‘They only eat dog in North Korea’, I heard some people say. I took a bag full of fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, powders and nutrition, just in case. My worse fear was that Michiel wouldn’t be able to eat much, when his body was responding so well to the right amount of nutrients I gave him daily, especially before the 1/2 marathon. Panic!
We didn’t need much of what we brought. Our guide was great – she explained in every place we went to that we were vegan, pointed out the options to us, and although we were surrounded by meat (and one time, yes, dog meat*), we always had a vegan option. One place even had it all laid out especially, with different placemats just for us!
Although not much in the way of fats, we certainly weren’t lacking carbohydrates or vegetables, we had so much rice, potatoes, vegetables, soups – all with great tastes. Although it became a little monotonous, we couldn’t have asked for more in terms of food and quantity. A huge surprise, and made my job of filling Michiel with good stuff a lot easier!
This dish is a traditional North Korean dish, apparently, like a fondue, you cook everything yourself in a small bowl of water, with a flame underneath. We had tofu and vegetables, and lots of spices!
Also a popular way of eating here, is by these little golden bowls, tapas style – and the more bowls you had, the richer you were. So to prove a point, our guide told us that soldiers and people with money would often have a table full of dishes.
Of course, after the marathon, a beer was allowed!
*I noted that some other people on the tour were SO against dog meat eating, when they ate all the other animals. I love dogs, but also now really understand that there is no difference in animals, dog or cow or pig. It seemed strange that people had very strong views on the subject.
