Fascinating experience today....
The ENORMOUS apartment building I'm living in in Cleveland while doing Much Ado is filled with folks from the Middle Eastern and South Asian communities... So a walk down the hall is filled with intoxicating food smells... So much so that I'm tempted to knock on every door and invite myself to dinner!
Today, I was in the lobby using the wifi (loooong story) and got into a conversation with a very beautiful young woman who, it turned out, was a doctor from India studying to be re-certified here in the States. Of course the conversation turned to food... and I was a little shocked when I realized that she was almost in tears when she discovered I really DID know a lot about Indian food... I think I really won her over when I told her I don't buy Curry powder... but toast and grind my own masala blends.
She seemed quite shocked that someone as white as I am... in Cleveland... knew not only the food and some techniques, but the actual names of things. We talked for a long while... and parted with promises of a cooking session together.
Besides the joy of saying Shakespeare's words on stage, one of the great pleasures of being an actor is having a moment like that!