The Front Porch Salon

Bob held his Front Porch Salon yesterday, a discussion group that's been going on for over twenty years. Our conversation wandered from topic to topic, but finally settled on the cultural differences in food. We all agreed that the diet you grow up eating is what you prefer when you're an adult, but Marty and Carol said that in their cases, the generalization didn't apply. Carol is an American married to Wu who grew up in China during Mao's Cultural Revolution and Marty is married to Eugenie who is Chinese-American. Their diet has changed 80% since their respective Chinese spouses cook for them. They were quite happy with the change.

Bob and I eat quite a bit of Asian food when we're out since that's what's available and affordable in the Bay Area, except for Mexican. Sometimes we miss the food we ate as children, but that kind of food is hard to find here unless you're willing to pay the price. Even then, you don't get the food you grew up with (which, in some cases, might be just as well.) You get hand-crafted pasta and the latest food fad, like pork belly with organic greens.

Marty told us about the great Chinese restaurants he frequents in his San Francisco neighborhood. There are all varieties, including one Halal. That abundance of choice made us homesick for the City. Oakland is full of new stylish restaurants, but they're too expensive for us. Besides, most of them feature bars with trendy cocktails and we don't drink. We all sighed with longing at Marty's culinary descriptions so he promised to invite the entire group across the Bay for a Chinese meal. I hope it really happens!