For as long as I can remember, my family has travelled regularly (four times a year before my brother and I started primary/grade school and twice a year when our school schedules got more demanding). We nearly never went with tour groups. I am thankful for that. When the cost was not too prohibitive, we hired a mini van and a guide, a great luxury.
Most of the time though, we navigated foreign cities on our own. You might think that this meant getting lost often and wandering around aimlessly. But it didn’t. No thanks to me of course. My own sense of direction is quite poor. It was my father who guided us through whatever city we found ourselves in, his stocky legs moving purposefully at double speed. My mother and I often joke about it, calling him Speedy Gonzales.
If you ever see a small compact man brisk-walking across Red Square or weaving through Nepalese crowds to get to an especially impressive stupa, with his equally compact family struggling to keep up behind, you’ll know that’s us.
My father has almost never steered us wrong. Just name the place and “poof” we’re there. Like magic. When I was especially little, this effect was all the more apparent because all he had to do was pick me up or strap me into a car seat and off we’d go. No foot work required.
I thought all fathers had to possess a mental map of every city in the world, even if they had never been there before. I suspected this information was provided in the secret Papa Handbook which all men received when they became fathers. Years later, I learnt that this handbook does indeed exist. It goes my many names. Frommers, Fodors, Lonely Planet and DK are just a few.
For sure, travel teaches you much.
I have learnt (or rather my parents have) that hiding a tiny flu pill between a nine-year-olds breakfast, even if it is one of Jamón Serrano squished between doughy rolls and eaten beneath ceiling-hung legs of said ham (ah, the novelty), will not, I repeat not get her to swallow.
But I have also derived a terrible misconception about that food which is sacred to many, bacon. Travelling has meant eating a lot of what I call “hotel buffet bacon”. A leathery, sodden excuse for cured meat that some how manages to be both greasy and dry at the same time. For the years I thought I hated bacon.
That is, until one day about two years ago now. It was the festive season and even though it is not in our culture do so, because of the general feel-good spirit of the season, I usually turn out a few Christmasy dishes – cranberry sauce most definitely, a clove studded ham and some indulgent sides.
A quick search on the Food Network site revealed that Tyler Florence had a complete guide to the festive meal, complete with online video demonstrations. He included a sort of updated green bean casserole that called for the green beans to be sautéed with pancetta and mushrooms, then finished with a dollop of sour cream. It sounded good, very celebratory. But I couldn’t find pancetta and had to buy bacon instead.
Just because I didn’t like bacon, I saw no reason to deprive everyone else of it. I figured hey, it’s chopped up how bad can it be? Actually, wasn’t bad at all.
The beans were well-seasoned, substantial and just creamy enough. They had soaked up the smoky goodness of the bacon and were quite a hit. Such a hit in fact, that I started throwing bacon into all my vegetable dishes. Clearly, bacon as a flavouring is something I’ve really grown to like.
One evening, a few months later, I came back from the gym to find my cupboard bare save for a quarter head of cabbage, a handful of walnuts and some bacon. I was starving. So I cooked them up and dinner was served.
It was hands down the best after gym meal I’ve ever made. It’s mainly cabbage so it feels kind of healthy, but there’s also good fat from the nuts and savouriness from the bacon. A new dinner staple was born!
Stir-fried Cabbage with Bacon and Walnuts
¼ head cabbage, shredded
2 slices streaky bacon, chopped
Handful (30g/1oz) walnuts
1 tsp oil
Fry the bacon in the oil until it crisps up a little and some of the fat is rendered (about 5 minutes). Stir in the shredded cabbage. It will seem rather bulky at first, but as it cooks, it will start to collapse. Stir so it cooks evenly. Cook for about 10 minutes (the cabbage will retain some of its crispness). For softer cabbage, put a lid on the frying pan so that it steams and cooks faster. Sprinkle over the walnuts and stir through. Plate and serve.
Serves 1, with leftovers
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