when you are living your life in a new country the words "back home" come up alot - sometimes in conversation with others and sometimes just in your thoughts. I've been thinking about what back home really means... to me it is those things that are uniquely familiar and make you feel comfortable and secure as well as the place that you feel is home. Being in a new place can be disorienting - I go to the grocery store here in oz and I dont see familiar brands on the shelves - I have to look at everything and read the label to figure out what items will be most "like home". Doing new things and trying new foods and visiting new places is very exciting but also exhausting when you try to give each new experience perspective based on what you have always known. It truly is like falling down the rabbit hole and sometimes I feel like Alice - everything is the same but different somehow.
When I want a taste of "home" I usually just want food from my favorite restaurant.... so while feeling a bit home sick last week I decided to make my favorite dish from my old "local" (australians call the pub they frequent in their town their local)
it just had to be the port torta dish from cactus in seattle... a dish I ate at least once a week for years...
it took 5 different stores and some supplies sent from the states in my last care package to make.... hours of roasting peppers and pureeing ingredients and a few creative substitutions (you just cant find mexican items in australia) and the end result.... was... so much like "back home"
cheers
Looks delicious--what a lot of hard work, but it sounds like it paid off!
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like a lot of hard work. Can't imagine all of that work for a little familiarity."Back Home" misses you.
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