Day 27 - Indulge me 20 minutes

After a fun conversation with the owner of the Alice in Wonderland cake shop, 'I'm doing a strict diet, and I HAVE to have a cake/Ara, ara! (dear god! in polite Japanese), mulling over options - marron creme? chocolate orange ganesh? caramel apple tart? - Finally settled on the thing that drew me from the start, the creme cheese ball.

I suprised myself a bit by going for this. When I was considering PCP and in the week or so before, I was convinced that my indulgence would be a curry with triple nan. But actually, I haven't felt any craving for it - mainly because the button it was pressing (BREEEAD) is being satisfied pretty nicely, and I am getting lots of spices every day in my own breakfasts (paprika eggy veg).

So how was it?

Delightful! Not too sweet, but rich and velvety. The cream cheese had some resistance and the centre was slightly lemony. I'm not a big fan of sponge cakes, but this was just enough. And the indulgence wasn't the eating, which took about 20 minutes it was the whole thing - the deciding, the walk there on a cold sunny afternoon, the conversation with the owner/cook (Side rant - WHY are Japanese women so skinny when they are surrounded by cake?), sharing it here afterwards.

I'm on a slight, but not high sugar rush. I chose this cake as I thought it'd have good ingredients and not make me sick.

I learnt about myself that I have at least three cravings related to food

Craving one

For McVities/Marmite/Weetabix, i.e., things that take me back to the UK.
Ex-pats who have a wealth of restaurants to enjoy will still pay a lot of money in foreign food stores for foods that are not that sophisticated because they enable us to take something out of a box and remember our roots.

Michael Pollan said something like 'The last place to look for signs of integration in an immigrants home is the pantry'. Food is a way of expressing our history and identity.

Craving two

For food in companionship. Did you know that 'companion' derives from 'shared bread?'. And in Japanese they say something like 'We eat from the same rice pot'.

The hardest part of the PCP foodwise for me is saying no to my capoeira group dinners because they invariably involve going somewhere that just won't work for me. This may change in the future, but now, I just enjoy class and a bit of chat as we head out. Boring I know, but I'm resigned to it.

This second craving is actually not really for the food, but the chance to be with friends. It's a damn important thing, and I'm a bit scared about what I'll do post PCP.

Craving three

For a specific mouth taste and feel. Invariably, it's lamb or chicken curry, and always nan. The appetite for PCP foods (let's just call it FOOD) builds slowly and is centered around a dish I have already planned. I often dream about breakfast.

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What did you eat?

I'd love to know how you guys chose what to have! Was it something you'd been looking forward to specifically or did you suprise yourself with an unexpected choice? Whatever it was, I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did and it gave you some heart for the next week!