Quick, what three things does the human body absolutely need to survive? Food, water and air.
Yes, clothing’s important – and polite – but not absolutely necessary. Neither is shelter. Food, water and air are the only things that cannot be done without. People all over the world need them, and survive on them as they have for millennia.
The air around the world, pollution levels aside, is fairly uniform. The same is true for water. Some places have naturally good-tasting water. In other places, water comes with that trademark arsenic aftertaste every Normanite knows. Regardless, water is water.
The only thing that varies from country to country and region to region is food. This diversity is due to several factors. First, the naturally occurring plants and animals vary from area to area due to climate, soil, etc. Our long-ago ancestors looked to the immediate vicinity when foraging or hunting for food. The natural environment determined what animals could be raised and what plants could be cultivated. Different methods of food preparation developed based on what exactly was in or could be raised in the immediate vicinity. In this way, different food habits arose in different parts of the globe.
There are some animals and plants that are found all over the globe. Nevertheless, because of the varying taste preferences resulting from different food habits, the same ingredient can be cooked in myriad different ways. Carne asada from Mexico and rezala from Bangladesh, though both made of beef, taste nothing like each other.
Because of people’s dependence on it, food has become an important and emblematic part of people’s cultures. Thus, one of the most important and enjoyable ways to experience a new culture is to taste its cuisine.
Trying previously unknown cuisine is no small step, to be sure. Each of us has grown up eating a particular type or types of food, and we’re comfortable with that food. It’s what we picture when we think of home-cooked meals. It’s the comfort food we keeping coming back to.
Think about this: the food that is so familiar and so dear to us is likely extremely strange to someone in another part of the world. Of course, what they eat might seem totally weird to us, too.
But if they can eat their food and be alright, why can’t we at least try it, and vice versa for our food? It would be a small step, to be sure, but a step nonetheless toward gaining a deeper understanding of another person and a more profound appreciation for another culture.
The opportunity to taste new food, if available, is one that should be taken full advantage of. Fortunately, that opportunity is definitely available in Norman. This city offers the adventurous diner restaurants serving food from several different cultures just minutes away from campus.
Food from France, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, India, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Middle East are all easily available right here in the middle of Oklahoma. Even our campus eateries feature international delicacies like sushi. The diverse cultural nights on campus are also opportunities for culinary adventure.
If you’re willing to drive to Oklahoma City, you’ll find food from all the aforementioned countries as well as Ethiopia, Poland, the Korean peninsula and Spain, just to name a few.
A veritable world tour in the form of food is easily achievable. This “globe-eating” tour is one that everyone should take. Yes, it will take you out of your comfort zone, and you might eat something you don’t particularly care for. But in expanding one’s culinary horizons lies the adventure and opportunity for cultural enrichments.
Forgive an old graduating senior for doling out unsolicited advice, but I’ve been around long enough to experience this firsthand. It’s one thing to study another culture, or even speak the language of another people. That’s great. To truly understand a different culture, however, it’s necessary to immerse oneself in that culture. The best way to do this is to travel to wherever that culture originates. A worthy second-place substitute is to immerse oneself into a small part of the foreign culture, like food.
For the duration of your meal, you’ll be eating and living just like someone half a world away without traveling more than a few miles. This is a powerful, not to mention tasty, learning tool. We’ve all heard that the most important learning doesn’t always happen in the classroom. I think whoever coined that phrase had a dining room in mind instead.
So while you’re in Norman for the rest of your college years, leave the gastronomic euphoria of Couch Cafeteria or the Union and head for something that you’ve never eaten before. You might not even be able pronounce it on the first try, but taste it nonetheless. If you like it, keep coming back. If not, try something else. Norman has plenty of options.
No matter what though, keep trying new foods, and new things in general. Stay curious about the world, and the people in it, and learn as much about them as possible. You won’t regret it.
As a side note, thanks for reading my work for the past seven semesters. It’s been a privilege. All the best.
-Munim Deen is a microbiology senior.
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dio 3 years ago
Even a WWII MRE from the Soviet Union taste better and healthier than the mass produced standardized filth from Kraft Foods, Smithfield Foods and Tyson Foods.
JJanowiak 3 years ago
Where can you get Polish and/or Ethiopian groceries?