I was so excited last week when I was digging around in the Korean supermarket and looked up to see a sachet of Mae Ploy Red Curry paste sitting right at eye level, the exact brand I use back in Melbourne. Opening the packet, I can now smell the familiar mix of dried red chilli, lemon grass, shrimp paste, kaffir lime, garlic, shallots and galangal rising from the pan to tantalize and excite my taste buds.
I have been buying a different brand of paste but nothing is the same as my old faithful Mae Ploy. Frying two chicken breasts into the mix and adding coconut milk, my curry is coming together with a head of broccoli that I paid 140 taka or AUD $2.80 for the privilege, a few carrots, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and coriander.
Mixing it all together, I spoon some of the curry juice into my mouth which sings a happy song rejoicing in the familiar taste of my favorite dish from home.
As much as I am more than quietly pleased with this meal, I can't help but wonder what it is about the traveling human being, hmm me, that travels to the other side of the world to live and breathe another culture and be submersed in a different experience, to then do everything I can to recreate something so familiar from home and then delight in the experience, almost equally as much as experiencing something new in the new culture.
Familiarity may breed contempt, but it can also offer a break in the very monotonous Bangladeshi menu of rice, dhal, vege's and chicken … and it can also give a girl a new spring in her step. (excerpt)
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