Food Travels

Food always comes with a story. The taste of the searing hot tamale from your grandma’s tomato soup, or the feeling of the slippery oyster as it slid down your throat; we each have vivid images branded in our minds when we think of food.

I will never forget (and my friends will never let me live it down) when I tried candied ginger for the first time. It. Was. Awful. It felt like someone had stuck the bitterest blob of congealed liquid in my mouth and made me swallow. I think the candy had a mind of its own because it made its way to the side of my mouth and sat there as if to say, “You will like me. I am going to sit here and rub myself in your taste buds until you do.”

But I didn’t like it, and I don’t think I will ever like it. But I will always remember the side stiches I got from laughing so hard after the whole incident.

I also remember the bunny cake. My mom made me a bunny-shaped chocolate cake for my 9^th birthday, and I will never forget it. I remember the moist, thick chocolate layers and the creamy white frosting throughout the center of the cake and smeared on top. There were flakes of coconut coating the top of the white frosting like an inch of snow from the North Georgia Mountains. It’s been 16 years since we had that cake, and every Easter Sunday or birthday celebration I sneakily ask if she will make it again. She sighs and rolls her eyes, but eventually she caves in and agrees.

Over the past few years of my life, I had the distinct privilege of doing some travel. I translated in Guatemala, studied in Spain, and packed up my room, quit my job, and traded my pressed white button up for green-strapped chacos to go to 11 countries in 11 months. It kind of sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? It was a dream fulfilled for me. Between the helping, serving, and elephant riding, I learned a thing or two about cooking. We hopped from grass hut to South African orphanage, with every country bringing a different smell and taste with it. You see, I love food. I love how food cultivates community in an evening, early sunrise breakfast, or afternoon lunch with a friend.

So I’m going to start sharing the stories, recipes, and humorous antidotes I learned through my ‘food travels;’ one recipe at a time. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it inspires you to cook these new creations! (As I hope it inspires me to do the same :D)