76. Don’t be afraid to try new foods.

The phrase 'You Are What You Eat' means that it is important to eat good food in order to be healthy and fit. When I was growing up we were the victims or beneficiaries of what we could grow in our gardens. We did not buy produce at a grocery store and everyone was self-sufficient by maintaining large gardens. My dad grew potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, radishes, lettuce, cabbage etc and I became, what our family grew. 

Today, that option is not so simple. For example, did you know that there are 4,000 varieties of potatoes, 3,500 varieties of apples and 15,000 varieties of tomatoes? There are dozens of fruits and vegetables that I had never heard of as a chlld: kale, lemon grass, durian, passion fruit, broccolini, kumquats etc. The variety of foods that we can now access is overwhelming and yet many people are reluctant to swerve from the “meat and potatoes” menu. 

Travelling has probably been one of the reasons that I have discovered new wonderful foods that we can now eat. My food explorations have led to all sorts of new favourites. On one trip to Turkey, friends took us to dinner and ordered grilled octopus for all. My mind kept visualizing Captain Nemo fighting the submarine entangled squid “Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” and did not cause me to salivate in the least. I know order fresh octopus whenever it is on a menu. I have learned that it is so important to try new foods and dishes. There’s a whole world of wonderful new foods.

Spending a fair amount of time in South East Asia has also provided me with numerous opportunities to eat dishes or bowls of “unknown” origin. I had no trouble pointing to the huge pot of red or green stew-like soup and ordering it with some rice. My only misgiving was that I never knew the contents of the dish so I could order it again. 

It might be a surprise, but I have never been sick from street food. In Mexico, I often buy the grilled-on-an-open-fire-chicken sold outside the market. It pushes Colonel Saunders right off the chart. I urge you to try it Mikey, you might like it! Be brave!