How Time Changes Food

How Time Changes Food

Coming to United States changed my eating style forever. I was born in Bangladesh and I immigrated to America in 2008. I had many special traditional foods in my country. I learned to eat my traditional dishes from my family. Also, the environment and cooking materials enabled these kinds of traditional foods, particularly wood stoves and special pepper blenders which are not found in the U.S. Furthermore, Bangladesh is a nation that favors spicy food so most of the popular dishes are incredibly spicy. After coming to the United States, I lost many of my traditional foods like spicy dishes as well as fish and rice because I don’t have family here or the appropriate cooking materials and ingredients, and because the lifestyle here caused me to eat differently.



I learned from my parents that our food is directly linked with our tradition and since coming to USA, I have lost many of those traditional foods. When I was growing up, I had seen that my parents were interested in traditional cooking and cuisine. They always taught me the value of traditional food. I remember that my grandmother had her own cooking tradition; in fact, she used a wood stove. If I had a chance on holidays, I went to visit my grandmother because she always used to make different traditional foods such as polau, which is special fried rice. After coming to USA, I lost many of my traditional foods because I don’t have my family here who can prepare meals with me.





After leaving Bangladesh, I forgot the taste of spicy food. In Bangladesh, there are many kinds of peppers that are really spicy. I used to eat spicy dishes and they were an important part of my life. Also, the preparation method of peppers is very different in Bangladesh because we blended fresh pepper including the seeds. The blended pepper makes dishes extra spicy. In the United States, however, there are fewer kinds of peppers and the taste is sweeter such as the bell pepper. In the United States red and black peppers are used mostly which are in powder form so they taste dull. Fresh peppers such as Mexican and Thai peppers are available, but they are not as spicy as Bangladeshi peppers. Overall, peppers found in the United States are not very spicy at all and this is why slowly I have lost the spiciness in food.



Over time, I have also lost my most favorite traditional foods which are fish and rice. Bangladesh has a proverb, “Mach-e-bhat-e- Bengali,” which means fish and rice makes a Bengali. Bangladesh is a country with many rivers which support the growth of rice and fish, and this is why these two are the staple foods of the country. I ate a lot of fish and rice in Bangladesh because fast food is not very popular there so most families still avoid chicken and beef and favor rice and fish dishes. Even though fish and rice are available in the United States, salmon and tuna are the main types of fish available, and bread is eaten more than rice. Also, many of the Bangladeshi fishes are not sold here because of importing issues. In the United States, fast food is very popular, and that is why chicken, beef and bread are eaten more. Because I live in this society, I also eat these fast foods and this caused me to lose my favorite fish and rice dishes.
Overall, I lost my food traditions because of the many differences between the United States and Bangladesh. Many of my favorite dishes such as fried rice and spicy fish curry are gone now because I am in US. Now, I don’t have my family near me, and I have to cook my spicy food with new materials. Also, I have to deal with the lack of Bangladeshi ingredients. All in all, due to these reasons, after arriving to United States I have lost a big part of my culture, particularly the food.