The Comfort of Food for Foreigners Living Overseas
There can be no denying that food makes up a significant part of our identity, and when we’re away from our native countries, we often crave the tastes that we’ve grown up with; even finding comfort in them when we’re feeling homesick.
As such, for those living overseas and trying to make a life for themselves, food can play an important role in their happiness and ability to settle in a country and culture that is different from their own, and here’s why:
How food can provide comfort and strengthen social bonds:
Aside from a particular meal or food item helping to evoke happy memories when you’re far from home, or make us remember people and flavours that we miss, with fondness, it can also give us the opportunity to showcase our traditional cuisine to new friends, colleagues or even to other expats.
With this in mind, here are a few tips for using food to help immerse you in your overseas experience:
Connect and cook for/with other expats:
Everybody enjoys eating and most people enjoy trying new dishes and exploring cuisines that might be alien to them, so what better way of meeting new people than to invite them over for a dinner party? Start with a small number of guests, and as your confidence grows, you can invite more, or arrange to meet with other expats in a restaurant that showcases the cuisine from your native country.
Locate the right ingredients:
Nowadays, this is a lot easier than it used to be, and many towns and cities have supermarkets specializing in food from certain countries such as India, and there are many online stores selling high quality produce from overseas.
Meet in a local restaurant:
As mentioned, if you don’t have the space to accommodate many dinner guests (or simply prefer eating to cooking!), why not arrange to meet people in a restaurant that serves all the dishes you love, and that will give your new friends a taste of where you come from? Many great conversations have been started over a plate of food, and you might even get some ideas and tips from the chef about recreating your favourite dishes at home.
Don’t forget to try the local cuisine, too!
While it can be comforting and enjoyable to eat food that you grew up with, you should always try the local cuisine, too. If you don’t, you could be missing out on many dishes that could end up giving you just as much pleasure (if not more) than your current cuisine of choice, and as they say, ‘variety is the spice of life’!
Food has the power to connect people like nothing else on Earth, and when you’re living a long way from home, it can often be the only thing that keeps you going and helps comfort you when you’re missing your family and native country. When you move to a new country, be sure to check in your locality for shops selling your favourite ingredients, or search for online stores that can deliver comforting ingredients to your doorstep.
