Alphabet Dinners get a make-over

On and off over the past 4 years we've being doing Alphabet Dinners. Each fortnight we would pick a restaurant which serves cuisine from a country for each letter, i.e. A is for Afghanistan, B is for Brazil, C is for Cambodia etc. In the first year we just scraped in Z before I moved to Canberra for work.

Here are all the restaurants that I can remember...
Inaugural Round of Alphabet Dinners:
A : Arabian - Zumzum Cafe
B : Belgian - Belgian Beer Cafe
C : Caribbean - Yeah Maan
D : Deutch - Hofbrahaus
E : Egyptian - Kanzaman Restaurant
F : French - Paris Go Bistro
G : Greek - Dion Greek Restaurant and Taverna
H : Homecooked - my house (we needed a break and I love to cook :-)
I : Irish - PJ O'Briens
J : Japanese - Akita
K : Korean - Korean Seoul
L : Latin - Bull Ring
M : Mexican - Bluecorn & Mexicali Rose
M: Malaysian - Banana Palm (we always end up having more than one M because there are so many yummy options..)
N : Nepalese - Gurkhas
O : Outback Australian - Flamin' Bull
P : Portuguese - Cafe Goa
Q : Qatar (Middle Eastern) - Mecca Bah
R : Russian - Borsch, Vodka and Tears
S : Sri Lankan - Sigiri
T : Turkish
U : Ukrainian
V : VietnameseW : ??
X : X-base backpakers hostel - it was cheap & they did yummy Asian food...
Y : ??
Z : ??

While I was in Canberra my friends started again from A but there were a few issues with consistency and I think they ended up being pretty slack on the rules and would go to a restaurant with the next letter in the name or just go to a restaurant in a suburb starting with the next letter...not good..

This year we've decided to have Alphabet Dinner Parties. There are four of us so we have chosen our fav cuisines and the rest will be divided up equally. I snagged Morocco, Brazil & Thailand early on and have also got Egypt & Korea in the first half - we'll work out the rest later.

RULES OF PLAY:-
- Each member of the group will have a chance to choose their fav countries and the remainder of the alphabet will be divided up equally;
- Host decides on the country they will prepare a meal from;
- Host gets to invite additional guests if they like;
- Host cooks entree/main/dessert in whatever combination they choose;
- Guests bring drinks & nibbles (including drinks for the host as a thankyou);
- Nibbles should be agreed upon by the host so that there aren't double-ups and to ensure that it fits in with the menu;
- No extra guests can be invited without agreement by the host for obvious reasons :-)

So we start this Saturday with A for Argentina!! I cant wait for a delicious juicy steak.
There will be four of us descendng on the Ascot Vale abode of our first hosts Sharon & Josh and we will come bearing gifts of Argentinean wine, hard cheese, tinned ham (wtf??), olives, salami & proscuitto.

Then on Sunday I'm having a couple of other friends over for a Moroccan feast - I love my tagine!! I'll be cooking a chicken, almond & prune tagine (I've made this once before & it's absolutely divine!) and couscous with roast pumpkin, raisins and almonds