Food is an interesting thing. Aside from people of different cultures simply eating different things—they eat in different ways as well.

This morning as I was drinking my morning coffee and reading, I smelled a delicious garlic smell coming from downstairs. I decided to go check out what my Filipino housemate, Venus, was making. She had decided to make fish, noodles, and broccoli for breakfast.

Inspired by hear early morning cooking, but having more of an American breakfast taste, I decided to make myself an omelet. I figured if I started right away I might have it cooked by the time her food was ready and we could eat at the same time. So I chopped some peppers and cheese to put in the eggs and started cooking. In just a few short minutes I had a steaming hot omelet all ready to eat.

Venus had finished her food about 5-6 minutes before and left it on the table. Figuring something came up, I went ahead and ate without her—because who likes cold eggs, right? Well when she came back about 10 minutes later, she was completely surprised that I had eaten. Mind you, she wasn’t surprised because I had eaten without her—but surprised because I didn’t let my food cool off first. Apparently, in Filipino culture, you let your food sit and cool down before eating.

I find it fascinating how even the desirable temperatures of foods is different in different cultures.