EXPAT LIVING

FOOD CRAVINGS

THE BEST MEAL ON THE TRIP WAS IN HONG KONG AND I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE WHAT I HAD EATEN (the meat was dark and chewy -- not beef, pork or chicken.)

I’ve been an ExPat since 2003.  I’ve lived in many places in Central America and now the Philippines.  I seldom return to the USA.  I miss certain foods; specifically good beef.  Steaks, Roast Beef, and hamburgers.  Being an ex-rancher it’s difficult to please me with inferior cuts of meat.  So, knowing that I seldom order beef off the menu and avoid fast food joints in 3rd world countries.
I violated my resolve on my trip to Hong Kong last week.  I visited two franchise hamburger joints at the Manila airport.  Burger King and Wendy’s.  I wasted my money — both times.  I couldn’t take more than one bite before tossing in the trash.  Why?  MAYONNAISE!  Both sandwiches were slathered in mayonnaise.
What’s with Filipinos and Mayo?  My housekeeper fixes her kid a sandwich by layering on mayo between 2 pieces of bread.  They put it on everything.  God how cruel it is to an old western guy — mayo on a burger.  I was taught by a grandmother how to cook.  First rule!  White with white — red with red. (only exception — biscuits and gravy)
Okay.. Here’s he example — when we made tomato based chili we didn’t use chicken — we used beef.  Red meat = red sauce.  We used mayo on turkey, chicken and eggs or salads.  Red meat got A-1, ketchup or mustard.  When you make spaghetti, you use red Marena sauce with beef.  With a chicken or shrimp you use a Carbonara white sauce. 
My grandmother would have sent those fry cooks at Burger King and Wendy’s to perdition if she would have seen how they ruined those meals.