Breakfast is served “late” here in Sochi. The hotel we are staying in doesn’t even open until 8:00 am. Late and early are relative terms. Once, in Spain, Debbie and went to get dinner and the restaurants in the area did not even open until 8:00 pm. For them it was weird that this couple would come for dinner so “early”. It was 7:00 pm. Guess they have never heard the rule that you should not eat after 6:00 pm. Maybe they follow the rule I learned from my Ukrainian friends, “You are not suppose to eat after 6:00, so we eat after 7:00 pm.”
One key to traveling in so many countries and cultures is to be flexible about when and what you eat. And one key to maintaining sanity is to travel with your own French press to make coffee every morning, regardless of where you are staying.
Russians love blinies. A bliny is similar to a crepe, other than it is made with yeast and crepes are not. It is like a thin pancake, typically wrapped around jam or cheese, or whatever the cook wants to throw in there.
Russians also drink tons of tea. They call it chai. Starbucks has a fancy drink called Chai Tea. The name makes it sound pretty fancy and worth the money. Chai means tea. Tea means Chai, but I guess you can’t charge as much for Tea Tea or Chai Chai. So they called it Chai Tea. Maybe they will come out with a short small as well.
Another famous Russian staple is the potato. Potatoes come from the Americas. The Spaniards introduced potatoes to Europe following their conquest of the Inca Empire. Suspicious European farmers slowly adopted it. Peter the Great discovered potatoes during his famous tour of Europe. When he returned to Russia he ordered his subjects to begin farming and eating potatoes. The average “global citizen” today eats 33 kg (73 pounds) of potatoes every year. In Eastern Europe, they eat even more. It is an essential crop.
Food reveals a lot about our history and values. Learning to enjoy and celebrate the foods of other cultures helps a traveler to taste with far more than just the palette.
Take for instance the great American invention; the breakfast burrito. In the autumn of 2011 I was in Los Angeles for some meetings. Breakfast Burritos were served. One of our international guest replied with a sense of amazement, “Burritos for breakfast. No, I am not that hungry.” Did he ever miss out on a real treat. Tia Sophie’s café in Santa Fe, New Mexico, claims to have invented the breakfast burrito in 1975, when they rolled bacon, potatoes, chili, and cheese in a tortilla. In the late 1980s McDonald’s added it to their menu. The rest is history. Two great cultures coming together to make the breakfast burrito.
I have eaten horse on more than one occasion in Kazakhstan. Once Slava (national leader of Foursquare Russia) and I were offered the family dog after Slava mentioned what a nice dog it was. We declined.
There is a rule in missionary work, “Where He leads me I will follow. What they feed me I will swallow.” Food is not just about consumption of nutrients. It is a sample of history, life, and culture on a plate. It is something to be savored, cherished, and received with gratefulness. It shows how we have interacted with others, whether through trade, war, or conquest, and the human drive to adapt and survive.
People eat what is available to them for survival. They develop a taste for it. Then this taste reminds them of home. So yesterday while out and about Debbie and I walked by McDonalds here in Sochi, Russia. The smell of French fries filled the air. It was the smell of Americana. We joyfully and willingly succumbed to the temptation to indulge. And let me tell you, that order of large French fries was a taste of home.
Debbie and I serve as the FMI Global Associate Director for MENACA and Europe. We focus on cultivating disciples, leaders, and church planting movements.
