And my homestay mom served me this strange concoction tonight which she calls "spaghetti" but is certainly not, nor ever will be, "spaghetti." It was sitting there on a plate, with a side of lettuce-like things and pickles. The spaghetti itself was pasta, a hint of sauce, octopus bits, and cheese. Yes, octopus and cheese together in one dish. With pasta. It was not good. Now, my homestay mom is not a terrible cook, her Korean food is pretty good (no one can top my mom's cooking, of course) but this spaghetti was nearly inedible for me. I mean I think I could have dealt with the cheese and octopus separately, but sitting there together on the plate was almost too much. Actually I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it. I should have taken a picture to show how gross it looked, but I really didn't want to remember that meal ever again. The picture below, however, is a pretty good rendering of what my meal might look like if it were to come to life minus the cheesiness and red sauce.
(Courtesy of http://www.venganza.org/)*I guess you should also know that I'm not a fan of octopus (tentacles are a big turn-off for me) or cheesy things so it was pretty much my nightmare meal sitting on a plate. Ironically enough, pasta is one of my favorite things to eat so it was a literal collision of the best and worst foods for me. I almost cried while simultaneously feeling like I was going to throw up. Ok, not really but you know what I mean. And to top it all off, this morning, yes, in the morning, my homestay mom gave me the usual rice with side dishes that I get at every meal but she served me this soup this morning which had--that's right--octopus in it. Argh. And yuck. God I miss pasta. Do you know what else I miss? Well, here's a list in case you're really bored/curious: (in no particular order)
1) TastyKake--if you're from NJ, NY, or PA you'd understand. TastyKakes are these delicious pasteries that are probably absolutely awful for you health-wise but just so...tasty. If happiness could be packaged, it would look (and taste) like a TastyKake.
Happiness packaged and sold.2) Pasta--real pasta, long strands of noodley goodness and red sauce (oh the different flavors of red sauce) and the Parmesean cheese (none of that melted American cheese nonesense) and garlic and oregano and spices. Yummmmm.
3) Cheesesteaks--I rarely ate them at home, but having the option to was nice. They're best eaten once a year as they are so unbelievably bad for you health-wise, absolutely nothing nutritious about them really, but so good. They are also best eaten at midnight with friends, all melted cheesy goodness and meat and toasted bread. Oh and if you think you can eat a cheesesteak without making a huge friggin' mess all over yourself, think again my friend. Impossible. In fact, if the cheesesteak isn't served to you as one big sloppy mess of goodness, it's probably not gonna be a very good cheesesteak. Anyway, I really doubt you can find anything quite like this in Korea...
Authentic Philly Cheesesteak = happiness + ruining your health.4) Soft Pretzels--when done right, these are sooo good. They should be fresh from the oven, still warm and super soft. They shouldn't be too salty and with melted cheese, they're amazing. Simple but wonderful.
5) Milk--um, you don't need a picture of this, do you? Anyway, obviously they have milk in Korea, but it's like fake milk to me. For one, I'm used to whole milk (rich and creamy--the way milk should be) and the milk in Korea, according to one of my friends, lacks lactose (try saying that 10 times fast). It just doesn't taste like milk to me. On the other hand, orange juice and juices in general are much tastier in Korea. The orange juice in particular I like much better here because it's sweeter and not as tangy. And the soda here is less sugary and artificial tasting because I've heard they put less artificial sweeteners and things like that in it. Not sure if this is true, but it does taste better. And my teeth don't hurt after I drink soda here.
6) Granola + yogurt. Again, Korea has yogurt (I'd be so incredibly depressed if they didn't have yogurt) but no granola. Where's all the granola? I don't know but they don't got it here. Instead of granola, they have this weird thing where they eat like cereal with the yogurt. I don't like it. I want granola damnit!
7) Real Coffee--Koreans don't like coffee machines. Or something. Because I have yet to see one in a house here and my school certainly doesn't have one. They all drink these instant coffee mixes that have sugar and everything in them already. They're ok but they're not really coffee. (~$3-5) They don't have as much kick or something as real coffee. It's like having the diet version of something, not bad but not the real deal either. I want me some real coffee! And real coffee, at least in the few coffee shops I've been to is kind pricey, about 3000-5000₩. In fact, I've been thinking about buying a coffee machine for my homestay family, 1) because I bought them Starbucks coffee (which was ridiculously expensive b/c I bought it in Korea and they jacked up the prices like whoa) for thier initial present, and 2) because then I could have real coffee once in awhile.
Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. And yes, I sorta look like that dude on the left after that 1000th sip of coffee I have everyday. On the right, "Taster's Choice" in Korean.
As I'm sure there are other foods I've forgotten, I will be adding and updating to the list as the year goes on. And next up, a post about the deliciousness that can be had in Korea.
*Um, this site is real and...I'm not sure, a satirical take on the Church? I haven't really read through it so it's very possible it might offend people. Or it's just a guy who really believes in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and I've just offended others who also believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Oh well.
No comments:
Post a Comment