Did you know that intercultural couples list "arguments about food" as the #1 problem issue that they face? You'll understand better why after you check out the list below. Here are some country names and some of the traditional foods or regional delicacies that their inhabitants enjoy:
Australia: Beets on a burger; Morton Bay Bugs (crustaceans similar to crayfish); vegemite (a dark brown, salty food paste made from yeast extract)
China: Bird’s nest soup; jellyfish; owl soup
England and Ireland: Brawn (head cheese); fish and chips
France: Calf’s head; escargot (snails)
Germany: Blood sausage; schmaltz (a spread made from chicken fat that is eaten on bread)
Iceland: Hákarl (fermented, decomposed shark meat)
Indonesia: Bats; monkey toes; trasi (a paste of salted, fermented prawns)
Italy: Cibreo (rooster’s comb); songbirds (roasted and eaten whole)
Japan: Fugu (blowfish), which contains a toxic organ and kills around 300 people in Japan per year
Korea: Kim chee (fermented cabbage); sea slugs
Norway: Lukefisk (codfish soaked in lye)
Philippines: Baalut (a fifteen or sixteen-day-old fertilized duck or chicken egg that is buried in the ground for a few weeks and then eaten complete with eyes, feathers and feet)
Romania: Salmale (traditional meat-and-rice rolls); mamaliga (polenta); tripe soup (made with the lining of a calf’s stomach)
Scotland: Dookers (a type of long-beaked, black and white diving seabird); haggis (spicy sausage mixed with oatmeal and stuffed in sheep’s intestines)
Sweden: Surströmming (fermented herring)
Tunisia: Roasted sheep’s head (complete with brains and eyes)
Spend some time discussing this list with your spouse. Are there any foods on the list that he or she enjoys? What about you? Find out which delicacies are common in your spouse’s country. Which sound interesting to you? Are there any that you’d be unwilling to try? (I must admit there are several foods on this list that I can’t imagine eating!) If so, be sure to tell your spouse beforehand to avoid an uncomfortable situation later. Whenever possible, strive to make food differences something you can laugh about rather than something that causes conflict.
If your or your spouse enjoy certain delicacies not listed here, please POST A COMMENT or e-mail me at marla_alupoaicei@yahoo.com. For more great reading like this, please stay tuned for more information on my upcoming intercultural marriage book, Taking the Leap.
*“Weird Foods from Around the World,” weird-food.com.
What an interesting post. I guess I can count myself as lucky. My husband and I made a rule that we will try the foods the other enjoys and then decide if it's a keeper or not. Surprisingly we are enjoying both German and southern US foods (the cultures we grew up in ) so we end up cooking combinations of both... for example, dinner may be "Rouladen" (think slices of beef with filling that are rolled up and cooked) are served right alongside cornbread and collard greens.
ResponderEliminar