Understanding a Culture through Food - Culinary Delights!

yinny — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:54:28 GMT

We had been travelling on the Trans-Mongolian train from Moscow, with a few days stopover in Mongolia. Green vegetables did not feature prominently in Mongolian cuisine. We were starting to worry irrationally about the possibility of falling victim to scurvy. By the time we got to Beijing, we were desperately seeking fresh, healthy food. And right now at a busy Chinese restaurant, we were getting side-tracked by snake.
“Oh, how about snake? Don’t Chinese people eat snake? Can we get them to cook us snake? That would be exciting!” We unashamedly request our local guide to get the cooks in the restaurant to put together a snake dish, cooked in whatever fashion (cooked being the operative word) for us curious foreigners to sample.
Of course, it wasn’t just a simple task of serving up a dish of snake on the table, it was an experience – our live meat was brought to the table for us to peruse and handle, before it was whisked away in a bag, skinned, gutted somewhat, braised and drowned in a thick black sauce.
Well, how about dessert? Someone decided that deep-fried ice-cream would be a good way to finish things, so once again, we requested our local guide to discuss the possibility with the chefs. He came back nodding happily (he hadn’t had deep-friend ice-cream before).
After a very long time and no sight of any deep-fried ice-cream, the local guide checked in with the chefs. He came back apologetic and crestfallen to report that the chefs were having trouble with our request. They could not understand why the scoop of ice-cream melted and fell into pieces each time it was thrown into the deep-fryer! No matter how hard they tried, they could not get the ice-cream deep-fried!
Funny as these experiences were, it demonstrated how business is often done in China. There may be a menu, but it is not always necessary to stick to the menu if the customer wants to try something not on the menu. And even if they had no idea how to cook something, the cooks were willing to give it a shot, in an attempt to please the customer (and to earn their money!). The Chinese do not turn down the chance to learn something new, to try something different, because they know, at the end of the day, it is what good business sense is all about.
No, we did not get our deep-fried ice-cream in the end.

I'm still here...with my yellow backpack

yinny — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:33:00 GMT

I bought a yellow backpack yesterday. It has a happy yellow flower on it. And if I get lost in the forest WITH my backpack, I do hope that a yellow speck amongst the thick green and brown undergrowth will be considered an anomaly to be quickly investigated. I like my yellow backpack.

It's just a mere 4 weeks to the start of a traipse around a few south american countries. All the plotting and planning and wishing and wondering over the last 6 months is now like a huge moss ball rolling down a steep hill, accelerating to the start line at Tullamarine Airport.

Have I really prepared as well as I could have? Healthwise, I'm probably invincible, given the number of vaccinations I have had in the last month. Moneywise, it is as good as it's going to get. Languagewise, I like to think that as I can read latinised script, somehow, I'll get by and not misunderstand or be misunderstood too often.

I'm excitedly scared. It's been a few years since I let it all hang loose and let the travel itch enthuse me and fill me with great wonder. I've grown old(er) and a bit more reticent, a bit more worrywart-like. Everyone says that once I get on that plane, I will forget all my concerns. Logically, I know that. Emotionally, I'm doubting myself.

Well, I do have 4 weeks and a few more errands to run on the way to Tullamarine Airport. I suppose if I do get cold feet, I can always look at my happy yellow backpack with the happy yellow flower, and I'll remember why I'm doing this - Because I can and because I know I will push my physical boundaries and relish every moment.

Another day in.........

Understanding a Culture through Food - Culinary Delights!

I'm still here...with my yellow backpack