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This week’s food blog is a nod to our friends at Zero Hour Tango Festival, which encompasses not just dance, but also the music, poetry, lifestyle, and of course, food of tango. The festival features two events — “Food for the Soul: Talking Tango, Eating Tapas” — where you’ll be introduced to Argentine empanadas.

Empanadas are one among a huge array of tapas — small servings of food that vary from Manchego cheese to sauteed shrimp, designed to accompany you on a great evening with friends. When you are still at the bar at that zero hour when the clock strikes midnight, grab a plate of these savory empanadas.

Be sure to check out the KadmusArts interview with Alfredo Minetti, producer of this new and exciting tango festival.

- Ana Maria Harkins

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The Hong Kong Arts Festival exemplifies the truly cosmopolitan and international flavor of this city. With somewhere between 6,000 – 11,000 licensed restaurants, you can find almost any kind of cuisine.

However, most agree that no experience of Hong Kong is complete without the Cantonese specialty of dim sum. These delectable snacks are served in bamboo steamer baskets, and allow you to sample a wide range of flavors and ingredients.

This recipe for Barbecued Pork Buns includes all the instructions for the pork, bun filling and bun dough, but don’t feel guilty about buying some BBQ pork from a good chinese restaurant to save time. The real question is, will the serving yield of sixteen buns be enough?

For a whirlwind overview of Hong Kong food, check out this fun video:
Have You Eaten Yet?

- Ana Maria Harkins

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The countries on the Pacific coast of South America each have their own version of ceviche, a concoction of raw fish that is marinated by the acidic citrus of lemon or lime juice. The party is gearing up at the Viña del Mar Song Festival in Chile, and since it is summer there now, ceviche is the perfect accompaniment to the festivities.

This recipe for seafood ceviche calls for a firm-fleshed fish. If you don’t want to use Chilean sea bass, halibut or monkfish work just as well as long as the fish is super fresh. Since Chile also produces excellent wines, you’ll want to pair this with a nice Sauvignon Blanc.

- Ana Maria Harkins

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The Tunisian/French choreographer and performer Radhouane El Meddeb says he always carefully observed his mother and aunts preparing couscous. This national dish accompanies rituals including marriages and funerals. His dance piece Je danse et je vous en donne a bouffer incorporates the preparation of couscous and ends in a meal.

If you can’t make it to the Woking International Dance Festival for the performance, you can dance in your kitchen while you make this recipe for couscous with Spring vegetables.

- Ana Maria Harkins

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With 7,000 km of coastline and several thousand lakes, seafood figures prominently in Swedish cuisine. At Vinterfest in Dalarna, Sweden, you’ll be sure to run across gravlax, a deliciously cured salmon that when prepared right, is delicate and buttery.

Leave it to Nigella Lawson to come up with a twist on the dish with this recipe for gravlax sashimi. You can eat it Japanese style with wasabi, or in the Swedish tradition with slices of rye bread as part of a traditional smorgasbord.

- Ana Maria Harkins