Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Food cravings

People who know me know that I love to eat. I will try almost anything and will probably like it. So, I am sad to report that I am experiencing something completely foreign in India - I just don't feel like eating. The other day, I ordered food from the college canteen (pictures to come after I get back to the states... I can't be bothered to figure out how to do it here) and I sat down to eat. I took one look at the food in front of me and didn't feel like eating. Didn't feel like eating. That's like saying the moon decided to fall down to the Earth one day.

So, I think it's for several reasons that I have lost my appetite. First, I was sick all last week with what I have decided was the common flu (sorry, no bird flu or dengue or typhoid or tuberculosis to report), so lost my appetite because of that. Second, the heat makes me less hungry because I can't be bothered to spend energy eating. Third, everything here is so spicy that all I can taste is spicy, spicy, and many cumin seed. Last, the food at the canteen - where I have been having 2-3 meals a day - leaves much to be desired. It's not even really food. It's more a mushy concoction of unrecognizable vegetables with lots of unidentifiable spices with a heaping handful of chili pepper thrown in.

In the end, I think I'm wasting away in India and wonder if I will end up after these four weeks malnourished. At least I'll lose some weight, which I've been wanting to do for years now.

On the food note, I now have a list of foods that I desperately want when I get back to Vietnam:

  • Seafood of any kind - especially steamed clams or crab.
  • Vegetables of any kind - uncooked, or minimally sauteed in oil and garlic.
  • Banh cuon, which is a thin rice paper wrapped around a mushroom/meat filling. One of my favorite Vietnamese dishes.
  • Ca kho - a caramaleized salty fish dish that is to die for (and whose description does not do it justice).

I also have a list for when I get back to the states:

  • A huge green salad with a simple vinaigrette.
  • Pizza. Any kind.
  • Hamburger. No, make that a cheeseburger. And fries.
  • Ice cream. Really good ice cream. Breyer's strawberry or Dreyer's Vanilla Bean.

I'm salivating as I'm typing... ah!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For ice cream you should try the bi-rite creamery in the mission. It's a little pricy and yuppie/hipster-ish but pretty tasty. I am a fan of the salt caramel flavor.
-Margaret