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The World as Seen by My Pallet

When I’m not eating junk food, things can get rather interesting

Apparently, Saint Augustine said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” With this image in mind, let me introduce you to the recipe book of my travels.

The ‘one page’ for me would feature most of the global fast-food giants such as McDonald's, KFC, and others. These tend to be my staple diet when I’m at home in the Western world. Fortunately for my physical and mental well-being, I tend to travel a lot. What I eat on my travels can be as varied as the colors, sounds, and languages I experience. Hence, my recipe book has been filled with quite a few pages.

Garlic Soup And Lemon Tea

A lot of my recent travel has been into the Himalayas in Nepal. The diet high in the mountains is a lot more healthy than your typical fast food.

First I have to mention the Tea Houses and the tea that is served within them. A wide variety of different flavored tea is served either simply to pass the time of an afternoon or to accompany your meals in the mountains. It is flavored with honey, lemon, ginger, or any chosen mix of those ingredients.

It is always welcome because it is hot in an environment that is often at or below freezing and it is valuable fluids when your blood is thickening from altitude and you are thirsty from exertion.

Like beer in a pub, tea is also the catalyst for the social life of the teahouse and the accompaniment to the conversation.

Another food I’ve only come across in the high in the mountains of Nepal is Garlic Soup. I love garlic and I love soup so this is also a favorite of mine. Garlic soup comes well recommended by the Sherpas (The local people of the mountains in Nepal) for its medicinal purposes.

It is a fluid containing salt so there is an immediate replacement of both elements which are lost from the body during the days trekking. It is also believed that garlic helps the body counter the effects of altitude. Personally, I just find it a tasty accompaniment to any meal.

For the main course, there’s a dish called Daal Bhat. Daal is like thick lentil curry and is served with boiled rice and normally accompanied by some mixed vegetables. It’s tasty, filling, and rocket fuel for any trekker.

Eating A Crocodile

Though I tend to be quite nervous about the food I don’t recognize, I was persuaded to eat the full range of a varied buffet at a restaurant called Carnivores in Nairobi, Kenya.

Most of the meat seemed to be things I had tried before such as venison, beef, and pork. To my horror, however, they also served some chunks of a crocodile. I did give it a try but I was not too keen on the fishy taste.

Certainly, the few hours we spent there spanned a very enjoyable afternoon and I felt that I had tasted something of Africa by the time I left.

Staying in the African continent, I very much enjoyed the different vegetables and stews served in Tagines by the Berber people among the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. I was also extremely partial to the mint tea which accompanied every meal.

Strangers Become Friends Over Food

One of my favorite restaurants in downtown Wellington, New Zealand, is The Great India. Here, I enjoyed one of my most memorable eating experiences.

I entered the restaurant alone as I always did and was surprised to be shown to a seat at the largest table in the room. The table was empty but would have seated at least ten. I placed my order and waited.

First, a couple from San Francisco came in and were shown to the same table, next, a lady from England and so it went on. By the time my meal had arrived, there were about seven of us, all complete strangers, eagerly chatting about our respective home countries and our adventures in New Zealand.

The meals that everyone ordered ended up in the middle of the table like a buffet. The different curries, rice, and Nan Breads just adding to the variety of the occasion and our sharing of it.

Delicacies Of The Philippines

As I mentioned previously I’m not too confident about trying new foods and I have to say there are some delicacies in the Philippines which I just have not been able to even taste.

Whilst at a barbecue with many of my Filipino friends, I was introduced to a local delicacy called Balut. At first, it looks like a normal chicken egg until you open it. On breaking the shell I was utterly horrified to see a fully formed baby duck. I managed to touch my lip to it but couldn't get any further than that.

Just the description of fermented rice was enough for me to know I couldn’t try it. My friends told me that a fish is mixed in with the rice and then the mixture is left out in the sun for several days. Not sure what they do with it from there to get it onto a plate but the initial description was more than enough to have me politely declining.

So, if you’ll excuse the pun, this is just a taster of some of the foods I’ve come across on my travels. I still feel comfortable sticking to foods I know but definitely eating different foods in the company of the different people and cultures from which they are served is a central part of the rich and colorful recipe book of travel.

#localdelicacies

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