As I nostalgically wallowed in the aisles and stalls of Melbourne's foodstores a few days ago, I did intimate that I was becoming a bit myopic to the food scene around me in Hanoi. Asparagus had me in a spin. I had cheese and rustic loaves of bread on the brain. I even went into one of those tiny expat foodstores in Hanoi last weekend and trotted out with poncy paper bags filled up with air-dried pasta, olives and marinated feta. Last night I was eating food matched with wine for God's sake!
What the bloody hell is happening to me?
Am I having some kind of culinary cataclysm? Is my Sticky alter-ego transitioning out of my consciousness?
I need to take a good long hard look at myself. I need a slap back to the streets of Hanoi, a good crawl in the gutter. I need to get stuck into ingredients that look like they've been raked off the grass at the park.
Wake up Sticky! Remember where you're from but write about where you are!
Hey Mark,
Sounds to me like you enjoyed your holiday at "home" so much, you want to extend it just a little longer by eating some of the food that reminded you of being there. Certainly nothing wrong with that.
It's also one of the great things about being a gastronome. We don't have to be nailed down to eating just one type of cuisine - mix it up a little.
Glad you enjoyed your time back home in Melbourne. Whenever you do slap yourself back into the realities of food in Hanoi, I can't wait to read about it. :-)
Cheers,
Phil
Posted by: Phil | 02 December 2009 at 10:46 PM
It might just be that Xmas is round the corner =)
Posted by: Sputnik | 04 December 2009 at 04:41 PM
This hits ridiculously close to home for me. When I'm in Asia I love the food but wax lyrical about Western food (and spend too much time sourcing cheese), and when I'm in New Zealand, I imbibe in lots of cheese and wine, but dream about a fresh steaming bowl of Asian soup noodles. It's good to know that we could survive anywhere though isn't it? ;-)
Posted by: Marie | 07 December 2009 at 05:29 AM
You're right, Phil...I really need to get my mojo back though!
I went nuts on cheese in Australia, Marie!
Posted by: Sticky | 17 December 2009 at 08:15 PM
Merry X-mas Sticky rice and all the blog readers.
Posted by: thé vert de chine | 21 December 2009 at 12:54 PM