Food experience

South Africa to me is the Gandhi scene of being kicked out of the bus, Apartheid, Mandela, the world cup. It is not a travel option for me and I think many Egyptians, maybe it is related in my mind with Africa, the black continent, with dark faces, living in the jungle, hunting lions on the sounds of drums in a very hot place, and Egyptians are not great fans of lion hunting, are phobic of open places. I knew the place from its food.
Dinner was severed on the big mahogany table, very colourful and diverse. Different aromas penetrated my nostrils; I couldn’t distinguish any of them. A yellowish soup with things floating was my first course, I liked its thick texture, but tears started to fill eyes and heat crept on my ears, yes it was spicy. My host noticed, she handed me a tissue pack, apologizing for the Indian spices, though she said they were very mild. I decided to move to the second dish, a salad. Every salad vegetable and most fruits I know sat there in the dish, moistened with some kind of dressing that was very sweet to me. This was very strange to me to find pineapple in the same dish with tomatoes, artichokes with grapes, dressed with what tasted like honey. I thought I can keep this for my dessert; it was too sweet for a meals start, so I moved to the main dish. It was the only familiar thing on the table with a steak and mashed potatoes. I ate my French dish, with my African salad on the table of my Indian host, chatting with smiling faces looking like people from around the globe. It was definitely the rainbow nation!