Eating Overseas
Being the daughter of a trained cook and a full-blooded Italian, it goes without saying that I love to eat. I do my best to make sure the camera eats first when I'm on trips, but it doesn't always happen. I'll try to include some food pictures in each post moving forward as well so you can see what I'm eating and what each country I go to is known for. I like to think that I'm pretty open to trying all foods, despite what my family says.
I have been known to be a picky eater in the past (and if I’m honest, I still am, but in a different way today). My sister says whenever I blurt out one of my quirks that I should add it to my “manual.” Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll actually make that manual and make it a page on this site for you all to judge me or maybe even agree with me. I don’t think I’m THAT crazy for some of them….
Anyway. Back to eating overseas. Being the open-minded person that I am, I really do like to try all foods at least once and if I don’t like it, I don’t need to try it again. For example, when I was living in China, I tried pig’s feet. It was fine, tasted a lot like the fat from steak, cause it’s collagen, but I won’t eat it again cause that’s not really my favorite part of the steak and it didn’t really have a lot of flavor. Same with chicken feet. I’ve had that a few different times both here in the States and in China cooked in different sauces and it just tastes like fat to me.
I’ve tried all types of weird things – cow’s tongue, crickets, shrimp heads, frog legs, snails, alligator, shark, etc. I actually like a lot of these things. I encourage everyone to try the weird things cause while it sounds gross, most of the time the taste really isn’t much. Sometimes it’s just adds an extra crunch to your taco, or is just really salty like vegemite, which I recently discovered has 3,300 mg of salt per 100 grams! ICK! Or in all honesty, sometimes it really does taste just like chicken.
I think something to take into account is the culture of the country that you’re in. Are they pretty serious about their food like France and Italy? Or are they a bit relaxed like America and Canada? If you’re a picky eater or have dietary restrictions like a gluten allergy and you’re worried about things like what you’ll be able to eat overseas. Definitely do your research on the culture and available options. In some places, while modifying the menu is possible, it’s not always smiled upon. Instead of going to the restaurant you originally wanted, is there a similar restaurant that meets your needs from the get go? Does the country have multiple options available for you to eat besides one type? Consider taking your own snacks to help make it through some meals.
Things that I’m looking forward to eating on this trip would be snails, crepes, croissants, pasta, pizza, porchetta, pesto, and alici! Here’s some food pictures from past trips.
