Before I launch into everything I’m cooking and eating, I thought I’d share the source for a number of recipes. A few years ago, around 2018/2019 while we were visiting the in-laws, we visited RAF Cosford in Shropshire. It’s not far from Telford or Ironbridge, and has 5 hangars of aircraft showing the history of the RAF from its inception in 1918, right up to the present day. It’s free to get in, and it really is a great day out. We could see from the car park that some people were regular visitors,  there were picnics, camping chairs, and groups of people meeting up. 

Our visit also coincided with the publication of a number of books to celebrate 100 years of the RAF. The book I bought was ‘The RAF 100 COOKBOOK – 100 Years, 100 Countries, 100 Recipes’. It’s a fabulous book, with some history on why the RAF were in those locations, a little bit of history about the country and a typical dish from that nation. Some tied up with the ‘norm’ of the national dish, others paid homage in various ways to other dishes that were historically tied to that particular place.

It’s done in chronological order as well, so you can follow the history of the RAF as you advance through the book.

I should say that my use of the recipes isn’t endorsed or promoted by RAF, it’s not officially approved and for copyright reasons I can’t share any recipes or any pictures from the book. But you can still buy the book from the RAF where all the profits go to helping the RAF community. Obviously you can get it all from all the giant internet shops at a lower cost – but we’re here because we’ve got a moral conscience against the evil exploitative overlords, so don’t buy it there. 

For countries where the RAF haven’t been, that are playing the World Cup, I’ve relied on good old google to find what the national dish is, and how to cook it. It has also offered some great guidance for where specific ingredients aren’t available and what alternatives could be used. Another thing I’ve discovered via BBC Goodfood is that they have a section of member contributions, so some of the dishes can be found there. The extra searching also helped with commonality of recipes and ingredients, rather than relying on a single source.

Cooking and eating will be coming soon, I promise!