Eating Around the
World in 2 cities
Uganda is known for its vibrant
colored Matooke, Kenya for its de-
licious green Sukuma, France for
its cheesy Croque Madam/Mon-
sieur but the USA is notorious for
its multi-cultural array of Cuisines
Fast Food (the likes of McDon-
alds & Popeyes)
whether you already know it or
not, the “cultural” food in the USA
as a whole are burgers and crispy
fried chicken.
and the fact that these are the af-
fordable specialities, my on budget
east african travel counter parts
and I grew exhausted with the
whole McDonald burger run with
in three days, we did try out differ-
ent fast food.
let me start by saying McDonalds
burgers are nothing to write home
about. fast food cheese literally
tastes like plastic (literally!) and
their fries taste 20% potatoes and
80% nothing but the salt makes it
edible.
okay, on my bid to try as many dif-
ferent food franchises as possible
I stumbled on to Popeyes, known
for their southern american style
fried chicken which is admitted-
ly crunchy and way better than
KFC’s own fried chicken, I decid-
ed to experiment further and try
their other sides (I’m not a fan of
fries) so I tried their french beans
(nasty and tasteless and I love
veggies) and their mac n’ cheese
(refer back to my comment on fast
food cheese)
Caribbean
my home-sick stomach had never
felt so at home with my second
caribbean cuisine experience ever!
Negril BK’s
plantain was the best I’v e ever
tasted outside a Ugandan or West
African Kitchen and the ribs the
best I’ve got my hands on since the
last time I was at spurs in nairobi
Chinese
an ‘on budget’ healthy eating hack
I landed on one cold evening walk
in virginia, after my travel group
and I had absolutely had it with
junk food and I was personally
craving weird staples like brown
sugar, and rice. we all shared
family portions of noodles, egg-
fried rice, chicken in cashew nut,
stir fried meats, spring rolls, and
for the first time Fortune cookies
which are not intended for con-
sumption by the way!
Spanish
One Saturday morning I was
treated to my first brunch in the
big city and it was an all Spanish
restaurant where I devoured in a
Spanish style scrambled egg wrap
with avocado, rice and beans on
the side!
Italian
there’s plenty of giant size pizza
slices dubbed New york slices (3 of
those slices on a hungry day and
you are good) so when I got the
opportunity to dine at this little
cute Italian restaurant right next
to the UN I treated my self to a
pasta dish with broccoli, sausage
pieces & spinach with white wine
sauce
Mexican
my favorite fast food joint had to
be Chipotle and though I did a
very simple rice bowl with chick-
en, guacamole, and sour cream my
homesick appetite really embraced
this close to home meal!
USA - A melted
pack of cultures
The US is comprised of a num-
ber of different communities
with different backgrounds. But
regardless of how different their
roots are, the system accommo-
dates everyone and creates its own
culture to represent the American
citizen. Just like any other country
with different ethnic groups, the
USA also has multicultural etho-
sthat include the western culture,
African culture, Native American
culture, Polynasian culture, Asian
culture, and Latin American cul-
ture.
With the multiculturalism, Amer-
icans have their own type of life-
style they relate to and work with
on a daily basis. The food culture,
fashion trends, family structure,
work, infrastructure, laws, school,
and so on, all contribute to the
culture of the US. All the people
are bound to adapt to this culture
where also immigrants eventually
start to fit in.
However, the people do not forget
everything from their roots most
especially food. As a result of mul-
ticulturalism, America’s restaurant
industry has different cuisines that
the different people relate to, such
as Mexican cuisine, African cui-
sine, Thai cuisine, Chinese cuisine,
Indian cuisine and many more.
The different cuisines come as a
result of immigrants that crave
home food once in a while for a
change from the American foods
like pizza and burgers. Also there
are stores that sell food stuffs from
different regions so that people are
able to make their staple food in
their homes.
The fact that the USA has its own
culture with all the multicultural
backgrounds of its citizen does not
mean it is a definite melted pack of
cultures, there are still some solid
particles where people still hold
onto their roots and continue to
practice their culture.
If America is to be compared to
Kenya, the Kenyan culture is well
defined from any other culture
even though they also have im-
migrants. The immigrants in
Kenya create sub-groups within
the Kenyan culture that help them
define who they are and constant-
ly remind them of their roots and
customs, which is not the case
with American immigrants.