Talk to strangers about food

Food is the interest where a random worldwide match pays off immediately. Everything ordinary about the way you eat is fascinating to someone three time zones away, and what sounds exotic to you is just their Tuesday dinner.

• The dish you could genuinely eat every day
• Street food where you live and what to order
• Family recipes and who taught you to cook
• Food you refuse to try, and what changed your mind before
• The most overrated dish, said honestly

• “A dish you could eat every day?”Use this
• “Most overrated food, honestly?”Use this
• “What is cooking where you are right now?”Use this
• “Best street food in your city?”Use this
• “A dish only your family makes?”Use this
• “Something you refuse to eat?”Use this

• Ask about a dish from where they grew up. Home food is one of the easiest things for anyone to talk about, and you will learn something about a place.
• Ask about the best thing they ate recently, and where. It is specific, current and often surprising.
• Swap cooking disaster stories. Everyone has burnt something spectacularly, and admitting it makes a chat friendly fast.

Food shaming, whether about diets, what counts as “real” food or what someone can afford, puts people off quickly. Avoid pushing strong opinions on someone’s diet or on food choices tied to their religion. And skip the recipe links; describing a dish is more fun anyway.