Blog
Each Day, a Food Journey
I grew up in North Carolina. In the south, food is central to every social function. When I’m back home, we eat pork bar-b-que with a vinegar-based sauce. It’s good. As an adult, I moved to the Kansas City area, and once again, I find myself eating bar-b-que at many social functions. Here, it is beef and the sauce is thick and red; spicy and sweet. Both versions are wonderful, but quite different. It’s a different culture here in Kansas City and with that comes different flavors. All of them very good!
When my family and I travel, food is also an important part of the “journey.” If we have others who don’t normally travel with us, we tell them ahead of time, “Be prepared. We eat quite well and quite often when we are on vacation.” My husband and I have always loved to enjoy the local cuisine, but when we became parents, we made a concerted effort to insure our son tried lots of foods and associated those foods with different parts of the country and world. No matter where we go, we enjoy the local fare.
We want him to know so much more than what he sees daily; more about people, food and different cultures. When one is exposed to lots of new flavors as a child, nothing is intimidating, because it is always just one more step in the “flavor journey.” Even if you’re not a child, it’s never too late to start that “journey.” As my mother once said and I think it relates well here, “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, that is all you will ever know.”
Posted by Allyson.