Friday, September 16, 2005

My Food Story - Part III: Learning to Travel

(This is the third installment in a five part series all about my history with food. The first two installments are here and here.)


Bolhoau Market, Porto
Originally uploaded by Kit Pollard.
In the past four years, I've been a very lucky traveler, visiting Portugal, France, Sweden, Scotland and England, St. Lucia and a bunch of cool places within the US. Like so many other people, I am obsessed with foreign food. The minute I step on an airplane (or get in the car), I want to know where and what we're eating next. And when I finish the next meal, the cycle starts all over.

Fortunately, I've never even had a truly bad experience eating in a foreign country (unlike my husband, who has a very nasty story about a particular meal in Costa Rica). Not everything is completely to my taste, but I've had way more good meals than even mediocre.

I learned to love omelets in France, and couldn't keep myself away from 4 am crepes. My horizons were expanded with haggis in Scotland (yum - and I'm serious) and reindeer in Sweden (I didn't think about Rudolph for a second). London is home to the best Indian I've ever had. And Portugal, where I spent 10 days on my honeymoon, introduced me to the concept of the chirrascura (grill-based restaurant) and the very lightly sparkling wine vinho verde. I didn't even like sparkling wine until I drank that.

But possibly the best thing about eating while traveling is that when I come home, I have a whole new appreciation for the food I eat everyday. It's fresh and new again, and exciting.

Growing up near Annapolis, practically in the water, I've eaten all types of seafood since I was little. Every time I come home, I appreciate the food I grew up with like a tourist. Crabs, crab soup (cream and Maryland), crab cakes...and oysters and rockfish and Old Bay on everything.

I really couldn't ask for much more.

And, on that note, I am off to Paris for a week of eating and drinking, with a little shopping and sightseeing thrown in. I'll be collecting notes for future posting...when I'm not delirious from the food.

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