Un tour du monde alimentaire / Breakfast around the world
One of the many joys of learning a foreign language, as charming as French, is that I get to see the world from a completely different set of eyes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still my eyes, but slightly altered to embrace the wonders of the world through the French filter. Just like in speech, life is complimented by accents and tones that give vibrant colors and sweet scents to the words, providing them a melodic sound that really pleases the ear.
Language is a part of what we call culture, and French happens to be so widespread that it incorporates so many of them; it’s like a complex embroidery in which each fold and stitch bring together another part of the world. I didn't quite understand the concept until we actually studied it in class. After each lesson, I leave the classroom wondering how one word can be pronounced in Belgium and still sound foreign in Morocco. The topics we cover in French are so easy and yet so sophisticated, I'm not sure if it's because they're actually taught in another language or if that fact brings me in a different mindset. Either way, I can argue that French, as far as my class goes, covers more content in a fun and easily followed way, than a combination of other classes that are thought to be more important.
Before I continue to openly express my love for the language, I have to set a base that this whole essay is surrounding in the first place. Culture and food. How are mine and our culture reflected through our eating habits? Well, I might not be fully prepared to answer that question in full extent, but I can clearly state examples of what my classmates have for breakfast, and all in French! It sounded more magnificent in my head.
For the past two weeks, our 'alien-packed' class consisting of beautiful individuals from all around the globe, got the chance to introduce one of the most sacred rituals that a person can have. That is none other than the early feast of breakfast. Each one of us prepared a traditional morning meal from our home, that being both country and building. After we spent time presenting our dish, we let everyone have a taste of what being part of our own culture is like. For me, that meant I got to show everyone what a classic farmer's breakfast looks like from an island in the Mediterranean. It was a great experience, especially the part where I explained that the population of cows was greater than that of people. But that's only true for the population of a farm and not the whole country, let's not be ludicrous. Anyhow, the food was more memorable than the facts.
What I really appreciated as a member of the audience to other people's exhibits, was that I actually got to try the food they all so passionately talked about. There is no better way to learn about one's culture than food, and I can speak from experience. It was also interesting to see how each culture utilizes their resources as well as personal preference to shape the way they wanted to start their day. India, for example, has a variety of dishes to choose from. It was surprising to hear that one person got to eat a different breakfast every single day. Not only that, but they also manage to add so many exotic spices and mix them with ingredients that give a both healthy and tasty outcome. For Canada on the other hand, they were not as healthy as they were delicious. Pancakes with maple syrup and waffles with bacon leave no questions to who dominates the western section of the classroom. Europeans kept us warm during the Dutch winter and Romanian spring, while the Arab world didn't hold back on its noteworthy persistence on both tradition and religion.
In the end, everyone was looking forward to our next meeting, where another part of the world's cuisine was going to be unraveled for us to sample. Next up, Asia and Africa revealed what they had to offer, through a vortex of exotic tastes and extraordinary flavors. After all that, I think we all have some research to do on how to make dhokla and where to get speculoos, because everything I've tried has been too good to not revisit. We finished off our unit by visiting the patisserie “La Brioche” where we enjoyed a french breakfast and, just like the French, we talked about food “à table”. It was a brilliant experience and the photographs do a better job at showing how much fun we had than my words ever will.
Madame Clelia
One of the many joys of learning a foreign language, as charming as French, is that I get to see the world from a completely different set of eyes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still my eyes, but slightly altered to embrace the wonders of the world through the French filter. Just like in speech, life is complimented by accents and tones that give vibrant colors and sweet scents to the words, providing them a melodic sound that really pleases the ear.
Language is a part of what we call culture, and French happens to be so widespread that it incorporates so many of them; it’s like a complex embroidery in which each fold and stitch bring together another part of the world. I didn't quite understand the concept until we actually studied it in class. After each lesson, I leave the classroom wondering how one word can be pronounced in Belgium and still sound foreign in Morocco. The topics we cover in French are so easy and yet so sophisticated, I'm not sure if it's because they're actually taught in another language or if that fact brings me in a different mindset. Either way, I can argue that French, as far as my class goes, covers more content in a fun and easily followed way, than a combination of other classes that are thought to be more important.
Before I continue to openly express my love for the language, I have to set a base that this whole essay is surrounding in the first place. Culture and food. How are mine and our culture reflected through our eating habits? Well, I might not be fully prepared to answer that question in full extent, but I can clearly state examples of what my classmates have for breakfast, and all in French! It sounded more magnificent in my head.
For the past two weeks, our 'alien-packed' class consisting of beautiful individuals from all around the globe, got the chance to introduce one of the most sacred rituals that a person can have. That is none other than the early feast of breakfast. Each one of us prepared a traditional morning meal from our home, that being both country and building. After we spent time presenting our dish, we let everyone have a taste of what being part of our own culture is like. For me, that meant I got to show everyone what a classic farmer's breakfast looks like from an island in the Mediterranean. It was a great experience, especially the part where I explained that the population of cows was greater than that of people. But that's only true for the population of a farm and not the whole country, let's not be ludicrous. Anyhow, the food was more memorable than the facts.
What I really appreciated as a member of the audience to other people's exhibits, was that I actually got to try the food they all so passionately talked about. There is no better way to learn about one's culture than food, and I can speak from experience. It was also interesting to see how each culture utilizes their resources as well as personal preference to shape the way they wanted to start their day. India, for example, has a variety of dishes to choose from. It was surprising to hear that one person got to eat a different breakfast every single day. Not only that, but they also manage to add so many exotic spices and mix them with ingredients that give a both healthy and tasty outcome. For Canada on the other hand, they were not as healthy as they were delicious. Pancakes with maple syrup and waffles with bacon leave no questions to who dominates the western section of the classroom. Europeans kept us warm during the Dutch winter and Romanian spring, while the Arab world didn't hold back on its noteworthy persistence on both tradition and religion.
In the end, everyone was looking forward to our next meeting, where another part of the world's cuisine was going to be unraveled for us to sample. Next up, Asia and Africa revealed what they had to offer, through a vortex of exotic tastes and extraordinary flavors. After all that, I think we all have some research to do on how to make dhokla and where to get speculoos, because everything I've tried has been too good to not revisit. We finished off our unit by visiting the patisserie “La Brioche” where we enjoyed a french breakfast and, just like the French, we talked about food “à table”. It was a brilliant experience and the photographs do a better job at showing how much fun we had than my words ever will.
Madame Clelia