Week 3: Task 2 - Why We Eat What We Eat?

Last night I went to a friends house for dinner and every time I embark on this journey I am faced with a new culinary dish that I have never tried before. This time it was marinara. 

My friend's father, James asked me "Are you okay to have marinara tonight, Charmaine?"

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked as I did not know what it was. 

"Marinara" he replied cheerfully then turned around to mix the sauce through again. He had assumed I knew exactly what it was and that I had just misheard him.

"Haha! I'm not too sure what marinara actually is, James."

"Oh, it's like a seafood tomato sauce! Lots of calamari, tender fish and mussels in it! And we pour that on top of pasta!"

After the pasta was put on plates and the table was set. James brought out a glass bowl with what looked like a block of tofu soaking in water. 

" Have you ever eaten feta before, Charmaine?" asked James, now being more cautious with what he was asking me. 

"Yeah I have, but only in spinach and feta pies or a little on top of pasta." I replied

James cackled. "Ha! Well you're in for a treat! In the Asvestas household, we eat whole chunks of it. It's a very strong flavour so you might want to just try a small chunk before you really dig into it."

I remember my first impressions of the pasta was delicious. In fact, I think I had actually had it before in an Italian restaurant but never really picked up that a seafood pasta was technically called marinara. The feta on the other hand, looked quite unappetising. Being from a Chinese background and for the cheese to look so similar to tofu, I thought maybe the texture would be quite similar. This was not the case though. It had a rubbery texture and the taste was so pungent and strong. It was definitely good advice for me to eat a small amount of it. I gawked in awe of the family eating the bite size pieces cheese as if they were crackers. 

After this experience I surprised myself at how little i knew outside of Asian cuisine. Being brought up Chinese, and having regular Chinese and Vietnamese meals had made my used to eating foods that had familiar flavours. Cheese is hardly used in these cuisines which I now understand played a part in me not having tried feta in such a way before.

Trying this new food has enlightened me in many ways. First and foremost, I now understand that there is a wide variety of foods outside what I usually eat and that there is so much for me to try. In order to be a great dietician I must familiarise myself with foods of all cuisines. Secondly, I realised not to make assumptions on how much people know about foods. James automatically assumed that I knew what marinara was, and to be on the recieving end of this assumption opened my eyes to how a person may feel if I assume that they know what foods I will be talking about as a dietician.