Writing — Travel & Food
A Celebration of Food on Globetrotters
September monthly challenge — the food and the harvest
No matter where I roam across the planet, food has always played an important roll in my experience. I’ve discovered something interesting though. Sometimes the best food a person will come across is that which is lovingly prepared and cooked in people’s homes.
Dining in restaurants and trying out different foods is a pleasure as well. No doubt about it, I love it! In my opinion though, home cooked is always better. Just like the chicken, pumpkin and corn curries, and the rest of the Divali food above, which was expertly and lovingly prepared by my step-mother-in-law….
…oh wait, scratch that. She lovingly prepared everything with the exception of the buss-up-shut or paratha roti, which is incredibly popular here in Trinidad. She ordered this from a shop, as it’s a bit of a process to make so I can’t blame her.
Growing my own food? Maybe not!
Now, while my fellow editors Anne and Jillian are highly skilled when it comes to growing and harvesting their own food, this is not at all the case for me. I once grew radishes that turned out hotter than jalapeno peppers and crunchier than celery (like break your teeth crunchy).
Another time I grew a lovely bunch of corn. So proud I was watering it and watching it grow to ripeness. However, just as it was getting ready to harvest, one day I came out and checked the corn only to see that literally overnight a bunch of slugs moved in their army and ate up all my lovely corn!
I was heartbroken… just completely crushed… and that was my last adventure with gardening. What I learned: gardening is just not my thing. Happy as a clam to let others enjoy it though!
More my thing is visiting farmer’s markets, like the infamous Tunapunas Market pictured above.
Trinidad & Tobago
Here in Trinidad I’ve had a great time exploring different foods, like the rambutan above: “Check Out This Weirdo Fruit”.
It’s great to have new foods to try, but also nice to have many familiar foods around as well, which I wrote about here: “Do What Tastes Right — My Favorite TT Snacks”.
Recently I experimented with grinding my own Trinidad cinnamon at home: “Loving Freshly Ground Cinnamon”. It was delicious!
Cold weather places
This is a photo of the V-8 vegetable soup I used to make all the time when I lived in coolish places like Idaho and New Jersey. It’s super easy to make. Simply sauté some veggies, add the shredded or ground cooked meat of your choice, a few seasonings and some V-8 juice.
Yummy and hearty on those chilly days!
Warm-weather places
Of course, when I moved onto to warmer places like Florida and Trinidad, I had no use to make too much soup. Better to make up a bunch of salads, like this berry salad.
To make this salad I crush up some raspberries, strawberries and blueberries and added some salad vinegar. I drizzle this over some fresh green leaf lettuce and feta cheese crumbles. Yum! And healthy!
Healthy is great, but we always have to have a little sinfulness in life to keep us going right?:
Here is our challenge for September. Check out stories already published by Kim Baker, Osan Fernando, Vincent Van Patten, Anne Bonfert and Jillian Amatt by going to the Monthly Challenge tab on our main menu. Looking forward to reading more of your foodie adventures here on Globetrotters!
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