After almost two months of traveling around the world and eating broad variety of Chinese, Austrian, Hungarian, Singaporean, aircraft, airport and other food with foreign source and foreign look, we got back home physically and mentally exhausted.
It is not that we dislike culinary adventures or new flavours – not at all – but we were away for so many days in a row, with so many time zone jumps and altitude changes, that the craving for food which is more familiar and less challenging became deep and palpable.
Exploring different cultures and cuisines out of curiosity is one thing but maintaining healthy and steady eating routines while crossing the globe for work is completely another. Local habits vary, food combinations vary, supermarket supplies and labelling are different. What starts as exciting and fun, could quickly turn into a nightmare.
I recall one moment of particular exhaustion, while in yet another queue at yet another airport, feeling overwhelmingly nostalgic. I was just sitting there, miserable and homesick. Childhoodsick, if that’s a word. My soul craved those days long gone, when everything was simple and familiar, including food. When I could easily recognise each product at the market and I knew its name and I knew how exactly it is supposed to be consumed.
There is nothing wrong with bugs for breakfast or combining watermelon and eggs or even having steamed dough with fish filling for desert but no matter how open and accepting I am trying to be, there is a point of no return. Ice cream wrapped in white bread for example is the threshold my mind cannot overstep.
Even though I see sometimes my grandmother’s dishes in my dreams, the global way of life have some perks and like all things good, requires certain sacrifices. Along with the occasional adversity on the culinary front, we appropriated countless treasures. Our ever-growing family recipe book has now multiethnic entries in 3 different languages.
My husband fell in love with all soups Asian. Literally all of them, especially if rich in noodles and cilantro. I like Nasi Goreng – traditional for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore fried spiced rice with veggies and sometimes with eggs or satay skewer, served on banana leaves. The children went crazy for the black sesame ice cream we ate in Hong Kong and double-crazy for the black ice cream mochi (the best thing ever) we found in Sydney. Matcha deserts, turmeric latte, chickpeas shakshuka, Indian naan, Austrian pumpkin soup, Turkish coffee and lychee sorbets are also proud members of our foreign food dream team.
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien.
