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Today I have eaten bread and cheese, the 5 P's pasta, and apples with peanut butter. What do all these things have in common? Travel.
What? The bread and cheese, a very French snack, is indeed a preference of a French ex. He lives in Montreal, and we often went to the Jean-Talon or Atwater Markets. I loooove fresh food, particularly fruit, so I would get bug-eyed as we walked through the isles of produce. He was more of a Carnivore, and would opt for the sausage. In fact, he introduced me to sausage (no pun intended). There is a lovely bucher/cured meats/sausage shop called Cochons tout ronds, which I whole-heartedly recommend. They have a booth at the Jean-Talon Market on Ave. Henri-Julien. A couple of the relaxed light weekend meals we would have would be a baguette, sausage, and some nice cheese--with a side of arugula salad. I kid you not. And red wine. Yep, it's all true--the French really do eat this way. Unfortunately, back home, I don't have as easy access to the nice French sausages or meats or even the flavorful fresh bread. Although, bread from the Bread Basket Bakery is nice.
I recently went to Cancun. Paaaaaarrrtyyy!! If you know me at all, I am NOT a crazy drunk, so my Cancun vaca was more of a rough and tumble backpacking experience. It is much more fun for me to travel with company. I visited a few sights with a Swiss backpacker who was headed to Belize. We opted to dine in one night, and he whipped up this awesome pasta.
"What is it?"
"Five P's: panna (cream), purea di pomodoro (tomato puree), prezzemolo (parsley), parmigiano (parmesan), pepe (pepper)
Octopus Ceviche in Cancun
Mexican food is not my favorite. However, I was starting to get into the taco groove by the time I left Cancun. For me, it was a nice relief to have some good 'ol fashioned home-made pasta. When you're swimming and walking every day, you also work up quite an appetite. The hearty, cheesy meal hit the spot. Now I've been back home for exactly a week, and guess what? That's what I had for dinner tonight.
As I was ruminating these two meals from my past, I prepared one of my favorite snacks of late. Apples with peanut butter. This wasn't in my repertoire until about a month ago. The culprit? A colleague down in Boston. You see, about a month ago, I did a two-week externship in Boston. My mentor there would bring a banana to work, and spread peanut or almond butter over it, before biting into it. "An odd way to eat a banana," I thought at the time, but I guess fruit with peanut butter has stuck in my mind. I have now gone through several bags of apples this way, and I'm happy to report I have a full jar of peanut butter awaiting me in the morning. :)
Five P's Fettuccini
Reflecting on these foods, they also seem to represent happy memories that I've had, or people and lifestyles that I would like to emulate. I have heard of body language syncing between people in a conversation, I have known that friends dress alike, so I suppose food is not so much of a stretch. Now with the internet--I am finding fashion inspirations from bloggers in California and France. What does this mean for how our behaviors are shaped, or how we connect with those immediately around us?
