A meal at Kiyokawa Family Orchards, Oregon
**MID MORNING, A FIKA (SWEDEN) **
In Sweden , make a " fikapaus ” is a true cultural obligation. The word has its origin in a typical 19th century inversion of syllables, in which "fi-ka" would be "ka-fee" or upside down coffee . But fika is much more complex than just drinking this caffeinated beverage loved by Swedes, who drink an average of 5 cups a day.
Refers to get together with friends and/or family at nine in the morning and/or at two in the afternoon to have a coffee and something sweet. This includes eating kanelbullars , cinnamon buns so famous in Sweden that they even have a national day dedicated to them. To be able to enjoy this tradition you will have to make friends with a Swede, since it is never practiced with strangers.
The typical Swedish kanelbullars
**TO EAT, A HYGGE (DENMARK) **
According to the University of British Columbia, Denmark is he happiest country in the world . How can people in such a cold country always be so happy? One of the reasons may be the hygge , a practically unpronounceable word for Spaniards (it is said " played ", with many jacks in the middle) which means " privacy ”. The idea is get together to eat with good friends in an infinite after-meal.
To do this, a warm and comfortable atmosphere is created that prevents us from getting up from the table, with dozens of candles and napkins in pastel tones. One of the mottos of this practice is to "wrap yourself in the things you love and chase away anything annoying or emotionally harmful." Although more hygges are organized in winter than in summer , when the good weather arrives, many people do them in parks and terraces . Whatever the season, the Danes are always smiling.
**AFTER MEAL, THE TEA CEREMONY (CHINA) **
The Chinese tea tradition is so important that the Mandarin word for snack, xià wŭ chá , literally translates to " afternoon tea ". University studies dedicated to this infusion are offered throughout the country, such as the Tenfu Tea College, specialized in certifying sommeliers Y tea chemicals . In some rural areas, men still prepare this ceremony to ask for a girl's hand. For these experts, putting sugar in tea is sheer madness , something like drinking a good wine with soda.
The offer of this infusion should never be underestimated, as Nixon discovered when he visited China in 1972. Mao gave him 50 grams of Da hong pao tea and the American president, neither short nor lazy, told him that it was a little “ stingy ”. What he didn't know is that only five trees in the whole country produced that type of tea and that, in fact, what he had in his hands was, as one of the Asian ministers quickly replied, " half china ".
The tea ceremony is part of Chinese art and culture.
**AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY, THE “MERYENDA” (PHILIPPINES) **
The Filipinos spend the whole day eating , really. Any excuse is a good one to get a muffin or a chocolate bar and have a chat with the people around you. Be it in the morning or at night, at noon or in the afternoon, they always call it " snack ". Thus, in Spanish, but with Greek i. It is one of the thousands of words of our language that were mixed with their language, Tagalog (many of them, by the way, have a negative tone, like garbage, crazy or enough).
They also have the concept of snack-dinner although obviously this does not exclude a later dinner . The culinary fusion of the country is latent in this custom, since the snack can refer to eating sweet buns like essaymadas (nothing to do with Majorcans), sugar bread, fried noodles, dim sum either meatballs . A country in which hard to diet.
**MID AFTERNOON, THE STAMMTISCH (GERMANY) **
Although they have a reputation for cold, Germans are very sociable people, especially when there are beers involved. They have no problem sharing a table or meeting strangers to talk about some strange and eccentric topic. In fact, they even have a name for it: the stammtisch . They will tell you that this custom of the fifteenth century is a way of talking, drinking and solving the problems of the world.
In the old days, it referred to a table reserved for friends and family of the bar owner, who would discuss the latest local news over beer. Today, stammtisch are organized on any topic: Windows programs, ukuleles or German grammar . However, the most mythical continues to be the one that brings people together to chat about the Auerbach's Tavern , one of the scenes of Goethe's Faust . Thanks to the stammtisch, there is no geek only in the world.
The stammtisch, a way of talking, drinking and solving problems
**AT NIGHT, THE SUPRA (GEORGIA) **
Why visit a psychologist if you can go to a supra . That's what many Georgians who sit down to dinner following this Caucasian tradition must think. The thing could not be more curious: the head of the table, called Tamada, makes a toast every few minutes and all attendees must drink their glasses in one gulp. First he toasts to little things: to being together, to the beauty of women, to the promises of the future... but little by little the toasts become darker . "For the people we have lost, for those who have gone to war, for those who have hurt us..."
Diners get excited as the night progresses, and ask to speak to expand or propose new topics for toasts. With an average of 20 wine toasts per evening, there is no human being who can keep his composure. But the next day the feeling is of having known very intimate thoughts of your table companions, of connecting with them in a very intimate way. A authentic spiritual cleanser which, if it weren't for the hangover the next day, makes you feel like new.