Even though today carries all the hallmarks of a traditional feast day, many of us harbor a quiet yearning for something beyond the familiar. A surprise. A change that seems to contradict the journey we're on right now. That's precisely why we believe Sasha Martin's piece from Darling Issue 5 offers such a refreshing perspective on seeing—and savoring—things differently, even when viewed through familiar lenses. Enjoy your meal.
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Seasoned Living: Bring the World to Your Table
Written by Sasha Martin
At 29, four years back, I had just become a mother and was sharing my life with a wonderful husband. Our hands still intertwined whenever we stepped outside together, though the real sign of contentment came when he happily spent a Friday evening at home with me, sorting through laundry. Two cats, two vehicles, and a modest yet charming home in Tulsa, Oklahoma—that was our picture-perfect ending, if such a thing existed.
Even so.
My deepest desire was simply to vanish for a while. I pictured myself twirling in a yellow gown along Italy's coastline, tumbling down massive dunes somewhere in Africa, and cutting a trail through Brazil's dense jungles.
Location was irrelevant—I simply craved departure. By age eighteen, I had already explored a dozen nations, and I understood just how breathtaking our planet could be. A ravenous appetite for fresh experiences consumed me. Such feelings aren't unique to me; nearly everyone eventually yearns for more than their current reality offers.
So how does one navigate dreams of that nature? Yearnings that whisper to you after you've achieved your ideal life? Aspirations that seem to contradict your current happiness? Many will insist there are boundaries, responsibilities you simply cannot dismiss. Their concerns aren't entirely unfounded. With an infant at home, I lacked both the budget and the hours to simply pack up and leave. Beyond that, I felt a strong duty to honor my family's needs above my own.
Ultimately, my central dilemma became: how might I introduce excitement into my mundane routine without dismantling the goodness already in place? All while still managing three daily meals?
Consider the kitchen: seasonings don't just elevate a dish's flavor—they safeguard it. High temperatures eliminate harmful organisms, halt bacterial development, and preserve the integrity of our ingredients. Likewise, when seasoning life itself, we should amplify what exists rather than substitute it.
My central puzzle was ultimately about infusing richness into my unremarkable days without compromising the goodness already established.
Could the answer to living a richly seasoned existence involve tuning out the doubters and entertaining possibilities? Imagine touring the entire globe—every single nation—not one or two, but all of them. And picture accomplishing this without ever crossing your front door?
More often than not, our boldest journeys spring from the most absurd starting points.
For quite some time, I let that wild notion sit untouched—I simply couldn't crack it. Then, when my daughter reached seven months and started sampling solid foods, my craving for a more adventurous existence intensified dramatically. Here's the thing: my husband, despite being incredibly kind-hearted, was the ultimate food skeptic. He couldn't stand mushrooms, cilantro, avocado, tomatoes, or lettuce—he had never once tasted fresh spinach and was completely unfamiliar with eggplant.
Given that kids tend to mimic the poorest dietary behaviors within a household, I recognized we had a real problem brewing. Change was unavoidable.
The solution clicked into place. A way to traverse the planet without ever boarding a plane: we could recreate the world's flavors in our kitchen. Armed with select seasonings and a stovetop, we would consume our way across continents side by side. Thus launched our mission to prepare a dish from every nation on earth—one meal per country, one nation weekly. Each recipe and accompanying narrative lives on our website, GlobalTableAdventure.com, inviting others to join in their own voyages.
Guidelines for Your Global Table Adventure:
Find a sustainable rhythm.
I launched myself at full speed initially, attempting countless recipes per nation. Exhaustion nearly caught up with me. As the initiative progressed, I realized I needed to scale back—choosing fewer, more accessible recipes that fit naturally into our routine. Though some folks might manage a new country every seven days, a monthly Global Table could align better with your schedule. Establishing achievable targets dramatically increases your chances of success.
Welcome the unknown.
Initially, my finicky husband needed friends around to push him toward sampling unfamiliar foods or using his hands to eat. Yet my daughter—who was still an infant at the time—devoured even the most peculiar creations. I still recall preparing babenda, a Burkina Faso specialty from West Africa featuring dried anchovies, spinach, and fermented locust beans (which carry a blue cheese-like flavor). While Keith and I hesitated, Ava consumed every last bite. Free of any preconceptions, she demonstrated open-mindedness more effectively than any instructional manual ever could.
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Gather your crew.
Those flying solo might think about organizing recurring dinner gatherings or shared meals to maintain forward momentum. Larger families should remember to engage the children. Now that Ava has reached toddlerhood, she stands beside me in the kitchen, helping prepare meals—it's how she developed a taste for sushi, and how her tea gatherings took on a distinctly North African flair, with tea being poured dramatically from elevated heights. Even the tiniest explorer can give the globe a spin to choose the next culinary destination.
Maybe this is the moment for honest self-examination: which wild aspirations are you sidelining, suppressing, or refusing to acknowledge? Perhaps it's worth rethinking them and carving out a route forward. Even when the journey defies convention, a pathway toward a richly seasoned life always exists.
Photography by A Global Table, featured in Darling Issue No. 5
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