You never know what to expect in advance. Still every single trial results in a very specific and unique experience.
You can predict almost everything regarding the taste of your favorite soda or a well known brand of beer, but every time you are going in for a Cocktail, there’s a great chance that you’ll go through a unique combination of flavors and scents, all these perfectly trapped in one drink! I believe this is the Magic of Cocktails and what made them extremely popular in western countries.
However, I was born and raised in a francophone African country, where Cocktails weren’t really part of the culture. Thus, and just like any other imported dish, there is very few knowledge among people; starting by the names, the stories behind them and the variety of their compositions; mostly due to very little exposure to these beverages or so, in the past.
This story is not only true for any single foreign meal, but also repeat itself, almost everywhere, over and over again. In a era of globalization, where every day, more and more gets connected, I strongly believe that our society can benefit when people both open their culture to the world and open themselves in return to other cultures; constantly learning and growing. I live in a part of the world that have so much to offer, and thanks to an amazing community of local guides spread across the continent, operating with few resources and limited connectivity, we keep on mapping our world to bring what Africa has best to The World. But, as with great power, comes great responsibility, we also have to go towards new experiences, explore new lands and portray them the best, right back to our local communities so that they can feel great excitement in experiencing them too. And this is all the motivation behind my recent passion on exploring foreign restaurants or foods, whenever i can.
Now that you know WHAT I love to share and the main rationale behind this passion, I would like to share with all of you two additional points on WHY I enjoy going to these places.
1. A discovery of novelties:
The first time I traveled abroad, I remember getting flooded by an unspeakable amount of sensations. The way so many things were different to what I’ve always been used to; it was just amazing! Every time I step into a new foreign restaurant in my country, I go through that feeling again, and I can only wish to everyone to experience it at least one time in their life.
2. A right review that maximizes other people’s investment:
No matter what country you’re living in, there’s generally a misconception that foreign meals are expensive. I’ve found this to be only partially true by experience. Foreign meals can be expensive when most of their ingredients are not available locally and must be imported. In this case, I want to review the place that offer the best performance on realizing the meal, so that anyone willing to invest time and money can benefit from the best possible experience. But there are also plenty of foreign meals that are composed from local ingredients, and thus can be quite affordable. In these cases, a great review helps to bring awareness and share the meal to a wider audience.
I hope this will give you new ideas to explore when you’ll be looking for your next food destination.
