An interesting email popped into my blog’s email inbox this morning, making me aware of MyCityCuisine.org – described as “a Wiki project to create a free, reliable and up-to-date guide to the most original and tasty local dishes from different countries of the world”. I’ve had a browse of the site, and there’s some fantastic information in there, but they’re keen to get more contributors on board to make it even more useful…
The aim is simple: they want to be a hub for “the average visitors/tourists/travellers, who are curious about the local cuisine in a foreign country”. It’s not a site that lists out preparation and cooking methods in meticulous detail – it’s more somewhere to find out which local foods and drinks are available at your travel destination, and some basic information about those foods and drinks so that you can understand the local food culture and make an informed decision as to whether or not you try them.
At the time of writing, the site featured 38 different countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Vietnam, and 59 cities within these countries. As with any Wiki site, some descriptions are more detailed than others…hence the call for contributors.
Contributing is easy: anyone can submit information to the site (in exactly the same way that Wikipedia works), and you can do so in a variety of ways. You can add countries/cities that you have a foodie knowledge of. You can add new dishes or descriptions. You can alter the way in which dishes are described, or remove anything that’s wrong (for example, I’ve noticed a few listed under “Paris” that aren’t Parisian specialities, that I plan on changing). And if you have photos of any dishes that appear on the site, then you can upload them: the idea is to make it as easy as possible for people to understand what they are likely to be eating!
Personally, I think it’s a great idea for a site. It’s already had a number of contributions from people around the world, and some of the pictures have made me very hungry! Sites like this, however, can only work if people get behind them…so if you can contribute in any way and make it a great resource for travellers, then please do!