I went to my first Onam Sadhya today. I’ve never been a part of this beautiful festival before, and I was so grateful to be invited by my friend from Kerala (and her honorary Mallu fiancé). It was also my first time eating a whole meal of this sort (rice, sambhar, dal, avial, etc) with no dishes (just a faux banana leaf for a plate) and no cutlery. I’ve had plenty of experiencing eating bread-based meals with my hands but I’ve always used cutlery for rice-based meals. Despite the unfamiliarity of the way of eating, one of my long standing theories was reinforced, i.e. that flavours and experience are enhanced when there is direct contact between hand and mouth. I think I will consciously try to eat more meals without cutlery from now on, for the pure joy of immersing myself in the flavours and textures and directness of it all.

10/10 experience, already looking forward to next year (with or without an invitation, lol).

Beetroot + goat’s cheese + walnuts is such an epic combination of flavours and textures, I don’t know how I allow myself to forget it.

Pencil and I went to Denmark House in Melbourne’s CBD for our D country cuisine adventure. There was exactly one vegetarian starter and one vegetarian main so I certainly wasn’t spoilt for choice, but Pencil had some excellent options and he went all in. My goodness the place was lovely. The ambience was quiet, cosy, comfort vibes, all the seating was super spaced apart (my favourite), the wait staff were very friendly and equally not in our faces, the lighting was bright yet soft and warm, and the courses spaced out so time slowed down and I felt able to take everything in and enjoy it a lot as an overall experience.

I loved my salad starter (pictured above) and my lychee and elderflower mocktail. I wanted to enjoy the mains a lot more than I did, but my palate just isn’t accustomed to the texture of pearl barley. The unfamiliarity of that one ingredient really got in the way of me wholly savouring the rest of the preparation. I did enjoy the mushroom flavours and textures but ended up ordering a side of fries and remoulade (10/10) to feel full.

I remember when other flavours and textures (that I love now) were unfamiliar to me and I couldn’t enjoy them until I acquired the taste. Egg was a major one, since I grew up not eating any eggs at all, and when I was first offered some at my ex mother in law’s house that were freshly laid by her very happy and loved chooks, I wanted to enjoy them, but for the longest time I just couldn’t. Gnocchi is another one that stands out in my memory, my first experience of eating what was objectively a very classy and fancy gnocchi was only a little short of traumatic, lol. Now (after many years of slow but steady exposure) I love both gnocchi and eggs. I can actually imagine myself enjoying pearl barley down the track too. I knew it intellectually as I ate my meal at Denmark House, “this is a very good and probably healthy and well prepared meal and with some practice, I think I would have the capacity to enjoy it the way it deserves.”

Is this going to be my very own “My Fair Lady” journey, getting cultured around food? Haha. Who knows. I’m open!

Pencil’s turn to pick a restaurant for our C country cuisine, and he chose Angkor Cambodian Flavours in the city. Lovely spot. I loved the look of his fish cake starters and meaty mains, and I loved eating my vegetarian papaya salad and lemongrass fried rice. I was also surprised at how perfect their chocolate milkshake was – not strong or rich or sickly sweet, it was the exact correct amount of chocolate and sweetness and milk. It’s what I hope to get when I order a half strength chocolate drink at a cafe. Mmmm. I could totally go another one like it right now but sadly I am home now and too lazy to figure out how to get what I want here.

Next up: D for… Denmark maybe?

But not every meal feels worth the $50 one spent on it.

Pencil and I went for our second foreign cuisine dinner tonight – B for Brazil, at Prosa Restaurant & Bar in Collingwood. I had been super excited about this meal and went in with high expectations, but the experience was average at best. The seating was squishy (too many tables for the space) which is probably my least favourite thing at a restaurant, keeps me from feeling fully relaxed, and then the table was a tiny bit wonky which was another (mild) distraction. Service was very friendly and efficient and we didn’t have to wait long for anything, which was great, love that, but also we were in and out in less than an hour, which felt a bit rushed/not-quite-grounding somehow.

The Brazilian aspects of the meal were super nice – the beans, the rice, the cheese bread starter, and the guarana soft drink. As a vegetarian, I had the option of a plant based schnitzel or halloumi for protein and I chose halloumi on the lovely waitress’ recommendation (she told me it was widely eaten in Brazil), but it just didn’t hit the spot. The chips and the salad felt like any chips and salad except maybe a bit less good.

This isn’t a negative review, it’s an average review (some things were great some things were meh) so it’s actually probably still a good review, above average, like nothing was bad per se, whereas some things were actually good. But I’m noticing I still feel uncomfortable just sending this very subjective single-experience opinion out into the internet – there’s something in me that just doesn’t like to say uncomplimentary things without a disclaimer. I don’t even have any readers! This space is entirely for me to document my own journey with mouthfuls of ahimsa, lol. But I feel an inner urge to provide some kind of meaningful purpose for the unflattering aspects of my feedback. As a reflection between me and myself, I’m going to say the meal would have felt more worth the $50 if the chips and halloumi were better, and if there were more beans, and if there were fewer tables or just spaced apart more. I don’t know. I don’t need to justify anything lol. It was what it was.

Pencil is tasked with finding us the next spot for our next adventure, in C-country cuisine.

At the start of this year, Pencil and I resolved to explore the world from right here at home by cooking a meal a week from a different country, going from A-Z.

We spent the first 7 months of this year trying to decide where to start. Strong contenders for the letter “A” included Andorra, Azerbaijan, and Angola. We made some progress on researching recipes and ingredients, and planning a night to do the thing, but didn’t quite make it to the follow through stage.

By the end of July, I made an executive decision for us – instead of trying to cook a novel foreign cuisine meal each week, we were going to switch gears and just eat a new foreign cuisine meal each week.

I told Pencil that I was taking him out for a mystery meal tonight, and we ended up at Rumi in Brunswick East for dinner. This restaurant doesn’t focus on any specific country’s cuisine, but the broader region of the Middle East. Rumi – the poet-philosopher that this restaurant is named after – was born in Afghanistan, and even though his life and influence extended far beyond Afghanistan, I’m still counting this meal as a tick against the letter “A”. (Sue me.)

Great meal, especially the Sigara Böreği (cheese cigars), Almond Taratoor dip, and Eggplant M’nazleh. I will be going back.

And as for Pencil and my adventure exploring world cuisines, we have 5 months and 25 cuisines to go.