Growing
up, the only international food we had for dinner was when my mom would pick up
taco salads from Taco Bell. I remember
eating food from other countries during a class project in the 8th
grade, but in eighth grade it wasn’t “cool” to like things we did in class, so
I did my best to act completely disinterested.
It wasn’t until I got to Clemson and met my Ethiopian friend and
roommate, Nathan Schneider, that I began to try food from other countries.
It
truly amazes me how much a country’s cuisine says about their culture and
history. For instance, in Ethiopia the
harsh terrain is not suitable for any grains other than teff. The Ethiopians used this to their advantage
and came up with a genius creation called injera. Injera is a flatbread that resembles a
sourdough pancake and is made with the local teff flour. It is utilized as a plate, eating utensil,
and a sponge to absorb the sauces that are placed on it. I guess there is some truth to the saying
that ingenuity rises out of necessity!
Despite
the fact that I have never traveled out of the country, I feel like I have
connections with different cultures after eating their food. I love traveling to the Buford Farmer’s
Market in Atlanta. It is a large global
supermarket that carries everything from Indonesian swallow’s nest to European cheeses. It is a great way to get a little of every
country in one place. If it was up to me
I would spend my life traveling around the world trying the best food there is
until I become so fat that I crash the plane with my fatness. If anyone has any stories about food they
have had in other countries I would love to hear about it. Hopefully I can live vicariously through
these stories until I can afford to travel around the world and delight myself
in my own fatness. Also, I would like to
thank my friends Chengho, MengChu, Kaiti, and Nancy for introducing me to
Korean BBQ. It quickly became one of my
favorite international experiences.
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