From My Tastebuds to Yours!

Bon Appetit

By:  Marcia King-Gamble

I'm the first to admit I have something of an international palate. This is my fancy way of saying I pretty much eat anything you put down in front of me. The more exotic the food the fare the better. There are few foods I turn up my nose to.

Even as a young girl growing up in "the islands," I loved native delicacies like souse; a combination of pickled pig’s feet combined in a cucumber like sauce. On Saturdays we had black pudding. Some of you might know it as blood pudding. It's sausage stuffed with animal blood and it's yummy. Yes, yes I know it sounds gross but is anything but. One of my favorite breakfasts is a codfish stew with dumplings which you eat with bakes, otherwise known as Johnny Cakes.

Fresh out of college, I got hired as a flight attendant and with that came the opportunity to travel the world. Now the budding foodie in me had yet another opportunity to sample local international dishes. Flight attendant are always on a budget so we ate where locals ate and that usually meant plentiful food and cheap.

In Frankfurt we headed for the Gas Station for the best weinersnitchel there is. In India believe it or not, the Chinese food beat the curry. In London it was the curry, mushy peas and fish and chips that kept us coming back. Some of the best escargot I ever had was in Hong Kong, and the same can be said for rack of lamb. Although Kiwis might argue that.

No one makes a better salad than the French. And if you want to experience the way it should be cooked, then head to the Tokyo fish market. For excellent bratwurst it's Berlin.  And when it comes to cracked conch, the Bahamians have that market cornered.

Given all this talk of food, I am suddenly hungry, and sadly this woman is not a gourmet cook. What I am good at is finding wonderful holes in the wall, and some even take reservations.

Marcia King-Gamble hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. She is a former travel industry executive and a self-proclaimed globetrotter. Marcia is particularly fond of Hong Kong, Venice, and New Zealand, not only for the scenery, but because of the mouthwatering food. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned 29 books and 5 novellas.  Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling, and with her animal family.

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My Favorite European Food

When I was younger, I had the good fortune to live in West Berlin. Yes, before the wall came tumbling down—did I mention I was much younger?

One of the most amazing things about the fascinating city was the food. In addition to the expected German (Deutche cuisine), the divided city hosted an international mecca of restaurants. I later went to China, but tasted my favorite Chinese food on the Kurfurstendamm. While Italy didn’t make my travel itinerary, I can’t image any better pizza than the yummy, gooey, slices discovered at the Italiana. The French Sector boasted delights that would make Julia Child drop another turkey and the English Nafi served tea and biscuits that made a girl feel like a duchess.

Most of the German food left me wanting more flavor, but one Berlin fast food still ranks as one of my favorite foods. Ever. This culinary delight is currywurst and pomme frites. You probably guessed pomme frites are French fries, but if you’ve never tasted currywurst, it’s like nothing you ever imagined. Although currywurst is a sausage, the treat can’t be compared to an ordinary bratwurst and the curry doesn’t really taste like curry. Fried pork is cut into slices and topped with a ready-made ketchup seasoned with curry and the other spices. The result: heaven for the mouth.

Supposedly, currywurst was invented by Herta Heuwer. Our fraulein supposedly absconded with ketchup and curry powder from a British soldier. She mixed these with other spices (and they must be amazing spices to make ketchup and curry powder taste so delicious) and poured it over grilled pork sausage. And voila, perfection. If you ever get the opportunity to order this treat, make sure you tell the vendor to leave the pomme frites plain—otherwise, s/he’ll put mayonnaise on your French fries.

It’s been twenty years (alack, alas) since I tasted this concoction, but if a fast food joint could replicate the treat I remember, a fortune could be made. During the passing time, I’ve become a semi-vegetarian, but if the Golden Arches or that funny-looking king decided to serve currywurst, I might just have a lapse.

What about you? Any foreign foods that delight your palette?