I started a blog called “Student Cuisine of Five Continents”, with the ambition of collecting authentic local recipes from around the world. To do this, I went on OVFRIENDS, calling myself a “recipe collector” looking for “local sources.”
Ana, a Spanish student studying Tourism Management, was the first to reply.
Her profile read: “Falling in love with Vietnamese food.”
From the very first message, we clicked as if we were programmed to.
I sent Ana my mom’s “bun bo Hue”, detailed down to the gram of fermented shrimp paste. She immediately sent back the secret to a proper Valencian Paella, with a warning: “absolutely no chorizo.”
Our chatbox quickly became a lively, and somewhat disastrous, “culinary album.” There were photos of my paella, burnt black at the bottom. There were photos of her “bun bo” where she forgot the seasoning, the broth completely bland.
Ana laughed out loud over text: “If you open a “bun bo” restaurant in Vietnam one day, I must be the sous-chef. I’ll specialize in the Churros for dessert!”
I thought she was just kidding.
A month later, Ana messaged me, all in caps: “I got an intership at a 5-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh city!”
Three months later, we met in the airport arrivals hall. There was no awkwardness, none of the shyness of a first meeting. It felt like we had been best friends in a past life and were only now recognizing each other.
Our first date, of course, wasn’t at a cinema or a bar. We went to Ben Thanh Market together, haggling for every bunch of herbs, then returned to my small kitchen to cook a pot of “bun bo”.
That “bun bo” a blend of Vietnamese recipe and Spanish enthusiasm, was the best meal of my life.
Ana is still in Vietnam. The “bun bo” restaurant hasn’t opened yet, but the Spanish “sous-chef” has officially become my girlfriend.