Sugarcane juice used to be a staple refreshment in hot summers back home in India. It has been ages since I’ve had a glass of this sweet, iced ambrosia.

So, last summer as we were in Bonn to apply for a tourist visa to Tunisia, we drove down to the city center to get some lunch after our appointment and before the 1.5 hr drive back to Frankfurt. We landed in a plaza filled with food trucks selling different cuisines. And you may not be able to imagine my delight at finding this one small truck selling….sugarcane juice.

It didn’t matter that the owner was Egyptian selling juice made from sugarcane imported from Costa Rica – nothing about it had any link with India, but just the sweet memories of hanging out at road-side shacks with friends, during a day-trip on bikes or after college, talking and laughing over multiple rounds of iced sugarcane juice mixed with a bit of salt and lemon. Priceless.

Relishing sugarcane juice – not in India, but at a street market in Bonn. (Aug 2017)