Taste This

Since I complained in my last post about pictures not having taste I thought I should write a little bit about tasting other countries. The first time I had sushi was in Rome. And the first time I had Kentucky Fried Chicken was in the Beijing airport. I’ve eaten Subway now in both South Africa and in China. And I’ve had to pay for ketchup and mustard at McDonald’s in Italy. All of these food anomalies aren’t because I don’t like trying foreign foods in other counties. I actually love trying new foods (and if you think about it since I had never had sushi or KFC before I was actually really excited to try them for the first time-probably more so the sushi than the KFC…).

I think part of the reason I end up trying non “traditional” cuisine in addition to “traditional” cuisine in foreign countries is that it can be daunting trying to figure out a foreign menu. One of my favorite meals in China was in Beijing where we went to a restaurant that did not have a menu in English. It was a little after lunch time so there were only one or maybe two other groups eating there. We looked around for another place to eat, but the food on the other patrons’ plates at that restaurant looked too delicious to resist. So the helpful staff allowed us to order by pointing to other peoples’ plates and bringing out some things based on our previous choices. This was my first taste of Chinese food (the night before had been some sort of pizza buffet with the grossest tasting soft serve ice cream I have ever had) and I loved it.

But finding a place that is willing to put up with foreigners trying to decipher the menu is not always easy. My roommate and my first night in Rome ended with both of us in tears after trying to order a pizza. We were deposited at our host family’s house around 5 or 6pm after traveling all day and we hadn’t learned yet that Italians tend to eat around 9 or 10pm. So we were unaware that our host lady was going to offer us a nice dinner around 9:30pm. So we decided to go out on our own. The professors managing our trip had given us our weekly allowance but they had only given us bills in 20 euro increments. When our pizza was rung up it only cost about 3 euros each and some odd change. When we tried to give our 20 euro bill the woman refused it (We later realized that Italians expect exact or close to exact change when making purchases). We didn’t know any Italian yet so we did not quite understand the problem nor did we have any bills smaller than a 20. The woman kept shouting stuff at us in Italian and we kept trying to hand her our bill until she finally took it and gave us back non-exact change (though i think the error was in our favor) and told us to leave.

It also can be hard to know what kind of food you are actually getting. When I was in both Italy and Brazil the idea of being a vegetarian was not very well understood. In Italy my vegetarian friends in my tour group were served chicken soup with chicken cubes floating in it instead of pasta with meat sauce. In Brazil meat seemed to be implied even when not listed on the menu. One time I ordered what was advertised as a 4 cheese calzone which when it arrived had ham chunks in it. And another time I ordered what I thought looked like a fruit pastry only to bite in and realize it was filled with red sauce and meatballs-not the breakfast I was expecting.

Sometimes it’s interesting to try food you think you recognize in another country. For example my cousin and I are obsessed with the Lipton Peach Ice Tea found in every other country I’ve been to besides the US. I don’t know what makes it taste so good, but it is different than any I’ve tried here (but don’t drink it before a long car ride or you will for sure need to make a stop). Also Nestle makes different treats in other countries too.

I think part of the reason I’ve been drawn to these unusual food choices is homesickness and a need for comfort food, either on my part or on the part of my travel companions. In Italy my study abroad group went for sushi because we were searching for something other than pasta or pizza for dinner. We also went to the Hard Rock Cafe for a taste of home. (I preferred the sushi much more than hanging around with a bunch of drunk American tourists…) My professor’s daughter in Italy confessed to me that after spending the summer in Italy she and her family go to Burger King’s immediately after going home just because they haven’t had it in so long. In China my friend Lee wanted to try different restaurants when we were visiting Beijing because where he had been living in Wuhan did not have the same international restaurant scene available. And as for the fast food, well some of that is just based on convenience and recognition. I know I would be disappointed if I went abroad and the food didn’t taste any different than it does here, but on the other hand I really wish I could find some of those treats here!

I have tried some interesting local food too:

-duck heart in China (but not duck head because the people who were living in China didn’t even recommend it),

-squid a few times, gelati almost daily and I made a quest to try every type of coffee I could find in Italy,

-deer probably killed that weekend in France, unidentified seafood on the coast, and I’ve been known to stand drooling in the cheese aisle in a French grocery store,

-meat that torchlight made impossible to identify on safari and cake and custard for every dessert in South Africa

-and unidentified meat on a stick while in Brazil

Delicious dumpling

The famous cake and custard dessert in South Africa

Chinese Mexican dinner-much better than the watery margarita

Nature has no Force Like a New England Mother with Food

In a country where we constantly hear people stressing about dieting I have found a place where this concept is as foreign as low salt butter. The mothers of New England are holding strong. Portion control? Eat until the food is gone and then eat some more. The food is some of the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten. Real butter, fresh picked fruits and vegetables and old recipes. Resistance to eating this food is futile. In one weekend I have failed to not over eat at any meal. Breakfast included. I had at least 6 different kinds of homemade bread: zucchini, banana, banana nut, date, pumpkin, blueberry. Additionally I had 2 different varieties of blueberry desserts and multiple cookie creations. Zucchini and banana are old favorites of mine so I knew I wanted a piece, but then pumpkin and date were new and I wanted to try them too. And of course a chicken pot pie that makes other chicken pot pies hang their beaks in shame.

There are many factors I have identified that contribute to the success of this force of nature:

1. Huge portions.

2. Seconds and thirds.

3. The demand for no leftovers.

4. Magically getting food to appear on your plate when your head is turned.

5. Mysteriously causing more food to appear on the table.