The taste of time Growing up in a traditional Belarusian family, I discovered a wide variety of foods, even if I didn't see them that way at first. 'era. You ate what your mother or grandmother prepared for the family, no questions asked, no ifs or buts. Every day you would have a hearty breakfast of buckwheat, oatmeal, eggs or cottage cheese with a cup of hot herbal tea. Lunch would always be a bowl of hot homemade soup, like traditional borscht, chicken noodle soup, rice soup, etc. Dinner would be another home-cooked meal, which could be anything from chicken cutlets, meatballs, sausages, potatoes, fish, and other things I don't know the English names for. Each household took turns eating the same meals from week to week. You could always smell the delicious aromas of all the fresh ingredients used, and that was the norm. Women of all ages knew how to cook; girls took compulsory cooking classes at school while mothers created their own recipes. Do you want to go to a restaurant or cafe just to eat? Don't be ridiculous. Why would you do that when there's plenty of food in the kitchen? Are you hungry? So go home and eat some soup! Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Every woman had her own culinary secrets. Spending hours in the kitchen was always expected. Most holidays and festivals were celebrated at home with a wide variety of delicious dishes prepared and beautifully decorated for the guests. How could it be otherwise? Apparently it's possible, and I learned about it once I moved to the US. I was disgusted when I went to kindergarten and was expected to eat school food. What do you mean they don't prepare fresh, homemade meals? I had no idea what pizza was; my first bite of the frozen slice served in the cafeteria didn't give me the best impression. I didn't know how to approach mozzarella sticks the first time I saw them, and I certainly had no idea what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was. Foods that were mundane to most of my peers represented a whole new world to me that I had yet to explore. My slow process of assimilating to American nutrition first manifested itself when I fell in love with McDonald's. Next comes pizza, chips, fries, Nutella and all the other unhealthy but delicious foods. Even though my mother always prepared food at home, the second I tasted junk food was a point of no return: the desire for more was inevitable. I would choose a Happy Meal over my mom's meals any day. Luckily, I had limited access to unhealthy foods and mostly ate my meals at home, which I believe is why my arteries aren't too clogged now. In 6th grade I tried cup noodles for the first time, in 7th grade Hot Pockets and 8th grade Cheese Fries. However, I grew up knowing that these foods were bad for my health. Junk food was a treat that I could only eat occasionally, but never as part of my daily diet. Over time, I began to learn more about different types of foods and the cultures they come from. I have tried Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Turkish, Mexican, Indian, Ukrainian, Polish and Thai cuisines. All of one.