Food Questions Challenge

After a discussion with Joel and James, the latter had a bright idea. Guess what? Yet another fun blogging questions challenge. This one, as the title suggests, is about food.

If you have a blog, I encourage you to also participate, and notify James when you publish. (And me, too, for I’d love to read it!) And if you don’t yet have a blog…perhaps this is a sign?

My answers are as follows.

The Questions

What Was Your Favorite Food Growing Up?

Great question! I can’t do this question justice with a sole definite answer, so I’ll present you with one of my favorite writerly (perhaps bloggerly is better?) narrative tools: the unordered list!

• Avocado: Apparently, I’ve enjoyed this since I was a baby. I love the texture and how it goes with everything savory. Living in Mexico might as well have been heaven on earth. So many avocados!
• Carrot Sticks + Cheese: Simple, yes, but when I’m not stuck in my head catastrophizing, I’m a man ridiculously easy to please. How much I adore the humble carrot!
• Cheesy Mince: While perhaps not a dish, all it takes is cooking beef mince, then melting grated cheese over the top. If you want to get fancy, add onions, carrots, celery, capsicums, and paprika.
• Christmas Ham: To most this’d just be ordinary leg ham, but I only ever had it in December.
• Custard: Same thing as above, though you’ll be pleased to know I never mixed them!
• Fairy Bread: If you’ve never heard of this (somewhat concerning) children’s party delicacy, might I introduce you to the strange concoction that is white bread with butter and hundreds and thousands. For the Americans reading, that means sprinkles. Ludicrous? Yes. A rare occasion food? Also yes. I still loved it when I got it, though.
• Pink Lady Apples: These compete with Granny Smith apples for my favorite cultivar.
• Potato Salad: Many happy childhood events accompanied this delightful dish.
• Sausage In Bread: Slathered in tomato sauce (or barbecue sauce, if you’re feeling adventurous). ‘Tomato sauce’ is what most Australians call what Americans know as ‘ketchup.’
• Vegemite: If you’re unfamiliar, this is a salty dark-brown spread made from yeast and vegetable extract, and is quintessentially Australian, despite the large proportion of the country that doesn’t enjoy it! I get it; it’s an acquired taste! Seemingly, since I have a perhaps unfortunate taste for strong flavors, I adore it. I used to love it on a humble slice of toast, and now I love it with blue cheese, avocado, and on a crumpet. Ridiculous? Too strong a combination of flavors? True! I love it anyway.

What’s Your Favorite Food Made Locally? (In Your Region/Country.)

If you’re asking for an Australian specialty, it depends on what answer you seek. I’m ridiculously proud of Australia’s multicultural population, and many folks have brought their specialties with them.

If you’re talking about the Indigenous folks of this continent, for me to discuss them would be disingenuous. One, regrettably, because I know nothing about bush tucker other than damper (a bread cooked over a campfire, traditionally made from flour ground from native seeds, and delicious). The other is because to speak of the Indigenous people as one group is inaccurate. It’s like saying Europe is one people group. They’re a vast, interconnected web of many different mobs, all with their own civilizations.

Writing this has made me realize another branch of knowledge I’m woefully ignorant of. The more you learn, the less you know, and isn’t that a wonderful thing for folks who enjoy discoveries?

Anyway! With that preamble out of the way…I adore a cheese and Vegemite scroll.

What’s Your Favorite Food Generally?

Yet another hard question. Why must you make me choose? It fluctuates, but I’ve always adored bread.

What’s One Food You’ve Had In The Last Year You Remember Warmly?

I was fortunate enough to experience a proper British roast for the first time…and my goodness, it was extraordinary. From the vegetables, to the carved meat, and the dessert…I’ll dream about that meal.

What Food Do You Really Want To Try?

This will sound terrible to those of you who are vegan or vegetarian, and I completely understand.

Except…I came across Kazakhstani cuisine by chance, knowing nothing about the country apart from that it exists, it’s in Central Asia, and some of its recent history. I discovered besbarmaq (a dish of horse meat with noodles and broth) and qymyz (fermented mare’s milk). Color me intrigued, I must admit.

Perhaps on a less ‘out there’ note, at least to ‘Western’ palates, I’d love to try Peruvian or Argentinian food.

Do You Take Photos Of Your Meals?

Definitely. Always when I’m out, even if it’s just a beverage, and often at home or when I’ve been invited to someone’s place, even if it’s not ‘particularly interesting.’

Interesting food, even better in company, is joy. What is there left if we don’t celebrate it?

Savory Or Sweet?

This is hard…but if I must pick, it’s savory. So many options, yet with an umami consistency I appreciate.

Spicy Or No?

I wish I had a definite answer to this question! My need for certainty would appreciate it, as would my often confused or addled stomach. I adore spicy food, but I just can’t handle it.

Which makes my unabashed love of Mexican and Thai cuisine in all its forms all the more difficult. I’m just endlessly grateful for the folks willing to adapt their foods for different palates.

Tea Or Coffee? (Both? Neither?)

I could say ‘neither’ and leave it at that, but it’s a little more complex. I’ve never liked the taste of coffee or tea. The only way I can stomach tea is either that packaged iced tea (and goodness knows that’s just some tea extract wafted over flavored water) or with too much sugar dumped in, but that’s not great either.

The one exception is chai. With honey and milk, that tastes amazing, though I don’t drink it anymore, for the same reason I don’t drink alcohol: it’s one decision that eliminates a thousand others, and I have a mind that’s easily affected by things, so I think avoiding anything that alters it is wise.