Some more varieties please

I am seriously running out of cuisines. And that in spite of the fact that there are so many available here, courtesy the colourful population of Canada. So far I have enjoyed Greek food (Souvlaki Pita, Gyros, Chicken Shawarma), English (eggs and bacon muffin, hot dogs, Polish sausages, black forest ham and cheese in a bun), Persian (Kebab wrap), Mexican (Nachos, Qaesadilla and a variety of wrap). Many of these food types from around the world can be defined as <some form of bread> wrapped around <meat choice> + <cheese choice> + <5-6 salad choices> + <2-3 sauce choices>. In this respect, Subway food is kind of a poor man's alternative to all this. Immediately after coming here, I was quite flustered by the system of choosing everything yourself (bread, dressing and sauce). How will I know what I would like !!! All life I am used to just giving the name of the dish. The people on the other side of the counter takes care of the rest. Plus I had no idea what some of these vegetables were called !!! Initially I tried to tell them to make a good combination by themselves as they thought would be best, but they weren't willing or imaginative. So I had to take the responsibility for my food. I am pretty sure that at the end of the stay all of us would know what is the best combination for us.

The Chinese form of Greek

Moving on to the Asian cuisines - Japanese food (Chicken teriyaki and some kind of thick noodles) at the SLC did not suit my taste, neither did their assembly line approach towards preparing them. We had pure Chinese food at a restaurant in Toronto. The fried squid dish and prawns in lobster sauce were delicious. In the university plaza a Bangladeshi restaurant called Kismet makes good biriyani. I also had quite an adventure at a Korean place. I do not exactly remember the name of the dish I ordered, it was something like 'Kim Sa Tong' but how would it matter even if it was 'Ja Khu Si' or 'Sum Ting'. The start was good. The first restaurant in Canada where they brought a glass of water. Next the waitress brought in bowls of various sizes. Small ones for rice, and different kinds of salad, and a large one for the pork curry. And she went in and came out with more bowls with some more side dishes. This went on till I counted 9 hemispherical heavy porcelain units of various sizes challenging me, plus an empty one possibly for meat discards. The only weapon I had at my disposal was chopsticks. Among the side dishes the marinated beef was very tasty but it was easy meat. The tough part was the contents of the large bowl both in terms of quantity and procedure. Now, I happen to follow a unique religion in which it is crime to let the meat win. I discarded the chopsticks and went about my business with bare hand(s), took out the pieces from the curry to the empty bowl and ate from there. The waitress saw my plight and offered a fork, but I couldn't see how that was going to help. When evolution resulted in the development of such efficient hands why make things more difficult. So I said "I am good" and went on to live up to my religion. The meat was vanquished to the last morsel wedged in the nooks and corners between bones. Do the same with your chopsticks and I will consider learning to use them. Huh!

I also had a local dish called the 'Poutine' which is French fries covered with a certain kind of sauce. Among Italian food, I had a variety of Pizzas and also Spaghetti Bolognese. I am also a fan of some of the sweet dishes available here like cholcolate muffins, tarts (preferably with a maple syrup filling), fudge, donuts etc. I have been having a lot of beer these days by my standards, but am yet to be familiar with the varieties of beer available.

One day in Kitchener, I was attracted by music coming from a restaurant. It was a Caribbean restaurant. Seeing a new cuisine, I completely forgot that I had lunch barely an hour ago. With full enthusiasm, I enter the place and place my order of a lunch involving steamed rice, soup, jerk-pork, calilou and plantains. Everyone there worked in the true Caribbean 'happy go lucky' spirit. The waitress -an elderly lady, mixed up the order, realized it just after serving, and then transferred food from one plate to another right in front of us in the most unprofessional way possible. But the important thing was we did not mind this at all and infact found the whole environment very friendly and home-ly. The music in the background, being played on steel drums added to the atmosphere. The food was great too. I might go and eat there once again.