http://ift.tt/2heMZ5Y
and it got me thinking about some of the different foods people eat around the world. I didn't want to derail that thread onto a different tangent so I decided to post this as a new topic.
I've had the opportunity throughout my life to travel to more third world locales than I can remember. Often I found myself rather far off the beaten path, living and working with people who didn't have a dime to their names; everything they wore, owned or ate they had because they built, foraged or killed it themselves. Most of these people lived in conditions we'd consider to be abject poverty, but in general they seemed content with their circumstances. It was simply all they'd ever known.
No matter what country I was in I was amazed at the similarity of certain aspects of the lives of these different people, scattered all over the world. They usually had dirt floors, but those tended to be hard packed and swept clean daily. They didn't have much but they were proud of what they had because it was earned through their hard work.
Generosity seemed to be the rule of the day, always willing to share whatever resources they had, regardless of scarcity. I was always offered food even when I knew they had barely enough to feed themselves at a subsistence level. Every meal was treated as something like a banquet, or a party. No matter where I was, no matter what country I was in or tribe I was with, the mood always seemed the same. Invariably it seemed to be a celebration because they had guests.
When people living like that take you in and offer to share with you some of their meager supply of food, to reject it would be a terrible blow to their esteem. I would always accept some of what was offered, no matter how... different... it might seem to western tastes. If the food was scarce I wouldn't have much, but made sure to have at least a couple of bites worth, because to take only one bite might seem like I was rejecting it due to the taste. Over the years I've eaten things that might surprise people who grew up in first-world nations.
While not the strangest food, there is one story that always sticks in my mind. This one time I arrived at this tiny village and couldn't immediately tell what it was they ate. They had a pitifully small amount of livestock: a goat (for milk) and a few chickens (for eggs) as I recall, and not even much in the way of crops or a garden. It turns out the main staple of their diet was a weed that grew along the dirt roads and paths. It couldn't grow in the jungle because it didn't get enough sun but wherever there was a break in the tree cover, like around a road, this weed flourished. They didn't know what it was called and I couldn't identify it. But they simply picked, boiled and ate the leaves and had done so for years. The stuff grew so fast they never had to walk far from the huts to gather some.
This weed did not smell very good while boiling it and it tasted even worse. Despite the wide variety of foods I've eaten, I'm not sure I've ever tasted another food so bitter, but at mealtime their children dug into their bowls like it was ice cream and cake that they were eating. They couldn't seem to shovel it into their mouths fast enough, usually asked for seconds, and seemed happy and smiling the whole time. The number of chickens they had couldn't have given them more than about one egg per family per day, at most. Likewise, a single goat doesn't produce THAT much milk. It was pretty much just those weeds.
I think what really sticks in my mind is those kids. Nutritionally speaking, humans would have to eat vast quantities of leaves to survive if that were their principal food source, both because of nutrients but also just to get enough calories. Whenever life took me to strange locales I always carried some candy or chocolate bars in my pack for trading, gifts, or just to give to kids to promote goodwill. On this occasion though, I didn't dig out the candy. If these kids were truly enjoying that horrifically bitter food, I worried that by giving them their first taste of something so unbelievably sweet, that comparison might forever taint their view of the food they eat daily. I've second-guessed that decision for decades. For years afterwards it almost brought tears to my eyes when remembering those kids, eating massive bowls of squishy, bitter boiled greens, three times a day. But enjoying it like it was the best thing they'd ever eaten.
I have preferences of what I like but if you put food in front of me I'll eat it without complaint. I haven't found anything yet that I can't choke down, and with a smile on my face while I do it. Speaking of which, I gained some acting skills during those years. No matter how vile the food was I always had to act very convincingly as if I loved it.
These days my kids laugh at me on the rare occasions that we go to one of those all-you-can-eat buffet places, like Chuck a Rama or whatever. They laugh because I will always look around the buffet to try to find something I hate. Whatever they have that I hate the most, I always have a serving of it, and my kids always chuckle over this odd habit. But I do it to remind myself of how very, very lucky we are living in the USA. It truly is a land of plenty. I never want to forget the people who are barely subsisting; the people who are eating foods that don't seem much better than eating dirt, but they seem grateful for what they have.
Whether it's because of poverty, geography, or whatever, it seems like humans are amazingly adaptable to different conditions. We truly are omnivores. Does anyone else have any experiences they're willing to share, about the different foods you've seen people eat around the world? Or difficult conditions under which you've seen people have to work to grow or gather food?
Unusual foods or growing/hunting conditions around the world
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