“I often talk about the “Grandma rule” for travellers. You may not like Grandma’s Thanksgiving turkey. It may be overcooked and dry – and her stuffing salty and studded with rubbery pellets of giblets you find unpalatable in the extreme. You may not even like turkey at all. But it is ‘Grandma’s Turkey’. And you are in Grandma’s house. So shut the eff up and eat it. And afterwards say, “Thank you, Grandma, why, yes, yes of course I’d love seconds” Anthony Bourdain, Medium Raw.
I too have a problem with those who crib about the food when they visit a new land. When they talk longingly about the food back home while on a holiday. Or the food in another country being much better. When they scowl and pout through what is placed before them. Wishing they were some place else.
The truth is you are a guest when you are in a foreign land. If you love a place it will love you back. If you don’t then there is always McDonalds. Or packets of Khakra.
Note: Bourdain does make an exception to cultural sensibilities. ‘Hindus’ and their religious restrictions in particular.
