|
Of
course it is only human to have preferences and make selections.But
discoveries never seem to announce their arrival in advance.
They sometimes hide behind a beautiful catalogue, a friendly
smile, or worst yet a delicious smell.
As usual beautiful catalogues line the stands of Italy,
with Rome, Florence and Tuscany usually coming first in
terms of artistic presentation; which means that one often
ends up taking a brochure not because an interest in the
geographical place but because of the pictures are too
beautiful to be left behind. But isnšt this the best way
to get someone interested in something he knows nothing
about?
This year I got trapped by a delicious smell. I usually
quickly by step the United Kingdom and Ireland stands
as I had studied in London and was pretty much acquainted
with the geographical aspects of the two islands. A bit
of English tea, or a scone? Well, Marks and Spencers had
several stores in Paris for such a long time that quite
a few Parisians already had a gastronomic dictionary in
their minds concerning food on the other side of the channel.
But what is this, a pot of roast spring Welsh lamb floating
in a whiskey sauce or sea food chowder simmering with
Welsh specialities, one of them being an edible seaweed
thickener called Laverbread? The smells sent one out of
this world and when samples were offered the public could
hardly believe their luck. My mother always believed that
men were trapped by their stomach so she made sure that
I knew how to cook well. And as I listened to the public
reaction I realised eating well might be one of the reasons
why some people choose certain places to go for their
vacations.Of course, there are those who travel for the
adventure, the danger of the unknown. But when one is
hungry, a good meal somehow always seems a perfect ending
to wonderful vacation.
I often feel that knowing about the culinary traditions
of any county would help one understand something about
the land and its heritage.
|