I Miss Good Food

Those who know me, know that I care a great deal about food. My mother jokes that I can remember all the places I’ve been solely by what I’ve eaten there. She’s not wrong. I love learning about the food of different places – the traditions surrounding different recipes and cooking styles, the meaning behind dishes. I love finding new ingredients and new spices to incorporate into my own well-loved recipes, and I love cooking with new friends and learning about their culture through food.

When I spent time in the Comoros, their spice markets are some of the most richly stocked in the world. I could buy huge bags of freshly dried cloves, packets of cardamom pods, jars of star anise and black pepper. Every few days I would brew a huge pot of fresh chai, after speaking to women in the market stalls about their own traditional recipes. In Madagascar, discussion with the local people who hand-pollinated vanilla beans yielded a recipe for a vanilla cream sauce that was perfect when served with fish.

In my own city, I love the diversity of our restaurants. I love the giant dim-sum restaurants with their huge round tables, and the tiny ramen shops, I miss the comfortable Indian take-out places and the sleek sushi bars, I can’t wait to get back to Robson Street with its blocks of Korean restaurants and Main Street with its plethora of tiny cafes that serve lattes the way I like them.

So when I got to Waterford, I was more than a little disappointed with the food. I understand the realities of the situation – it is nigh impossible to cook three meals a day for 600 people and make it taste good. I’m also very conscious that for many, this is the best, and the most food they’ve ever had.

But for me, the blandness of the food makes me sad. It’s not even that it’s bad – it would honestly be more interesting if it was bad, and I wouldn’t feel as guilty about complaining – it’s just that I won’t remember a single meal here by the food.

That’s a new experience for me. I don’t recall a single meal here so far that’s made me think, ‘oh, I feel full and happy now!’ or ‘oh, that’s just what I wanted for dinner!’

It’s not a problem – I’ve bought a bottle of extra-hot hot sauce, and I think I’ll be getting a mini-fridge so I can hopefully make some of my own meals, but it is another special part of the ‘UWC experience.’