The first time I went to Europe, many years ago, I found myself in the center of Copenhagen surrounded by the amazing Tivoli Gardens, the haunting Ströget, and the glorious Glyptotek, the museum filled with stolen antiquities from Egypt and Rome and other molested cultures. Standing in the plaza among these wonders, I was overwhelmed...and hungry. There were a few food stands about so I bought what I thought I recognized. One was a cheese sandwich, but what a cheese sandwich. Not what I knew. It had only one slice of bread with cheese melted on both sides and sprinkled with sugar. It was called, the Parisièn. My other purchase was a “hot dog.” But what a hot dog. It was served in two parts–the bun in one napkin and the “dog” in another. First you took a bite out of one part, then you chewed in a piece of the other. As a young, typical, first-time American tourist, I not only found this strange but also barbaric. How oxy-moronic of me. As I grew with experience, I stopped eating fast-food in Europe and learned to love the food of the country, the food of the people. Naturally, there were limits to my affection, especially in the Northern nations, not known for their cusines. That includes Denmark. But I tell you, there are few gastronomic experiences that compare with strong coffee, a side of Aquavit, country bread and a delirious seafood smorgasbord in an offstreet Danish café.
A couple of years ago, during a short visit to Hanoi where food street vendors are as prevalent as slot-machines in Las Vegas and often as risky, I came across a little stand that was selling the Parisièn. It was dumbfounding dejá vu. I laughed so hard, I began to dribble and sneeze which prompted the little woman in the food stand to chase me away with her towel, which hip-hopped me down a few more stands and there, you guessed it, was my infamous Danish hot dog. It looked infamous and not too hot.
I could go on. I won’t begin to tell you about parallel experiences in Thailand and Peru.
I can only tell you that it’s true... we are what we eat. The pleasure of it all is to eat when we’re hungry and to eat when we’re not. Food is a very happy thing.
