With immigration, countries like France, Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, have become a melting pot where people from all over the world will be found. During my multiple trips to France I have met Moroccan living there, and also lot of people from Cameron, Senegal; in Canada it is the same things. Some cities like Vancouver have a big community of Chinese and people from India. In the USA, San Francisco has a huge Chinese community.
So it is predictable that people from two complete different background to meet, fall in love, and get married.
Food from some countries are quite bland; just a little bit of salt garlic and black pepper is added and that is, it is ready to get served. Therefore, people originally from those countries may find it difficult to eat those food that are quite spicy as it is like fire in their mouth.
In like manner, for someone from certain part of Africa, and the Caribbean where a lot of spice are used to prepare meals throughout the day, bland food are not delectable. Do not get surprised if it is kind of hard to eat those food without adding some chili sauce, more salt etc.
So what to do when both of you love different type of food.
I remember that my cousin Genoveva who married a Swiss guy told me Lou do you eat their bland food? which made me laugh. Then she added, talking about herself, I cook my spicy meat stew with corn and even though I prepare him his beans; I do not eat it because the dish is tasteless to me.
At grocery shopping time try to add products from both your countries in the cart. This way you have all the ingredients at hand to prepare either type of food.
A good way to do so it is to gradually introduce your partner to your country cuisine. Some days, do not try to do so everyday in a row no. So go let him try a dish, he may like it you never know. For instance, if you cook some extra hot food, and you know it is not a fan of very spicy meals just do it mildly for him. If he likes it
That was this way that my friend Julianna did, she is from Trinidad a country in the Caribbean, she prepared some beans kidney beans with rice and , and it turns out that her husband love it. Now this is a dish that she knows that she can incorporate in the menu, as she knows it it be savored.
Like my cousin Genoveva, you can also prepare your food and those that he likes, serve it. On good thing with this method is that the kids at a very young age will be accustomed to both cuisine. The con’s with it is that meal preparation takes longer, food that may take 30 minutes to get ready may take fifty minutes since you have more stop to wash and prepare. So it is not something that can be for the long run, that is my opinion on that method. Who knows, it may work for other couples.
Some people find to do they just cook food that are sort of acceptable in both countries. For instance they will do some French fries, cook , plain white rice, mashed potatoes.
I also know some families who not mainly eat their own countries food at home, but instead cook the country they live in by this I mean that
Spoiling your partner does not cost a lot, so spending extra time cooking to please him, and make him feel special an from time to time to cook a dish that his palate will truly appreciate.
To me in the beginning I was cooking food that I know that we both enjoy like, perogies, lasagna, some Greek salad. But what happens afterwards it is that I suddenly missed my own country food. I found myself when going to the supermarket visiting the exotic aisle quite often in order to later prepare dishes that I enjoy.
For instance we both eat pasta, frankly I do not stand the way he prepare it with that much tomato sauce. To me it seems that the spaghetti is swimming in the sauce because he tends to put the whole jar in the dish. Furthermore eating that much tomato sauce gives me heartburn. So it is sort of hard for me to cook it that way and eat it too.
For him, the way I like to prepare it quite quite with a tiny bit of sauce it not appetizing, and he will not even eat it. Often he prefers going to the kitchen and make himself a bowl of cereal, or eats some noodles instead of eating my food. For someone who does not like pasta and states it is a lot of carb and it is is not healthy; regularly buy big packs of noodles and eat them quite often is contradictory as noodles are pasta. Therefore his claim is not supported. Come on he just does not like the way I cook them.
Too much carb is not particularly good, I concur, just be balance it with some goodies, like vegetable, and have reduced portion as well.
For some couples it is out of question to have two different types of food on the table in a same dinner, I vividly remember a guy who said to his girlfriend that his house is not a hotel neither a restaurant therefore only one dish should be put on the table at dinner time.
If one of the partners knows that he/she will always find something of not his/her liking waiting for him on the table, lunch and dinner time will not be fun, not enjoyable anymore. Sometimes there is nothing than a good dish from your country to get over homesickness.
Guys find a middle ground to have on dishes that both of you enjoy,; this way everybody will be happy. Moreover, you may downplay it or do not know it, food is an important element in a relationship!
