I am the anti-Bourdain. When I watch him, I see someone who turned Fear Factor into a full time career.
Where's the expiration date printed?
I confess. Foreign food terrifies me. So much of it is slimy and chewy and squishy.
Seriously, have you SEEN a 100 year old egg? It’s an unnatural translucent green that you suspect incubates something that would stalk Sigourney Weaver. If I had eaten it, there would have been a translucent green coating on everything within 30 feet.
The most lavish feast I’ve ever seen was when I attended a traditional Chinese wedding (it was in Chinatown in Los Angeles, but that’s besides the point). All the main courses came out with heads still attached, so I had to survive entirely on fried rice and a slice of the marital cake.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not some ugly American who looks down on other cultures. I LOVE other cultures. I love watching the people, how they work, how they live, how they eat. But I love them from a distance. Fear has prevented me from really diving into them.
Photo - Thomas Scoch, wikimedia creative commons license
A primary goal for my round the world trip is to fix that by fully immersing myself and adopting the lifestyle in my temporary homes. The most challenging part of that goal is going to be indulging in the food. I’ve tried nibbles of things when I’ve traveled, but I’ve never really opened myself to them. Whether it’s quail eggs or kimchi, I’ve managed to dance around it.
There’s no trick to fixing this. I just have to force myself to do it. These are things that have been eaten by millions (or billions) of people, so there’s nothing in there that’s going to kill me. And for god’s sake, I’ve had the food at Arby’s, which should be infinitely more frightening than sampling fried crickets.
In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt – “eat one thing each day that makes you want to yak.”
The 100 year old egg really isn’t that bad. I have it in my congee and sometimes I add a little sugar too.
Maybe I just need a good coach! Culinary coach. I like that!
Eating the food is THE best part of the trip. I once ate balut in The Philippines which is an egg embryo, so its like seeing a baby chick in a gooey egg without a beak or feathers.
I will be honest. It wasn’t good. But it was a memory.
.-= ayngelina´s last blog ..Saving for Long Term Travel =-.
All I got was dog food. You can dish it out but you can’t take it.
I’m a scared food eater, too. Mostly meat products, but 100-year-old egg might do me in, too! In bocca al lupo!
.-= Cherrye at My Bella Vita´s last blog ..Busted! Three Things You Didn’t Know About Being an Expat in Southern Italy =-.
Oh my, love this series. Darn honest of you to admit flaws, so many travelers (including myself) thinks we’re up for anything. Not so. I’m sorta lucky, being a pescetarian eliminates food conflicts.
.-= Nomadic Chick´s last blog ..Gypsy Wednesday – My Travel Pillow Book =-.
I once spent a weekend in Siena with two Kiwi’s. Each night I’d head off in search of good honest Italian food, (I mean, we were in Siena for pity’s sake, there was plenty to be found) and each night they left the campsite and went straight to the only McDonalds in town.
And these guys had travelled pretty extensively too, God knows how’d they fared elsewhere if pasta and fish was too exotic for them.
I’m heading for South East Asia soon, and although I love Asian cuisine here in London, I read and hear tales of barbecued bush baby, deep fired spiders and fermented swallows and I fear I’m yet to see the whole picture.
I’m all for a bit of experimentation, but I know my insides, and my guts will let me know very quickly if I’ve crossed the line!
.-= Brendan´s last blog ..Ultimate Traveller & Me =-.
I love dining on the food of the locals when I’m traveling. Most of it is benign, though. The most exotic thing I’ve ever consumed was a sheep’s brain.
.-= Sabina´s last blog ..Five Great Reasons Why You Should Travel Solo =-.
I avoid dodgy food as much as possible too – to the extent that I sank so low as to subsist on good old dependable MacDonalds while in Bangkok (although their Big Mac had a fish patty – weird!). If you ever make it to South Africa, be sure to try out a mopanie worm – definitely a taste you won’t forget
Sunee´s last [type] ..Where Three Lochs Meet