Foreign Food

It’s a warm Sunday evening in Tha Thom and if you sit inside the house it’s a bit stifling. But relaxing on the floor of our open porch, feeling the cool breeze, listening to the night insects and the temple ring the gong for the coming Buddhist Sunday, and sharing food with Lao friends…we realized one can’t ask for a much better evening.

Kaarina Cooking

The interesting aspect of this particular evening was not the time or place, but rather the meal we were sharing. After almost five months in Tha Thom and a recent trip by our Project Manager to the forests of our beloved ‘birth country,’ Nepal, we decided to treat our Lao counterparts to something foreign. This night we enjoyed jasmine rice (expensive in the village, but it is available), dahl (traditional Nepali lentil soup, served on top of rice), tarkary (curried potato and vegetables), samosa (deep-fried breaded vegetables), sag (fried spinach) and chia (spiced tea with milk, caned milk that is).

Dinner Time

It was an interesting learning experience for all that attended. Our guests enjoyed the meal and were kind to try the new dishes, but most were unsure of the ‘curry’ that Nepalese food uses liberally! Personally, while sharing the meal, we realized this interesting fact, ‘Food that is foreign is always foreign.’ Living in our new home, we’ve tasted some food that we would have never imagined eating (you can read our previous blog on food to get an idea of what we’re talking about). We wrinkle up our noses at some of the food and flavors we taste in Laos, but our Lao friends also wrinkle up their noses at some of the food that we accept as ‘normal.’ We often wonder, ‘How can you not like milk, bread or cheese?’, while they ask us, ‘How can you not love bamboo shoot soup and fermented fish sauce?’