Me and Mel
It’s funny. Once, my brother commented to me that our father really likes to talk about meals. Food might be one of his favorite topics, we realized. Whenever we talk to him we usually end up finding out what he had to eat in the last day or two, particularly if he went out to a restaurant. If the meal was in any way noteworthy, he tells us what he had.
My father is quite a phenomenal chef, actually, so it makes sense that he likes to talk about food. And it’s one of his ways to check up on us and see if we’re doing alright too because the conversation is usually two-sided and we get to tell him what we’ve had recently or made to eat or where we’ve been.
No room at the inn…
Luckily, I stopped a little early tonight. This meant, however that I didn’t stop in a town to get any food supplies like I’d planned. But I figured I always at least have tuna and I’d gotten some olive tampenade that goes good with it spread on crackers. After setting up my site though, I remembered I had half a jar of spaghetti sauce and had found some pasta in the bag of utensils that came with the camping gear…so I ended up making a tuna pasta sauce for the fettuccini. With the black olive for flavor, it was so good! It rememded me a little of the dishes they served at Rasta Pasta, a Jamaican fusion restaurant back in my hometown.
Eating it here under the stars, listening to the Pink Floyd someone is playing at another campsite, with the sounds of nature and animals in the background, I felt like a super-chef! I was especially proud since I’d started with so few ingredients to cook with! I’ve been trying to buy things in smaller amounts, or a few items at a time. I don’t need to purchase for meals I might make. It’s better to only buy for ones I know I’ll make in the near future. I know a month or more sounds like a long time to be in a country, but suddenly it’ll be over and I’ll have built up a nice little larder that I have to get rid of! It’s tough, though because there are certain staples I end up having to get in nearly each country I want to cook in. Ah, the joys of a wandering budding chef.
Then, belly full, reminiscing over my amazing meal of moments ago, I remembered a particularly good garlic spinach I’d made earlier this week with pieces of bacon in it. (I had combined a couple leftover pieces of bacon from breakfast with store spinach and garlic.) I gave myself some props for that awesome meal I cooked as well.
Wouldn’t my father be proud.
23/1/15