i've always thought i had a good amount of exposure to a variety of food since childhood. my mom, sino-kadazan, my dad, malay kelantanese.

breakfast would be nasi dagang from the corner shop that sells them hearty packs for around 3 ringgit. of course, my dad would always bring them back to us. the first time i ate at the shop was after he died. but that's a story for another day.

lunch, umi would either whip up a huge vat (and i mean huge, and always in a vat. there were 7 of us in the house) of spaghetti meatball, a large pot of chinese herbal soup, or a wok of plain old kuey tiaw goreng enough to feed the whole house more than twice.

at night, we ate whatever was left over. or my dad would ring us up, "heidi, nok makey pulut ikey kering dok?" i, ofc, hungry from my ventures on the internet, would answer a vehement yes. nothing beats that late night snack... truly.

on special occasions, umi would prepare sushi, or at least a bastardized version of it with imitation crab, canned tuna, and lightly stir-fried vegetables as toppings. hey, as long as there's rice and seaweed holding on to the precarious structural integrity, right? she would even make kimchi sometimes. in the sticks of kelantan.

so, you know? i ate a quite a number of cuisines. pretty diverse. pretty open.

but i was still in the sticks, ya know?

my first encounter with middle eastern food was in... London.

and no, it was not at an actual restaurant. they were these little shawarma things that were sold as a meal plan of some sort from Sainsbury's or Tesco. to be fair, i've had a shawarma, but they were usually of the pakistani variety in malaysia. so, yeah.

and then... i had hummus. from Sainsbury's. and i loved it. i had tzatziki too. and taramasalata. basically, these dips that were packaged in small tubs, enough for my lunch and/or dinner and great for dipping carrots. and the most important part, they were cheap. i was in love. i declared myself a hummus lover.

my next visit to the middle eastern restaurant near edgware road, i had to order hummus. and the taste? fresh, smoother, more flavorful. it was amazing. but i still bought the hummus from Tesco. it didn't matter whether the quality was worse, it was still hummus. it still tasted amazing to me, without having to compromise my budget. that hummus from Tesco was a staple from then on, in rotation alongside the other cheap dips they sold.

years later, i'd have a conversation with my friend who also studied in London. the topic of hummus came up and we both gushed about how amazing it is. "Oh but god, I hated the hummus they sold at Tesco and Sainsbury's! They tasted so cheap."

silence.

and then i burst in laughter.