Oct 4th, 2024 Friday Sunny
Leisure traveling used to be a luxury. Leaving one’s residence and daily routine incurs extra expenses (for transportation at least, and often accommodation unless you stay with friends or family), as well as time away from work – difficult to arrange and can come with financial loss. Because leisure traveling is, by definition, not necessary, people who are lucky enough to be able to afford it must have some disposable income to enjoy what the world offers beyond their groove.
Then comes the technology boom. Not only is there explosive amount of information related to travel – to almost all destinations on this planet – available and accessible by all, through the means of travel books first, then internet, but also countless stories shared by virtually everyone. High resolution photos covering 360 degrees, detailed videos, blogs in various styles – all serve to make a faraway place seem as close as your bedroom. Sometimes I even have the illusion that I have already visited a place before I pack my suitcase.
In addition, the application and advancement of virtual reality might soon bring that place to our home/classroom. That we can experience the grandeur of many famous sites worldwide – and taking all the pictures that we want – without stepping out of our house, might be soon within reach.
So what is the point of traveling? Why still spend lots of money and deal with all the hassles?
I know there are many reasons that I will save for another day. For now, the easy justification for my traveling is simply – food.
The sampling of local food is still – and probably will remain – an irreplaceable charm of traveling. By savoring what the local people feed on, I feel that I can better appreciate their culture, their philosophy, and their way of life. Diverse as my cooking is, I endeavor to try something new on my trips, something I do not normally have in my kitchen, be it spices, ingredients, or cooking methods. It is over these meals that I get to really relax and have deep conversations with my travel partner (my husband most of the time), and they become anchors in my memory.
Flavor encompasses both taste and smell, and is linked more closely to our emotions than other senses, partly because it is crucial to survival. Nowadays, the risk of dying from food poisoning is negligible, yet food continues to carry its cultural stamp as a consistent way to express one’s identification. Despite globalization, people in different countries have their distinct habits of eating that connect them to their roots, and occasionally viewpoints towards food and diet extend to attitudes about life.
Even though it is possible to dine at “authentic” ethnic restaurants in metropolitan cities, I know that cannot be a real substitute. Adaptation inevitably happens to cater to the clientele. And even if a few dishes could remain relatively authentic, that menu is limited and has to be supplemented with whatever is appealing or acceptable in this region. Ethnic restaurants are the introduction, not the definition, of traveling via palate.
Of course, there are numerous spots that I have not stepped on, so I can only attempt to replicate the recipes there based on second-hand or even third-hand knowledge, like this plate of paella. I hope that someday, when we have learned enough Spanish (to order food without google translate 😛 ), I will get to compare my (?) version with the true paella.