Comments on: Great Meals and the Lessons They Taught Us

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:31:17 +0000

@Skiurlaub: We always say that food is the great equalizer. Everyone needs to do it and it is such a great way to bring people together and get everyone talking. Like you said, often the topic starts with food but it moves into every other topic and conversation. Just wonderful.

I’m sure you are eating very, very well right now in Italy! Some of the most delicious food on the planet – so fresh!

By: Skiurlaub

Skiurlaub — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:43:23 +0000

Food really brings people together. Once a friend of mine and I travelled around New Zealand and we spend new years eve working in a hostel. The owners were friendly but quite reserved. To come closer we managed to set up a BBQ to celebrate. All the different people from all over the world made something traditional from their homecountry. Even the owners participated and made Pavlova with Kiwi.
The first thing to talk about when we started was the food and therewith a funny evening began.
Even if I really didn`t like the Pavlova 😉

And the snails really look great… IÂ´m getting hungry.
Next week I`m travelling through Italy and it`s going to be
a week full of delicious Italien food!

greetings
Emily

By: Audrey Scott

Audrey Scott — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:21:11 +0000

@Ellen: We have a few meals that are rather memorable and where we learned a lot that we don’t necessarily want to repeatâ€¦Kyrgzstan comes to mind 🙂

Thanks for sharing your story from Uganda. What an experience and one of the most important lessons one can learn.

@April: We were also surprised by how great the snails looked and tasted! Food is one of the ways we connect with people when we travel – such a great way to meet people.

@Jeannie: Hope you found yourself a delicious lunch after reading this! Glad you enjoyed it!

@Lane: Food is such an important aspect of travel – really makes you enjoy a place all that more.

@Colleen: So true. And yes, the msabaha was amazing. Such fresh tastes.

@Cori: Isn’t it funny how eating experiences can change your perspective on a place, not only with what you eat but the people you meet in the process? Thanks for sharing your stories from Paris and Amman. It is hard to beat its foul and falafel.

@Roxanne: So glad you enjoyed this! And we are always singing the praise of the food we ate in Crete – stay tuned for a food post from there 🙂 No, I haven’t read the book you recommended – will add it to the wish list. Thanks for the recommendation!

By: Roxanne

Roxanne — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:22:45 +0000

Oh you guys… Terrific. I love this so much, including the shout-out to my country (Greece!) and so many places I wish to experience myself. Have you read the book “Days of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War?” I think you’d really love it!

By: Cori

Cori — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:24:29 +0000

Great piece. One of my biggest missions when I travel is to find where the locals eat and what the specialties of the areas are. In Paris, I was able to find a vegetarian spot which is probably one of my least expensive and most impressionable meals in the city. The food was fantastic, the owner was so hospitable and it completely changed my outlook on the city.
The food in Amman is pretty unbelievable as well. I’m still on the hunt for a good bowl of Foul and falafel like I had there. I’ll probably have to go back for it soon. 🙂

By: Colleen

Colleen — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:22:33 +0000

The Msabaha looks amazing…Food really is one of the best discoveries while travelling in foreign countries and is great for making friends.

By: Lane

Lane — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 11:36:28 +0000

Food is definitely in the top 3 reasons to travel for me. Thanks for the great descriptions and photos.

By: Nomadic Chick

Nomadic Chick — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:48:05 +0000

I had to read and view this post when I’m hungry! What a mistake. Again, your food photos are astounding, mouthwatering, making my stomach gurgle.. ugh, give up, Jeannie, get some lunch now. 🙂

By: April

April — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:27:54 +0000

I never thought snails would look so appetizing. Truly. I want to eat it. Now. Also, I’m reading this far too late at night.

Your article makes a great point though. Food makes you think. Creating food, eating it, digesting it. It makes you think about things. I wish I could put it a little more eloquently than that but suffice to say, you said it well and thank you for sharing 🙂

By: Ellen Billard

Ellen Billard — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:54:17 +0000

Well, to be honest, I think the meals that I learned the most important lessons from were not really such “great” meals if you know what I’m saying … Egypt, Bosnia, Peru … they certainly left an impression. 😉

Ok, in all seriousness, one of my most enjoyable meals was when we were staying with a family on Lake Titicaca in Peru. They took such great care in preparing it and serving it to us — and it was absolutely the best soup we’ve ever tasted.

Another meal I will not soon forget was in Uganda. I would not call it a great tasting meal, but it was a great reminder of how blessed I am. I was volunteering at an orphanage and we had just been served our lunch when my friend asked me how the meal was and what it tasted like. I made a disgusted face and replied, “It tastes like absolutely nothing.” At that moment I happened to look up and see several of the kids gathering in a circle completely devouring their meals. I later found out that they only get served meat twice a year. I realized how grateful they were for something I had turned my nose up at. I made sure not to waste any of my food, and later we received permission to share our meals with the kids. They then turned and shared that meal with their peers. Some neighbor kids who were not a part of the orphanage and (materially) much worse off saw the meal being served and were clinging to their fence salivating. You could see the hunger in their eyes. We invited them over and they joined us for the rest of the week and had a good meal each day. A lesson in blessing and true gratitude.