No matter how wonderful they taste, I will no longer eat chocolate chip cookies, Oreos or Maltesers, although I feel like having some at the mere thought of them. But this time I’m serious. Tomorrow I’ll stop eating them. I promise!
I think you will all understand how hard reducing one’s sugar intake is. In my case, it is doubly hard, because I’m of Surinamese descent, and (1) Surinamese cuisine is full of sweet treats (which you really should check out if you are not familiar with them) and (2) saying no to food at family get-togethers is a no-go. Don’t even try.
And so I will accept everything I’m being offered, like the good girl I am: fiado, boio, keksi koekoe and other such sweet affairs. I can always find a way to justify it to myself. Because really, it would be a terrible waste to throw all this food away, and let’s face it, I don’t really wish to revolt against tradition, either, so in the end, I will simply submit to all this sweet stuff.
After all, we are meant to enjoy life, right? Right? Tomorrow I’ll stop eating them. I promise!
And now, to make matters worse, the month of festivities and rich food has begun. Thankfully, I have survived the sugar storm brought from Spain by St Nicolas, including the chocolate kruidnoten that were thrown at my head. But now Christmas is nearly upon us, and I break into a sweat just thinking about it. Because this means huge amounts of very rich food – Christmas Day breakfast, Christmas Day lunch and Christmas Day dinners, and lots of snacks in between.
It is one day later – the day on which I will really start reducing my sugar intake. Nevertheless, by the end of the morning, my friend and I somehow end up at De Koekela, a place that is notorious among Rotterdammers with a sweet tooth. We each order a cup of tea, and one thing leads to another. Before I know it, we have consumed some hot chocolate, a brownie and a piece of cake.
YOLO. I’ll have another one. Tomorrow is another day. I’ll really stop eating sugary things then. I promise!
Pooja Guptar is taking a Master’s degree in Media & Business
