04 August 2010

i love food but...

I love food.  You know I do.

Thai, Korean, Japanese, Mexican, Burmese, Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Cajun, Southern, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, Meatatarian

Pork Belly, ribs, spicy stews, cold noodles, steak, chicken, pho, beef noodle, doh miao, pizza, quiche, crab, alfredo, kabab, fish tacos, kalbi, french toast, pastries, Pastries!, cake, baguette, dumplings, kimchi, pickles....

I am the girl that drove her midwestern hiking buddies nuts with incessant chatter about food for sixteen days in the Upper Peninsula (they had never heard of the Food Channel).

I am the girl that on her first visit to Paris, decided to stop at every single bakery she saw and get a pastry.  I stopped at five in one day.

I am the girl that went to Manila to learn about the urban poor squatters, and instead learned to shop in the open air markets, negotiate in Tagalog, and make authentic dishes.  Once they saw me do that, they said, "You're a Filipina now!"  My homestays with families turned into cooking lessons--making chicken soup with green papaya, Philipino fried chicken, pac bet, spicy coconut pork curry, and lumpia.

Throughout the day, food flits through my mind as much as sex must for a guy.  I read about food.  I write about food.  I wonder what it would be like to abandon everything to be a food writer.  I savor one more slice of pork belly.  I refrain from cooking with cream but when I'm out, I sometimes can't resist.

I love food so much,  I even say it all the time.  But last night, while I was throwing up from a bad combo of a midnight snack involving tangy cool made from scratch with greek yogurt tzatziki sauce and an espresso to keep me up for a project, I realized, I love food but I should probably love my body more. 

I don't know why God made me a Francophile and gave me lactose intolerance.  Unfortunately, lactaid pills don't cut it for me.  And probiotics don't seem to help in that department either.  The answer is clear--restraint.  Prioritizing my love for my body over my love for food.  Oh dear.  It's a hard one.

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