Courtesy of Antoni Porowski
For Antoni Porowski, a meal is more than whats on your plate.
A lot of my friends were from multiple different backgrounds, like my best friend, Andrew.
We have a really big food scene.
Antoni Porowski personal travel photos.Credit:Courtesy of Antoni Porowski
Its a really good quality of life.
His parents also shaped his interest in food through travel.
My parents traveled so much when I was growing up.
Antoni Porowski during episode 3 of No Taste Like Home in Daeyul-ri, South Korea.Seong Joon Cho/Courtesy of National Geographic
But they always came back with food.
It was never T-shirts or jewelry or anything like that.
I thought I knew so much about Polish food.
Antoni Porowski while traveling in Poland.Courtesy of Antoni Porowski
It was the first language I learned.
We only spoke Polish at home.
We were very involved in the Polish community and all the customs as Polish Canadians, he shared.
Antoni Porowski and Issa Rae walk on the beach in Dakar, Senegal during episode 6 of No Taste Like Home.John Wendle/Courtesy of National Geographic
He added, I had an ethnic name.
I was bringing cabbage rolls to school, like that wasnt necessarily very cool.
And so I went through a period of time of figuring out who I was.
If youre Polish in Montreal, you work there, he noted.
He says this experience changed his perspective.
You were born with it, so you might as well embrace it.
With Antoni Porowski
Window or aisle?
Aisle
Something you cant travel without?
Eye mask
Favorite comfort food?
A good cheese and a cracker
Favorite destination for food?
Japan
Favorite filming location?
I would saybecause Im missing the greenery and the lushness and the communityBorneo, specifically Kuching
Dream trip?
Youre dealing with actors who have set call times.
They memorize their lines.
Some of them deeply prepare, others a little less so, but theyre used to rigidity and structure.
This unscripted show was, in some ways, very different than their typical projects.
We wanted it to be an adventure for them said Porowski.
And they were all genuinely so down.
John Wendle/Courtesy of National Geographic
Issa Raes journey to Senegal was especially memorable for Porowski.
She looked at me at the beginning and was like, Ive seenQueer Eye.
Youre not going to make me cry.
She said it as a joke, but was also half serious.
And I swear I had no intention of making her cry.
And it was her words, not mine: Im standing on the shoulders of giants.
I am the way I am because of those who came before me.
The connection to and appreciation of your past is one thing Porowski hopes viewers take away from the show.
Its important to remember that the past, as messy as it is, is also really beautiful.
