大象传媒

From Julia Neuberger, Senior Rabbi at the west London Synagogue:

For very boring health reasons, I鈥檝e been put on a diet of low histamine food and drink. Virtually everything I really like is off limits.聽 Chris, I think you know the feeling鈥β�

Most fish, spinach, rocket, wine, tomatoes, citrus fruits, cheese, yoghurt. You name it. I can鈥檛 have it. But the very worst is ordinary builder鈥檚 tea. I鈥檓 addicted to the stuff. I can鈥檛 concentrate properly without it. Most of my antecedents would not have known a good British cuppa. My father and all my grandparents drank coffee. But my mother came to Britain as a refugee, to Birmingham, where she was introduced to tea and whisky. From 1937 to her death 15 years ago she drank nothing else.

Hard to believe, I know, but I think I have inherited that tea dependence. I have somewhat grumpily given up all the other things鈥� but I can鈥檛 dump the tea! It makes me think of the Israelites in the desert, after the Exodus from Egypt. They kept complaining to Moses about the food they were getting- 鈥淣ot manna AGAIN!鈥�:

'Would that we were given flesh to eat! We remember the fish, which we used to eat in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all; we have nothing but this manna to look to.'

Moses tells God he can鈥檛 cope with the moaning. And I鈥檓 quite sure my doctors can鈥檛 cope with mine.聽 All this shows that we get accustomed to foods that feel like 鈥榟ome鈥�. We need them for comfort and a sense of belonging. Tastes and familiarity matter. Without them we feel lost. So when we meet new immigrants who can鈥檛 find familiar foods from home, instead of saying they should learn to like our food, we need to be a bit more sympathetic. Now I know what it鈥檚 like not to be able to feel comfortable with my food, I know it really matters. Food, and familiarity, make people feel at home.聽聽