Favorite flavors and dishes multiply in the cross-cultural life. Leading to this, that, or the other taste of home.
Our grocery cart is often a wild mix. With differing ingredients for the week’s menus.
One day, I buy okra and chickpeas for Indian curry. Snow peas, lemongrass and baby bok choy for a Chinese stir-fry dish. And Japanese mochi. An afternoon snack or dessert.
Each cuisine serves up memories as well.
Soul food
In winter seasons, we remember corn chapati and mustard greens sold by a roadside vendor in Delhi. Or nihari, the rich meat stew we enjoyed in Karachi.
One week we eat lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant. Dipping fresh spring rolls in peanut sauce.
I pour the leftover sauce on my rice noodle vegetable salad. A nod to “soul food” from my Indonesia roots: gado-gado.
I’ll choose nasi goreng, steaming mie ayam, or sate Ponorogo and lontong over a hamburger any day. My husband grew up in Arizona, so Mexican or Tex-Mex is his go-to.
Variety of cuisines
We’ve lived in South and Southeast Asia. Traveled all over. Therefore, several different cuisines make our mouths water.
Pakistani. Indian. Thai. Singaporean. Vietnamese. Japanese. Korean. The list goes on.
Our daughter introduced us to sharing the common bowl of West African dishes when she lived in Dakar. A whole new delicious menu.
Now she’s married to a guy who grew up in Ethiopia. So, we enjoy spongy injera and all that goes with it.
Essential
I love watching for the Lord’s creativity.
And it shows up in the sheer variety of spices. Ingredients. And cooking methods. Colors, textures, and flavors.
He made food essential to our lives and well-being. For health and strength.
And just a taste of home can warm the heart. Reminding us where we came from. And where we’re going.
Taste of Home
Are you hungry?
Ready to make your favorite? Or eat at that new restaurant down the street?
Someday we’ll be partaking in a great Feast. With our Lord and our God.
People from every nation, tribe, people, and language. Whose cuisines differ in so many ways.
All sitting at the table together.
I have a feeling each of our palates will be astounded. By the amazing taste of Home.
What about you?
What tastes like “home” to you? If you are living or have lived cross-culturally, what’s your favorite dish or cuisine from another culture?
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21 replies on “Taste of home”
Of course, now you’ve made me hungry. My eldest took me out recently for a belated Valentine’s Day dinner…where did we go? Egyptian restaurant, of course! I’m thankful to have a Middle Eastern store around the corner of my church, as it becomes a frequent stop after Sunday service! My favorite West African dish, that my boys also love, is sauce arachide, “peanut stew”. I’m glad we’ve got a head start on the international feast of the nations!
Thanks for sharing these stories. I was served “ground nut stew” from west Africa and loved it😊.
I enjoyed dinner with my daughter Nancy and her husband Jeff last night at a local Indian Restaurant. What a treat! Vegetable samosas, dhal, butter chicken, chicken tikka, roti….Huge servings so I had some leftovers today. What memories the taste and
smells bring! Comfort food for me. Breaking bread together has been/is an important cross-cultural experience in my life.
Oh, that sounds so wonderful–you introduced us to several of those :). And thank you for stating the importance of breaking bread together in the cross-cultural experience! Amen.
One of my griefs during lockdown was only eating my cooking! Because I have easy access to a lot of great food, I have not bothered to learn to cook most of it! I don’t enjoy airports or airplanes, but I deeply enjoy savoring local food in different locations. Most recently, Chinese dumplings in Sarawak!
I was having a conversation recently about multi-language worship services and the incredible way those experiences fill our hearts – I think that’s what I’m most looking forward to!
I think someone needs to research the spread of dumplings, in all their varieties, across the world. I’m always amazed at where we find them. Delicious. And YES to that someday worship service with everyone.
You’ve made me “natsukashi” for Japanese food. Saya rindu jagung bakar and rendang, and always love to eat Indian!! Favorite restaurant in the world is komala vila! And recently enjoyed injera in Ethiopia!!! I’m thankful for international friends who introduce me to other yummy dishes too and how I long for them to embrace Christ and join me at the feast ahead. Fun blogpost with an eternally satisfying truth to ponder.
I love all of this.
🙂
Love this so much 🙂 Saya juga rindu….
Psalm 34:8 “O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”……. and pass the babaganoush and pita!! 🍆🫓
Amen! Perfect verse for this post 🙂
Looking forward to heaven’s international food court!!
Ohhhh yes!
I think my favorites are nasi lemak, bhindi masala, dal tadka, roti canai, mango sticky rice, egg curry, tandoori chicken, brownies, fried catfish … this list could get very long.
All of it…but you had me at the bhindi masala…that’s something I crave!
Beautiful, Susan. It’s amazing how God made us and how the smell of a certain food or spice alone can bring memories up. We found a local Indian restaurant recently run by Nepalis. We walked in the door and the smell of spices cooking hit me in the face. I was suddenly transformed to India and I cried. It was a glorious meal and I’m thankful for the pain and joy that can come from loving people and places all over the world.
Amen, sister! Thank you for sharing this experience…one many of us can so identify with.
Isn’t it amazing how God designed our sense of smell to be so related to our memory?! Just yesterday I was making masoor dahl and as the onions, tomatoes and spices cooked together I was reminded of my precious, patient friend who taught me how to cook Pakistani food years ago. She also taught me how to navigate a new culture, language… she just loved on me and my family! What a beautiful “supper” we will all have one day!
I love Indonesian food. Nasi goreng with krupuk. Love Sate with lontong and peanut sauce with Es Cendol. Will pick this any day over other food. But also love the following:
Central Asia–bish barmak made with horsemeat or lagman or pelmeni
Korean (which I grew to love in Central Asia!)–bimbimbap and kimbap
Thai–pad thai and mangos with sticky rice
Your post made me hungry. May have to try making sate soon.
Now I’m hungry 😊. And ready for some es cendol😋