When Food Reporter Steve Dolinsky addressed our class last
Monday, he talked about the idea of communicating with different communities through
the language of food.
Food connects people.
I remember writing a blog post for a travel website last year where I talked about the way I connected with
different cultures and locations through their authentic cuisine.
“Food is the gateway to the bona fide culture that a place
clings to,” I wrote. “It embodies a sense of relationship, a sense of
identifying with the spirit of a region. For that reason, food forms such an
essential element of the idea of travel. It has made the world so accessible
and understandable.”
Dolinsky said the same: You cannot become a food reporter
without becoming a traveler, without opening your heart and your taste buds
every time you move out of your city, state or country. Ethnic cuisine has
become an essential part of our food choices today. People in Chicago, where I live now, not only
eat hot dogs, deep-dish pizzas or burgers but rather devour in Nasi Goreng,
kimchee, dosas and lasagnas. But, to really understand a culture and its
cuisine, we ought to travel and eat.
 |
| Colorful macaroons. Source: Michael Stern/Flickr |
About three years ago I hadn’t been to another country even once, and today, I have already visited ten countries, traversing through a number of
cities in each, some of them more than one time. As I travel, I make it a point
to try the cuisine the place has to offer. I love staying in “home stays” where
I can live with a family in a part of their home. I love talking to people.
They are they key - to a place, to a culture, to a society and to food.
For me, a real traveler also needs to be a real explorer of
food. That’s how we realize that the universe has lesser boundaries than we
envisage. We can come closer to the billions of people in the world by opening
ourselves to vivid food experiences without confining our taste to what we have
grown up eating.
Next time you travel, take risks and eat all that the
natives eat. Don’t just be a tourist, be a traveler, an explorer and a foodie.
No comments:
Post a Comment