more food

previously on monsoon Myanmar.....
We were talking about food...street food....the variety and volume of food available for consumption is truly unique. One food mentioned briefly which, strictly speaking, is not a monsoon food but appears to be a summer food is...

The cricket. Also a summer sport but I suppose the less said about that the better. Some eminent thinkers have  predicted that insects will be our future sources of protein and I would think that in some parts of Myanmar they probably are already. Here in Yangon they sold in stalls with mountains of them. Thousands and thousands of deep fried bugs. Whether these are wild or farmed (never seen a cricket farm) thousands are consumed each summer. Probably helps with crop farming as well as providing a source of protein. Being of delicate constitution myself I couldn't bring myself to eat one but I'm told reliably that they are a good beer snack. Future missives may include a little info on Yangon's beer stations. The crickets seemed to disappear with the onset of the monsoon just like the sun!

Further explorations of the street food scene means looking at the street restaurant. Pop ups are a novel new concept in the west but this has been a way of life for the restaurateur in Yangon. No doubt people have their own spots and no doubt good spots would be highly prized. A good location would be outside a temple, office or a cinema. (The cinema is very popular here and is a unique experience but more on that in the future!) Here is a typical outdoor restaurant. Stool style seating, plenty of cover and not to mention happy proprietors. This is slightly after lunch time so there is not many customers. This is one thousands of these types of stalls found all over the country. Indeed in some places in rural areas this would be your only option for eating. Here is an example of what a typical Myanmar meal would consist of. Usually customers would select the type of meat (not much choice either chicken or pork)they would want and a couple of vegetables to go with it. Notice the large pot. This would be full of rice. In some places it would be full of simmering stock which would be added to noodles. Another interesting aspect of this "restaurant" would be the seating. As I mentioned these places aren't really for romance and sitting on tiny seats eating from tiny tables really takes the romance out of anything. Your correspondent is about 193cm or 6ft 2or 3 in the old so his knees would be around his ears as he eats. Of course the average Myanmar is a little shorter and don't seem to have any trouble happily sitting around on these stools eating and chatting away. There is a place to wash the used dishes and usually some cold tea is offered. Larger establishments will often have a fridge and they will sell beer ,soft drinks and cold water. The only water that can be drunk here is bottled water.

As the reader will also notice this stall is set right on the gutter. This doesn't encourage much confidence in the hygiene of these street stalls. One of the unfortunate "qualities "of  life in Myanmar is the sporadic nature of rubbish removal and poor rubbish receptacles meaning there is a lot of uneaten food and scraps left of the ground. It's not unusual to see an enterprising rat or two seizing  scraps fallen from tables or mouths of diners. More on rats when I write on the cinema experience!