Here's a deeper look into what I'm eating over here. I eat with my family four times a week, and so far it has been really good food and language learning. We eat sitting on floor cushions around a low table. If it is not a soup dish, there are usually one or two big plates of food for the whole family that we all eat from (we usually eat with spoons or our hands). There is always "non", a round, somewhat flat, bread, as well as some sort of "salad" (usually pickled carrots or cucumbers). Usually, for dessert, there is fruit (whatever is in season, right now it is melon) as well as some sort of cookie or pastry. Most of the ingredients in these dishes would be easily found in American food stores, so for me eating it, there's not much of a stretch. It is just the way of cooking different things that are new for me. The main difference is how much oil and sour cream that they use in cooking things. I think, so far, my favorite food has been a rice dish that involves rice, carrots, garbanzo beans, and meat cooked with oil in a cauldron over an open fire. It really is good. Another fun dish (translation in English: Me and You) is a dumpling of sorts. It has its name because it takes a long time to prepare it, so it is faster if there are more people to help. The dumpling usually has meat and onions inside, then is boiled and served with sour cream.
So far, I have liked pretty much all of the dishes that my family has made me. There have been two or so dishes that I haven’t really liked, but I’ve learned the proper way of refusing a dish. Basically, you just say that you’re really full, and you can’t eat anymore. My family is always telling me to eat more and I always have to tell them (even if I have really liked the food) that I am full. They definitely know how to cook massive amounts of food. I am very impressed.
I have also had the opportunity to cook for my family as well. I first made pizza for them (completely from scratch! Dough, sauce, everything!) and it actually turned out pretty well. At least, they ate it, so I think that counts. I've also made chocolate cookies and rhubarb pie (which was also an adventure because pie shells are not a thing here, so I had to make the crust from scratch). So far, I think the food that my family liked the best was when I made deviled eggs (I did called it "egg salad", though, because I didn't quite know how to translate that into the language). The grandmother really liked that one. It's been fun sharing my favorite American recipes with them as I taste their local foods. I've also been trying to learn from my host mom as well so I can bring them back and share them with my family.