Differences In Taste

My friend was just telling me about trying ceviche in Lisbon. I remember ceviche from my travels, but not because I ever tried it. Made of raw fish, it seemed too risky!

And it had nothing to do with being more careful in a foreign place, I’m like this at home, too. Let me tell you about a Christmas lunch at work last year.

A consulting agency we use had booked a Finland-themed Michelin star restaurant for my team. Our starter, a tiny plate of fish, was accompanied by slices of fresh bread in a basket and a white spread. I assumed it was home-made garlic butter.

I took a piece of bread and applied the creamy spread generously. Just as I was taking my first bite, however, I felt an unwanted sensation on my tongue. The spread was room temperature. I’d expected it to be cold. In the split second before starting to chew, I automatically raised my napkin and… I smoothly spit out the mouthful. I hope it was discreet, but who knows.

I spit out food in a Michelin star restaurant surrounded by business associates!

It’s fair to say, this wasn’t my proudest moment. But it wasn’t planned, either. It was just an honest reaction.

I then proceeded to sit through the entire lunch with my napkin politely folded on my lap, except for the crumpled end which contained food that had been in my mouth!

Why was the spread warm? What was it? Warm mayo will give you food poisoning and warm cream cheese doesn’t sound any more tempting. I wouldn’t even eat butter that has sat out so long it’s melted.

Would you have eaten it? Would you have even noticed? I wish I could be the kind of person who doesn’t notice!

The images here are all from the Alhambra in Spain, except the last two, which are from Granada on the same day in February. The Alhambra was a place I’d wanted to visit for at least two decades. And with my expectations so high, I must admit a bit of a disappointment. Based on images I’d seen, I imagined especially the gardens to be larger and more impressive. I was expecting to be utterly amazed.

And that’s never a good starting point.

In reality, the larger gardens didn’t seem to be tended to. The palaces were full of tourists and you were guided in a certain direction with ropes, so you couldn’t move freely.

I thought of my trip to Istanbul years ago, which had been another scoop of warm butter in my mouth, not my taste at all. But there, the Topkapi Palace had been well worth the visit. It was more impressive than the Alhambra, in my opinion. Perhaps simply because I had seen it first.

That day at the Alhambra with hubby, I was freezing. There was a woman from Alaska who offered to take our photo and we had a chat. She said, “You’re from Finland and you’re cold in Spain?” I asked her about her weather back home. She said they had -60 degrees.

“Oh, I have no clue about Fahrenheit, what is that in Celsius?”
“It’s the same in Celsius once it goes below zero.”
“What?!?!?”
“Yes, it’s the same.” (I later speed-googled this and it didn’t appear to be exactly the same, but Fahrenheit is so confusing and I didn’t have a lot of time, so I’m still not sure.)
“You can have -60°C over there????”
“Yes, we did just this winter.”

Later on, hubby and I were talking about this. I was marvelling at how a human being could even survive in weather like that and he suspected it was a tall story, or as Finns poetically say, “fish talk.” Like fishermen exaggerating the size of their catch.

“That’s fish talk,” he said.

Again, I pulled out Google and found a website that confirmed the story, but I can’t seem to find that information anymore. The discussion with that woman from Alaska still remains the most fascinating thing about that day, if you ask me.

Hubby, on the other hand, seemed to actually enjoy the Alhambra.