Hi Everyone,
THE SCENE:
Time –early Saturday morning.
Location – Cheapside (Barbados Vendors) Market in Bridgetown
Place – at the stall run by a Guyanese.
Produce on sale – vegetables and herbs.
Major item on display for sale – a bucket full of fresh Italian flat leaf parsley.
The vendor and I are chatting about breadfruit. A Guyanese woman walks up (it is important to indicate her nationality in order for you to understand her requests) and says, “Gimme some of the celery you got there.”
The vendor patiently explains to her that it is not celery but rather, Italian parsley. Flat leaf Italian parsley can be mistaken for Chinese celery (the type of celery popular in Guyana). The shape of the leaves is very similar but the leaves are a darker green. Some people would describe the colour as bottle green.
When the vendor explained that it was not celery but Italian parsley, man, you should see how this woman screwed up her face. You would believe she was smelling rotten eggs. She said loudly, “Y’all does like to eat a lot of poison! I’m not buying or eating anyting I don’t know about! I thought it was celery.”
“You got thyme?” she asked. The vendor nodded and offered her a parcel of thyme, the fine leaf thyme we get here in Barbados, not the Guyanese thyme. The woman took the packet of thyme, holding it like she scorned it; she turned the packet over to inspect it, her face again filled with disgust, and tossed the thyme back on to the stand. “That is thyme? You don’t have we kind of thyme? The Guyanese thyme? I ain’t buying that. I only buying what I know about.” With that parting remark she left the stall.
The vendor and I looked at each other and shook our heads and remarked on how we limit ourselves.
I totally get that there is a certain degree of reluctance to try the unfamiliar. Not all of us are open-minded or adventurous eaters but the thing is this, when we are not at home, whether that home is Georgetown, Bridgetown, Boston or Brixton, we have to learn to try new things. And really, I don’t think that trying another variety of thyme is taking a walk on the wild side of eating.
The woman’s response had me thinking about how often we (people in general) limit ourselves. Her comments made me wonder about her and how she lives her life. Can something be gleamed from the way she thought of the ingredients she shunned? How open is she to learning, about anything, not just about food. Was she happy? Had she reached a particular stage in her life where she seemed at a standstill and not progressing? Does she complain bitterly about not catching a break or being in one position all the time? If she does, has it occurred to her that she is responsible for some of the limits placed on herself? Has she considered that by closing her mind to exploring and experiencing new things she’s limiting herself? Forcing herself to be in one place, whether that is physically, emotionally, economically, socially or even politically?
(Photo by Cynthia Nelson)
Society at large and the world as a whole already sets limits on us in very many ways because of the colour of our skin, class, religion and creed; let us not limit ourselves when the opportunity presents itself for us to learn something, to experience something or to explore something. I remember once on a business trip to St Vincent, my colleagues and I went to a sumptuous buffet of dishes from all over the Caribbean. However, one colleague, a Barbadian, would only eat those good ole Bajan staples: baked chicken, macaroni pie, and rice and peas. Like the lady in the market he remarked, “I only eating what I know.” What a lost opportunity.
I recounted the story about the Guyanese woman and the Bajan man, but they are not alone in this kind of thinking. You can find people with this same kind of attitude all over the world. I am just using them as examples to encourage all of us to step out of our comfort zones every now and then. Try new things, enrich your life. Liven up your palettes; it’s a great place to start.
Cynthia
Cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
www.tasteslikehome.org
