I am living in Brussels for over two years. Brussels is a small city where we can find many different cultures living together, so the Belgian citizens are very influenced of this intercultural and culinary reality. Almost all the origins are represented in the offer of markets. It is possible to do the shopping in a Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, African or Indian supermarket. In the centre of the city there is a street where all the restaurants are Asiatic, and there is another one called “Pita’s rue” where you can eat the typical morocco’s dishes. Near the centre, there is a little square where all the restaurants are Greek. Therefore, Brussels is a good place to learn about food from many country cooking.
I am living with a Belgian who likes cooking a lot. Sometimes he cooks traditional dishes from Belgium but sometimes he enjoys us meals with Asiatic cooking. I like cooking too Mediterranean dishes like “Paella” or “Fideuà”. Sometimes he takes my habits but usually everyone do his own culinary customs. For example for breakfast, I am eating “pa amb tomàquet i pernil” and he is eating a toast of bread with butter.
In my opinion, nowadays is difficult do not be influenced of other cultures: first, the cooking had been a cultural exchanging out of the world’s globalisation process. Second in modern societies the habit of have a lunch in a restaurant is very usual. Finally, even if everyone has his proper customs, people try more and more to have an equilibrated diet. That is only possible if we use the better fresh ingredients and habits among the cultures, and we refuse to eat too fad dishes (like the “frites” in Belgium, for example).
