By: Caroline Maas, staff writer
Greetings, or “cheers,” as they say from London, England! My semester here is off to a rapid, racing start. Despite the incessant movement of this city and everyone in it, I still find myself standing still at times, completely in awe of the magnitude of this place. I will admit, I have trouble imagining how I will ever possibly be able to keep up with the impressively fast-paced lifestyle sustained by my fellow Brits.
London, England is an intensely complex and multi-dimensional place. There seems to be no end to the array of faces that the city is relentlessly showing me. London does not embody these faces as an act or as a charade, but displays them through a genuine ability to shift into all of these different roles simultaneously, each able to co-exist without losing one face to another. London is massive and niched, communal and individualistic, intimidating and welcoming all at once. This multiplicity is seen in every aspect of everyday life, in the faces I pass, the thoughts and opinions they articulate, and the languages and accents they speak them with. The diversity is especially apparent in the food selection available here.
In a place where no one looks or dresses or acts the same, London has found its own way to exhibit the brilliantly diverse makeup of this city through its ability to display diversity in its food selections. Speaking directly to the diverse population that constitutes London, one can indulge in cuisine from Greece to India to Pakistan, all without ever leaving the city. Just last week I was enjoying tapas-style Greek food from a restaurant in Covent Gardens, only to have one of the most delicious hamburgers I have ever tasted the very next day.
There are more bakeries here than I have ever seen in my life, filled with every kind of pastry and bread you can imagine. The coffee flows steadily, as does the alcohol, to such an extent that I am really starting to question whether or not London-inhabitants actually consume water at all. Ask for black coffee here and you’ll receive the question, “drip or Americano?” from the barista, a strange distinction that is not usually asked in the states. Second runner up to coffee and alcohol consumption is tea (sometimes the closest and cheapest thing you can find to water), a classic English tradition that has prevailed throughout the bustle of such a fast-pasted, modern lifestyle. Ask for a little milk to put in your Vanilla Chai tea and you’ll look like a local for sure.
While many people have warned me about London’s reputation for questionable signature dishes such as beans and porridge, I have found that this reputation is completely unmerited and altogether untrue. The traditional or “proper” English breakfast is, of course, also readily available, consisting of several parts of pig (bacon, sausages, black pudding), fried eggs, baked beans, toast/fried slice and some kind of vegetable, such as a grilled tomato or fried mushrooms. Though it is delicious, natives caution that this kind of meal is serious business and is entirely too heavy to be enjoyed every morning.
I have seen but a glimpse of London food culture in my three weeks here. But from what I have experienced, I feel that it is truly a privilege to learn this place by the changing flavors I taste on my palate, where the ever-present worldwide discussion of diversity infiltrates even the food that I nourish myself with. London is teaching me in the biggest ways through the most mundane, daily tasks. London is teaching me by feeding me, and I am learning.
