The Challenges of Eating

Brandon is specific about what he eats.  Some people would call this quality picky - I like to think that he just knows what he likes.  However, this can make foreign travel a challenge.  This is not helped by the fact that Brandon has a knack for picking the worst thing on the menu - regardless of where in the world we are. 

So, here we are in Korea, a place where they call silk worm larva, fermented cabbage and fish stock soup common everyday foods, with dog and live octopus as the delicacies.  Anneliese has informed me on the importance of adequately chewing the live octopus before swallowing, as there have been deaths reported from suction cups of still living octopus sticking to the back of the throat.  Frankly, its weird.

Kimchi (pic stolen from the Internet)



Brandon just wants McDonalds, but he's quite the trooper. Yesterday we started the day with stuffed doughnuts - stuffed with sweet potato and ham, rice, red beans, vegetable/mystery meat medley.  An error in our ways.  Not only profound gut bombs that sat in our stomachs like ticking grenades, they are currently under suspicion as the most likely cause of the runs. 

By dinner, my poor husband was desperately seeking something substantive, but basic.  Fried rice seemed like a reasonable bet.  Until it came with a healthy seasoning of roe. Actually Brandon doesn't mind roe, but at this point his stomach had declared enough and had gone to war against microbial friends with a mass exodus...of sorts. 

Bondaegi (Silk Worm Larva)



Honestly, the food here is harsh.  Anneliese and I went to the market and found delightful things....crispy fish carcasses, spam gift packs, a variety of mushrooms that would make fungi lovers swoon....but when searching for something familiar and simple, Korea is not where I would recommend looking to first.  It's a fun adventure, one that may cause the emaciation of Brandon over the next week, but will push both of us to new food levels before unfathomed.  

Beef stomach at the market



Today our meals have consisted of a delicious soup made by Anneliese using beef shavings (don't think about it too much) and veggies and fungi from the local supermarket.  Stir fried and accompanied by mystery sauces.  It was actually delicious.  Brandon's meal has consisted of Gatorade.  He says even that tastes different.