, she is not really making me said, although I would have loved it had she made her Kimchi by burying some jars underground, but hey, no worries, it's going to be lovely anyway ...

... we continue with ECUADOR. There is also a song with that same title, but most probably you don't know it. In fact, you don't need to know. Something more noteworthy, though, are the Potato Cakes with Peanut Butter Sauce.

I really like the idea of that dish and I hope I get the chance to try it myself.

Another very lovely dish from Ecuador is brought to us from Cheryl. Cheese! Do I have to say more? Yes, I have, because it's called Baked Cheese Empanadas. Anyway, there is a good reason, why I love this. Cheese! Now I need not say more.

We already have to leave Ecuador and travel South travel through a country, which didn't even take part in the World Cup, and then we will reach CHILE ...

Here I had something colourful for you with Avocado, stuffed. It's called Palta Reina.

So ... what about the second one for Chile? Well, we had it already up there for Uruguay. Remember the black bean soup from Cheryl? Yep, that's the one.

As we are heading over to SWITZERLAND we are going to serve something sweet with chocolate. We wouldn't want it any other way now. Those two entries came all in on the same day.

The first go had Caroline with her Slimming World-style Low Fat Chocolate Swiss Roll. So we are safe, no need to worry about your waistline here.

I cannot assure you, though, another waistline-worry-free entry next as I remind you of my Engadine Nut Pie V2.0.

Oh, I guess I still have to do some workouts to work that pie off.

Let's continue on our way around the world and have a stopover in Africa in NIGERIA. Here I had something for you I wanted to recreate already for a long time and ... it was a success for me: Semolina Fufu and Nigerian Chicken Soup. 

Nigeria playing was also the opportunity for Gayathri from Spices Galore to join the fun with kicking food around the world with us ... eh ... rather cooking. Here we get some Black Eye Pea Fritters called Akara in Nigeria or if you would have them in Brazil Acarje.

Don't they just look gorgeous? For sure something worth trying, if you are into fritters.

We like to stay in Africa and have some entries for ALGERIA.

Grab some fill pastry and go for Cheryl's Bourek. Have a closer look to find out what is inside those lovely parcels.

Over to Alison for Algeria's kick out dish. Well, it was for their last game and the post actually contains another recipe for the country that played Algeria on that day. What am I saying? Ah, have a look at the next picture, the carrots are Algerian-style. More about this post at a later time, though ...


The country next in line for presentation is COSTA RICA. They fought hard to stay a bit longer in the competition, but there was not too much cooking in that direction. Nevertheless, let me tell what we had there.
I showed you what the day to day married life could be like in Costa Rica when it comes to food. The name of the dish: Casado.

You might not have freshly harvested peppers, but you still might want to try Cheryll's dish from Costa Rica: Chile Rellenos Casserole.

Wow, we already made it far, but ... we haven't even started properly yet. There is still a lot more to come as we go to the next group ...

We couldn't really know how this World Cup challenge would develop when it all started with the first match Brazil vs CROATIA. 
At the beginning it started firing Croatian recipes. First off was Cheryl with her Torn Underpants ... ahem ... that is the name of the dish, when you translate the name into English. Otherwise you can just call it Kiflice.

On that very same day I brought you Fritule, nice little balls to snack away or play food football with by kicking them into your mouth.

Alright, we also have something savoury for you. Galina made some Cevapi for us. While we are at it, I have to mention something Galina might not like, but there are voices saying, that some of the Cevapi "look like poo". Anyway, that wouldn't deter us from trying ...

From this incident we like to move over to Down Under, to AUSTRALIA.
Because of that Vohn offers us her favourite Aussie dessert, a Spring Pavlova. While there we get a little bit of background information about pavlova and the opportunity to judge whether less is more.

Onward with more cake. Here my Surfer Cake has to do for Australia as well. By the way, do you think surfing is more fun than football?

To round things off here, Cheryl adds some ANZAC biscuits to the sweet collection for Australia.

THE NETHERLANDS stayed right to the end in the World Cup and managed place 3, here it managed 3 entries.
One of those three was Cheryl's version of the Hairy Bikers' Dutch Apple Cake.

We stay in the cake department for the Netherlands with another cake from Galina: Advocaat Cake.

We like to stay a bit with Galina and change the department only slightly. We stay sweet with these wonderful cookies: Speculaas.

Then we have to leave for another country. We are at 4 here. That very country is BELGIUM ...
Here we start with a dish from the miller's wife ... eh ... with a dish from Caroline, which is called Sole Meunire, which means that the fish in this recipe is cooked the way the wife of the miller would have done. We don't know, though, exactly which miller. The only thing we know is, that he is from Belgium.

Maybe afterwards you would love to have a piece go Galina's Belgian Apple Tart. I would!

Somewhere on my blog you will find a Belgium recipe for Stoemp ... you know, no confusion here, please.

Finally, we got another savoury dish for Belgium ... from Cheryl this time. It's beef in ale and we call it Beef Carbonnade. For sure I would enjoy this one, too.

We have already travelled a lot, but we are still hungry for more. Well, then it's time to go to RUSSIA ...

The first dish to present to you is from Caroline. It's Russian Shashlik Kebabs. It's a lovely thing with sticking chunks of lamb and vegetables. Judge yourself ...

Another one comes from Galina, of course, and it's called Pirozhki. I only have to keep in mind to also try it myself, for it is exactly something I want to try.

We continue and get again something from Caroline. We get cake, a Russina Doll Cake to be more precise. Isn't that looking totally lovely? Sure it is!

 

Still on we go with Russia and Mushroom Stroganoff from Vohn. It comes with a promise: low fat, but ... I lvd it anyway. I so adore the way it looks.

Then we got one final one with yet more mushrooms: Mushroom Julienne from Galina. Don't be afraid of the Julienne part, it's lovely ...

Don't cry for me ARGENTINA. Fine, they made it right to the final of the World Cup, but it wasn't enough to get the Food World Cup title. Well, every World Cup has its own rules and so did our little challenge. 
'Have I said too much? There is nothing more I can think of to say to you. But all you have to do is look at me to know that every word is true.'
On then, here are the entries for Argentina ...
Caroline has something sweet for us: Pionono Dulce de Leche. I just love the sounds of it. After all I know what dulce de leche tastes like.

 

Or would you rather like to have a Steak with Chimmichurri. Caroline can offer that as well. Have a look!

 

Others have attempted chimmichurri, too. Read a story of failure and success as Vohn turns her Mint Chimichurri into something else. Well, you have to read it to find out what it is, this is the Mint Chimichurri ...

 

You can also have an Argentinian Potato Salad, if you wish. At least this is what Cheryl has made for us.

 

Something to feast on comes from the wonderful and lovely Karen from Lavender and Lovage: Argentinian Picada. For sure there is something on the plate to satisfy everyone.

Now that we had those lovely recipes, we climb up the ladder to the countries with six entries. Yes, I know it's keeping to get more and more and more and more ... eh ... just go on then with ...

ITALY ... everyone loves Italian food. You eat it all over the world, I'd say. So, no wonder Italy is up here.

We commence here with Caroline and Spinach, Cottage Cheese and Roasted Garlic Cannelloni.  

Apart from pasta, focaccia is also always something lovely Italian. Therefore, behold Galina's Focaccia Ripiena.

Back to Caroline and back to pasta with Spaghetti Bolognese. The recipe is from her almost-first cookbook.

Among the things Italian everyone loves is of course pizza. Here I have a not so common version fro my blog: Pizza with potato and thyme.

I reckon after all this, there is some time for ... a salad. Galina has the right thing for us: Insalata Caprese.

However, Galina has more for us, although she wasn't so happy that day, when she posted something for the loosing team. Nevertheless, the dish looks totally gorgeous with those flowers in it. Welcome, Spaghetti Primavera! (although we have summer right now)

That means now we have to leave Italy and travel on. By the way, do you know how many times I already nearly pressed the publish button while writing this? I hope I can make it to the finish without pressing that button in reality.

The next stop is GREECE. Oh, that wasn't too far away. So get ready for some delicious Greek recipes ...

Pastitsio - Greek Pasta Bake is the first dish on our list and it is presented by Caroline and if you have regularly followed the Bloggers Around the World challenge, this may look familiar to you. 

 

A lovely starter comes from Cheryl with her Dolmades (Stuffed Vine Leaves). Do you think you could roll them up, too? See what they taste like ...

 

The next dish in line somehow sounds like fusion: Baked Prawn Enchiladas with Feta Cheese by Caroline. Hm ... that sounds Mexican to me, but ... hey ... there is feta here and we all connect that with Greece.

 

Don't think that Caroline and Cheryl are just taking turns here, but we like to continue with Cheryl and Greek-Style Lamb, Potato & Thyme Kleftiko. Oh, would that be lovely now ...

 

Now we stay with Cheryl and have a Tart with Tomatoes, Olives and Capers ... another mouth-watering dish.

 

Somehow I get the feeling Mexico and Greece go well together. See for yourself as you go for these gorgeous and yummy Mediterranean Quesadillas from Gayathri.

On we go to the USA. What kind of food are you going to expect here? What do you say? Ah, whatever, have a look at our entries for the USA ...

Have a drink first: Pina Colapple. I bet you didn't see that one coming. Vohn thought, we should try that one. I say, why not!

He he he ... oh ... cake, yes cake is next, from Caroline. She has a delicious Doberge Cake. It comes from New Orleans and have a guess, where it originates from originally ...

We need to have more sweets. This time Caroline has Mini Heath Bar Pies for us. I fear, it will be dangerous, if I would have more than just one, but ... could I resist?

As it seems Caroline persists into staying on the sweet side for America. Here she does it again with American-Style Banana Pancakes.

I reckon there is just no way in helping Caroline here. As our main supporter for the USA she strictly wants to keep sweet. That's the way she is. Sooooo ... have some Chocolate and Peanut Butter with Reece's Cups Cupcakes. They are so so so yummy that I wish I had one or two or three right now. Yes, I know, I should have stopped after two.

So what about the last entry for USA. Will it be sweet, too? Would it be in Caroline's hand, you might know the answer, but the last recipe is coming from someone else, Cheryl that is. Honestly, for me that is one of my favourites, too. Next time I only have to make sure, I'll serve it the same way Cheryl did. So, without any further ado I bring you Parmesan Chicken ...

Now we end our almost-sweet stopover in the USA and travel back to Europe to SPAIN. That also means now we are having a country with seven entries. So we are really progressing here, but still the winner had more than double of that.

We have some potatoes first, Patatas a lo pore - poor man's potatoes. Cheryl quickly threw it together for us.

Deon from Foodjam has something that is intrinsically tied with Spain for us: Paella. It makes you automatically think of Spain, doesn't it? If you do it correctly it will be a wonderful dish. Simply let Deon tell you how to do it ...

Alternatively, though, you could Caroline tell you how to make Paella. However, you have to remember we are not doing a paella competition here. Otherwise we would ask for huge pans that could feed entire villages.

For the next one we cannot be 100 % sure whether they would serve it in Spain, but ... hey ... there is chorizo it it. I would eat it that way any time: Easy Peasy Cheesy Stuffed Peppers from Vohn. Go and check out Vohn's beautifully put together photo recipe.

Here we go for another quick dish: Tortilla Española from Ruth over at 8&Ruth. Although this is a Spanish omelette, it's more than that, it's more filling than just an omelette with eggs ... eh ... just have a look.

Cheryl was so kind to make my favourite Spanish dessert: Crème Catalane. I well remember the day when I had a shop-bought one. I simply let it slide directly from the package into my mouth and devoured it literally with one bite. Well, that wasn't really a good thing to do. However, Cheryl has this wonderful homemade dessert especially for me ... eh ... us now ...

Finally already again the last entry: Ensalada Mediterranea from Galina. Another colourful, good to look at and ... of course delicious dish ...

As we leave Spain we continue with one of my favourite cuisines. Thanks to that cuisine we are here anyway. Wouldn't be of Mexican food I wouldn't have started cooking in the way I am doing now. So, off to MEXICO then with a big leap to the group of 10 entries ...

Here we start with Vohn and her step-by-step photo tutorial for Quesadillas ... full of cheesy goodness.

Caroline likes to make it cheesy for us as well with her Cheesy Mexican Chicken. If you ask me, why not, bring it on!

Did I tell you, it's quite some work putting up this round-up? Sure, you gathered that already yourself before we even finished the challenge as the posts came flooding in. Here Caroline has another Mexican chicken dish for us. This time Mexican Chicken in Mole Sauce. Just make sure you don't confuse mole with the cute little character from Wind in the Willows (I would never confuse that, though). Anyway, just to make me comfortable, Caroline added also a drink in her post, a margarita. Cheers!

Do you know, why I couldn't confused with the Wind in the Willows character? He he he ... eh ... right, I also know guacamole. Speaking of that, we got a lovely recipe from Vohn, Velvet Guacamole. I just adore that velvety look of it ...

The next one is very intriguing to me. Cheryl presented us a Chilli Honey Crumble. Fine, you have to love chilli, but with a nice dollop of clotted cream with it ... it's got to be good.

Well, all this writing up isn't that bad, especially because I have my own writing soundtrack playing in the background. At the moment it was a song from Julieta Venegas, a Mexican singer. You might not know her and who knows why I know her, but that song was playing ... Eres Para Mí - You're for me. So, I'm not sure who I am for or who is for whom of for her, but I know the following dish from Cheryl is for me: Autumn Stew with Pipian. No, I don't like to have autumn right now, but I like the sounds and looks of it with pumpkin and chilli in it.

Mexico was the point where things totally kicked in for Gayathri and the recipes came flaying in from her - three at once. The first one in this line is the recipe for her Guacamole Hush Puppies. They sound so good.

The second one is Chipotle Black Bean Soup with Orange and Red Onion Salsa. I love the colour the salsa adds to it.

The final entry for Mexico from Gayathri is for her Fajita Wraps. They are promised to be light yet flavourful.

We like to round things up with a lovely Mexican Tomato Soup from Vohn. Eat it hot or chilled.

That's the point where I could start to panic. I thought I had an entry for Mexico, too, but ... obviously I didn't. Oh, in fact I did make something very delicious. Instead of posting the recipe I just posted a photo of a bottle of beer mixed with tequila. Great! Yes, in fact I am a bit sad, that Mexico was out relatively early. I would have enjoyed a bit more time for Mexico ... for sure. Chance gone. I make sure to post that dish at another time.

We're leaving Mexico and head over to ENGLAND for some more food.
Anyone some Queen Cakes? Or shall I rather say Blueberry Muffins. Anyway, let Caroline tell you more about it.

Vohn has something for us I love very much and have done also several times myself: Homade Lemon Curd. Vohn has done another one of her famous photo-step-thingies here. There is also a very intriguing idea at the end of her post.

Now it's burger time with Deon and Cheese Burgers. Hm ... as for me cheese on a burger is almost mandatory.

Another fabulous idea comes from Vohn. There are strawberries, there are meringue nests ... so we are having ... wrong, no ... Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream.

On with something that always works with me ... oh no, I guess I have none left in the fridge, but ... I am not going to plan a trip to the moon either. I just get some cheese from the shop soon. Here we go, though, with Caroline's Posh Cheese on Toast.

Then Caroline has a true British classic for us: Queen of Puddings.

Cheryl though England could use a little boost and brought us another classic with her Bangers with Red Onion Gravy & Root Veg Mash ... although I have to admit the plate is a tiny little bit misleading.

The next entry comes with a very very very big claim from Vohn: The Father of all Prawn Cocktails. Finding out, whether, that is the best ever prawn cocktail would require a bit of research. On the other hand, if you just try this recipe and it tastes totally wonderfully delicious, what need is there to look further.

Now I really have to fight to continue writing. Eh ... no ... it's just the music that is distracting my thoughts again.

Well, it was only minimally distracting when Alison posted her recipe for Elderflower and Gooseberry Sorbet. There were some thoughts regarding gooseberries coming up in my mind, but ... never mind.

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it would happen. At one point I will be looking all over the place for a missing post. Thank you, Galina, but I found it anyway in the end. Here the final post for En-ger-land. So make it a delicious one: Rose Petal & Orange Shortbread.

I don't know about you, but I need a cuppa now ... tea time!

Now there are only three countries left. Who will be the winner? Will it be Germany, Brazil or France? We are about to find out soon ...

As we continue with the last three, we first of all see, that the winner isn't GERMANY, although they won the footie World Cup.

Nevertheless, here the German entries ...

I bring you some sort of German pasta: Käsespätzle. Very important, there is cheese.

It might not be the correct time of the year, but I could eat it anytime: Christmas Stollen Bundt from Caroline ... as long as there is enough marzipan in it. 

Cheryl has a very savoury one for us: Lentil Stew, Abernmauke and Sausage. The second part of the name signifies mashed potatoes. There are many more expressions in Germany for that, too. Find out ...

Don't ask any questions now, but just do it and keep the next entry in mind for a while longer. You will see in a minute, why. Vohn brings us German Bierocks by the Hairy Bikers. No, I'm not hinting to the Hairy Bikers joining us again for the World Cup. Anyway, I would love to try that recipe as well.

I had been experimenting a bit with Black Forest cake a while ago and I thought I enter this one for the World Cup: Mini Blackforest Gateaux. 

We already had one half of Alison's following post for Algeria, here it comes now for Germany with Pork Schnitzel.

Basically, the next entry from Vohn might look a bit familiar, but don't be deceived. This time it's German Sauerkraut. You notice, there is less colour than with the Korean Kimchi.

Next we got another of my posts: Chanterelle, Medallions of Pork and Fried Potatoes.

Over to Cheryl ... still pork ... but it's quick ... Quick Breaded Pork Chops.

So, did you do as I told you before regarding the Bierocks? Good, you are very obedient. I like that. Now look at this entry from Cheryl: Hairy Bikers' Meat & Cabbage Buns (Bierocks).

Cheryl then also has one of the last ever posts for our great World Cup party: Apple Strudel.

Now we are almost done, two countries left and ... of course ... we still have to resolve the chocolate issue. I only can tell you so far, that Catwoman didn't win the chocolate. The rest you will see for yourself, if you still have the endurance to read on ... eh ... why wouldn't you have.

There is no easy way of saying this. No matter how I put it, when I tell you the next country, you already know, which country won even before I mention it. Anyway, I am not too fond of the suspense building they do in these ... eh ... these ... eh ... these ... eh ... you know ... shows. Right, you already know now, which countries didn't make it to be the winner of the Food World Cup. Let me now tell you without any further delay ... what?

Sorry!

BRAZIL has been an amazing host for our event and if we would count all the entries on non-match days we had also in the prologue, they would have made it, but ... frankly ... they didn't.
The original idea for this Bloggers Around the World challenge was, just to have Brazilian posts, but I don't know what came to my mind and how and why, but I am sure, we are all happy that it did.
Having said this, it's time for Brazil's final appearance with ...

It was me myself, who had the honour to do the first entry for Brazil on a game day. The name of the dish: Filè á Osvaldo Aranha.

Vohn has a wonderful looking dessert for us: Quindão - Brazilian Baked Custard Coconut Flan. The amount of egg yolks needed for this dessert is no joke, though ... even if you might think 18 is a bit of a number. Here I also saw for the first time, that someone actually did understand the rules I had set out for the challenge.

As we will find out, apart from Feijoada, fish stew is also very popular in Brazil. Along that line we get a Brazilian Fish Stew from Alison.

Beans are very important to the Brazilian cuisine. Then it's only fitting we get a Beef and Black Bean Stew from Caroline.

You should not be too weak for the next one for it can be quite hot. Here I bring you: Picadinho.

Vohn made something for us I read about before, while researching for the challenge. Back then, I thought, I could try that one, too. Vohn did it for us: Brazilian Spring Greens. I think the garlic is a very important part in it.

I believe, at this point it's time for another drink. Good for us, that Vohn is providing. Here we go for a Brazilian Passion Fruit Batida. Give me one right now!

No, it wasn't really a question for me whether I am supposed to post a recipe for Vatapa, although Cheryl did that before. No worries! After all, I know I can do whatever I like here.

Cheryl's hope didn't come fully true as all those know, who saw the last match of Brazil. Anyway, have a tasty Coconut Quindim.

It has been a while since we had chicken last, don't you think so, too. Caroline is going to do something about that with her Brazilian Coconut Chicken (although we just had coconut).

Now here comes something vegetarian, something very yummy. Gayathri has a Brazilian Potato and Bean Stew for us. Lovely just the way it is.

While I stil
l keep thinking about whether I have condensed milk somewhere in the house, Cheryl and her team have already eaten up all their Chocolate Brigadeiros. Yes, even the one you see on the photo is gone forever ...

To be honest, I was a bit surprised by the entry of Anshu from My Mom's Recipes. She called it EBS Pizza. In order to find out what that means, you have to read it for yourself. While Anshu didn't stated specifically for whom this entry was, I took it for Brazil as I read pizza is also very popular there.

Yes, that was it for Brazil. What's next? Of course, finally, after all this lovely, gorgeous, wonderful, delicious, yummy food it's time for the winning country to make its appearance. 

Therefore I give you the winner of the Food World Cup 2014. It is ...

FRANCE

If you had thought we would be through now, this is going to be a round-up in itself as we had a total of 16 entries for France ...

We make the start here with Caroline's Pissaladière. This dish inspired by a movie playing in Provence. 

Then we have something from Cheryl: Cheesy Chiciry Bake. Do you know what I like about this one?

The final song from Once Upon A Time in the West is coming too soon from the speakers. We are not finished yet ... obviously. Once upon a time, though, I didn't know anything about Tarte Tatin. Now, I love it! If you can agree with me on that, you for sure will also love Vohn's Pear Tarte Tatin.

Eh ... I'm getting a signal again, so I am just going to say it. Here we get another fabulous salad from the Mistress of Salads - Galina: Salade Nicoise. In my mind, Galina has posted the most salad recipes for this challenge. So, if you don't love this, you have no heart or ... simply are not a salad person.

We are going to get our fair share of cheese again with Vohn's Mangetout, Blue Cheese and Hazelnut Open Toastie.

Something completely different: Low Fat Apple Clafoutis from Caroline. The recipe kind of comes also with a book recommendation ... I think.

Once more I have to be honest with you ... no, I don't have to, after all it's nothing serious anyway. Still I tell you, I have never used quail's eggs in my cooking. If I would do, for sure Vohn's Green Bean and Hazelnut Salad with Quail's Eggs would be one thing I would do.

As Cheryl started to panic due to the fact that France's last match would be up, she started kicking out one post after another for France.

The first one was Rosemary-stuffed Chicken with Roasted Mediterranean Veg. Lovely indeed! Just before you ask, no I am not going to mention the plate thing again.

The Power of Love is playing right now from the speakers. Fitting! Feel the power of French Onion Soup as this is what Cheryl presented next. Oh, I haven't got any onions left. Note: Buy onions!

We are not feeling any kind of manipulation here as everyone could have posted as many recipes for any country, but Cheryl posted more French: Beer-doused Ham Hock.

I had my share, too, in helping France to the title, here with some Ratatouille.

Although, when I think further about it, France winning might be due to the achievements of one woman and her kitchen: Cheryl. Here some more entries from her: Chunky Savoie Salad. Yes, we understand, it was to say adieu to France.

And that one as well. It's going to be a long good bye: Slow Cooked Pork Pot Au Feu. No, I didn't mean the slow cooking as you will see afterwards ...

Another French Nicoise Salad, this time from Cheryl. You see?!

Yes, I might have been a bit confused with the order of the entries, but that is not want counts. Anyway, this way it looks more impressive for Cheryl. Have a look at this traditional dish from Dunkirk: Potjevleesch.

Let me have the last word on France with Rilettes and Fougasse and maybe a bottle of red wine, too.

That's it! No ... not really! While a thunderstorm is starting to rage outside, I like to share a brilliant idea from Caroline with you. To round things up, to celebrate the whole thing again, to say bye-bye, here a final post. It's cake ... but not just any cake ... no, a Chocolate Football Cake.

A fitting finish to an epic round-up!

I don't need to tell you that it took a little bit of time to write up this round-up. Yes, it's the same way as with cooking. Sometimes you stand for hours in the kitchen to prepare a delicious meal and then it is eaten up in a fraction of that time.

I expect nothing, but I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Oh, I don't know, though, whether it is a valid attempt on the world record for food blog challenge round-ups. Just for the stats and that's only if I counted right, which I am not so sure about, we had 136 entries. Just for the stats.

Thank you once more! I love you all!

Oh, you are right, there is still one thing to mention. It has to do with chocolate. I wasn't in any way planning to get around it, giving away some unspecified amount of chocolate.
Now we all would like to know as well, who is going to get some chocolate send from me. I already made it perfectly clear, it isn't Catwoman. We fully established that.

You can check the round-up again and you can only come to one conclusion: The winner is ... there is absolutely no doubt about it ... even without counting out the points properly, which I nevertheless did ... yes, it's true ... yes, the winner is ...

Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews!

A careful guess is, the chocolate won't last long, taking into account of what happened to the Chocolate Brigadeiros.

Congratulations, Cheryl, well done, you deserved to win ... although everyone else would have deserved a price as well as I mentioned before. But ... that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Cheryl, you know what you have to do now, if you really want that chocolate, what I am sure about. Let me know, if you have a favourite German chocolate or like to taste something especially. I will see what I can do.

All that had been great fun indeed! Really? Let's repeat the whole round-up ...

No, just kidding! The only question now is: Is there a life after the World Cup?

Time will tell ...

We fade out as Disco Samba is sounding from the speakers ...