Skip to main content

Save money or eat food that will change your life?


Save money or eat food that will change your life?

 

Save money or eat food that will change your life? That is the question I asked myself as I sat down at a beautiful little restaurant overlooking the sea in Lisbon, opposite my sweet lover. It was my birthday. 


I looked down at the menu and that familiar thought pattern kicked in that wanted to pick the cheapest thing on the menu even though I knew what I wanted and it was by far the most expensive dish on the menu. Is this to do with self worth, a general survival mode or just this western conditioning that I constantly need to save money? For what? We put in energy to find this hidden gem and yet, here I was, feeling held back by not wanting to spend too much money. At that particular point, I was financially secure, and even if I was to spend money on this dish, rationally I wouldn't be in financial trouble. My boyfriend ordered a fresh orange juice and suddenly the prospect of buying orange juice yet alone anything seemed overwhelming. He saw my face and told me not to worry, ordered a second orange juice for me and told me that sometimes "it's okay to just let go". I felt angry at how right he was, mainly because I wondered how many experiences I had probably missed because of this fear. We had a discussion around this and unpicked it a little. I was afraid of losing my security, but I realised that I was more afraid of looking back and knowing that I could have experienced something very special. 


So what if we were oblivious to the price? How would this impact your experience? A friend of mine shared that he prefers to indulge in something more expensive when it is a special occasion, otherwise it won’t be as special. Some people do the opposite and always get the most expensive meal on the menu, perhaps because of their status around others, or perhaps because they are fooled into assuming that the more expensive, the better. Indeed, sometimes the more expensive, the better the quality, but you might find that what you really want is actually not the most expensive. 

It's okay and completely natural to be a little cautious of how much one spends, but at the end of the day if you've travelled to a new place, put in a certain amount of energy to find somewhere that you're bursting with excitement to try, literally imagining what its like to put that particular food in your mouth, perhaps you've walked past a patisserie which has a pastry that makes your mouth water, well, why not try it? You might be broke next month but at least you'll have an experience that might just stay with you forever. I might be naive, but perhaps the food you try will inspire you to start writing again after years of feeling passionless, perhaps it will make you feel light again after months of depression, perhaps those few moments will take you off of life's treadmill and remind you that it's the little things that you've needed in order to feel content. You know what, it might even be the most disgusting thing you've ever tried, but what have you got to lose? Maybe your disgusted face will make your company cry with laughter which in turn will make you cry with laughter which in turn will also give you a memorable experience.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chang Mai - A voyage of culinary discovery.

A few years back I moved to Leeds, West Yorkshire, and was in search for people to live with. I posted an advert on gumtree and received a heartfelt response from Fern, from Thailand, expressing her love for food and desire to experiment in the kitchen together. So that’s what we did. We found a house, along with a girl from Iran, and we spent long periods of time procrastinating in the warmth of our kitchen where we’d put all our creativity into making bizarre dishes and sharing stories about the food that we ate growing up. It was timeless. I knew nothing about Thai food at this point, so Fern would often go to the Thai supermarket where she’d attempt to explain what everything was. I like to call this our visit to the food museum. We galavanted around the city with the hope of finding a decent Thai restaurant and a particular Thai desert which Fern insisted I should try. Mango sticky rice, made with sticky rice, mango and coconut milk, sometimes topped with crispy y...
Post a Comment
Read more

Maria from Genoa

Maria from Genoa   Painting of Maria by my sister, Amy Perlin. “I was 7 when the war finished. I remember hearing the bombs dropping down and we’d run into the bomb shelter, my family and neighbours. I didn’t fully understuntand what was going on. Food was rationed. My dad was a shoe maker and would exchange sh oes for food with the local farmers, who would give him bread, cheese, salami, milk, rabbits and chickens for everyone to share. Although the war was a terrible time, I had so much fun in that bomb shelter, it brought the community together.”   A face with a unique and untold story, Maria Rossi ran the Green Gate Cafe with her husband, John, on Hanbury Street in East London for 54 years, from 1946 to 2000. In the late 70’s the cafe was renamed “Rossi’s”. I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon chatting with Maria at her charming home in North London. It was my first time meeting Maria and I didn't know what to expect. I felt welcomed into her home l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Oman, nostalgia and Paratha

Oman, nostalgi and Paratha  My ex boyfriend was from Oman, a country bordering Saudi and Yemen. With many Indians migrating to Oman to find work, his family too moved over from India. We met at an open mic in London and I was so excited to have met another fellow human who was just as passionate about food. He didn’t turn out to be a very pleasant partner, but he did introduce me to something very special... Paratha , and that is how we immediately connected.   Paratha is a flat bread, originating from the Indian subcontinent and ranges from one region to the other. There are a million different types of Paratha but my favourite is the South Indian paratha. ‘Parat’ and ‘atta’ literally means ‘layers of cooked dough’. I had my first bite of Paratha when I went to visit him in Oman. Paratha was the foundation for most of our meals. We ate it with curries, Biryanis, Daal, spiced scrambled eggs… everything. I couldn’t get enough of it. The flakiness. How the bu...
Post a Comment
Read more