We got to do a bushcooking class where we take limited resources over a fire in the woods and make fun meals. The Cambodians already have it all mastered, but the Americans have interesting ideas. I had my team make a lentil chilli the first day, we didn’t get first place, but we tied for second.
Corey’s team made a chicken potato soup with gingered apples on the side (the apples were wonderful).
Hopper’s team made a soya (soy meat) goulash, it was good, but albeit flavored interestingly.
Theara’s team made some Cambodian green beans and sausage and rice, it was good, it tasted Cambodian.
The next day, we made traditional tomato relish for nshima, and for our creative thing we made eggrolls with battered cabbage for the shells, and tomato, bacon, & onions on the inside.
Hopper’s team made traditional muponi worms, & onion rings with fried worms in them. The fried worms were fantastic, but the regular worms were still good, maybe underseasoned.
Corey’s kipenta (little dried sardine) relish was good, and their breaded fried kipenta was really good too.
Theara’s rape (it’s a salad plant) relish was really good, and his rape quiche was excellent as well.
Sometimes I suggest ingredients for cooking that people think sounds crazy because I eat everything, but they’re good creative ideas.
Bondage
There’s nothing wrong with liking food, but I’m starting to see that we are all too reliant upon it.
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing.” Matthew 6:25
I find myself to err on the side of liking food too much which leads to gluttony, but other people have the reverse problem. Actually, both ways is gluttony, it’s the stomach and the tastebuds making one greedy, ungrateful, or unbecomingly. Either way, it’s straight up bondage to food. Let’s break that yoke, we can’t have two masters, so I choose Christ.
People get caught up in what they eat, is that really our focus for life?
“I don’t like this food so I’m not eating.” Or, “I’m having something else.”
Does it really matter? Why do we have such strong opinions about it? Then we have to have foods on perfect rotations so that we’re not eating the same thing we had yesterday; why does it matter what we had yesterday? Today is a new day, my stomach doesn’t care what I had yesterday. There’s just so many hoops to jump through in regards to food and I can’t help but think that it’s a system of oppression put on us by our overlords, our food. Why do we spend so much time serving food? (I mean this to be taken both ways)
The problem is that no one wants to get free. We find our comfort in food instead of God. I’ve seen it take lives, I’ve seen it breed bitterness, I’ve seen it set up roadblocks that hinder the gospel. Is it worth it? Is food better than the Lord?