What’s in Your Fridge?
Updated: Oct. 04, 2018
A peek into refrigerators around the world and what they reveal about us.
Journalists
Dana Záruba, 55, married to Jiljà Záruba, 59, Prague
Due to work schedules, the couple share meals usually just on weekends and holidays. Their fridge has cheese, smoked meat, beer, soft drinks. “Sometimes my husband buys something new to try and leaves it untouched, and I discard it after it expires,” says Dana.
Kati Jaakonen, 40, Married to Jami, 40, Helsinki
Three daughters, ages 11, 14, 20
“I create everyday recipes for families like mine. My refrigerator is pink, my favorite color. The vegetables, herbs and berries in my fridge show that I and my clients are interested in clean and healthy eating. On this day, I was planning to prepare hummus, falafels, quinoa salad, bean salad and various juices.”
Sonia Stancanelli, 32, single, Buenos Aires
Sonia Stancanelli has many interests-but cooking is not one of them. “I’ve always got breakfast food-a couple of cookies or ingredients for a good morning meal of fresh bread, butter, marmalade and whole milk. I’ve got sodas and beer to share or as a “self gift” after work. As for ‘healthy’ food, there’s tomatoes, potatoes, eggs, chicken, beef (a lot!), and maybe apples and oranges to make juice. Vegetables are not my preferred ingredients to cook. Actually, I don’t like cooking at all!”
Dennis D’mello, 53, married to Sunita D’mello, 47, Mumbai
Two children, ages 15, 19
“My wifE and I are fond of non-vegetarian food, so our fridge is stocked with chicken and fish year-round. As both of us work, I shop at the market once a week, while Sunita cooks for the family. The fridge is also packed with cooking essentials like garlic and ginger paste, a variety of masalas, chillies, sauces, ghee, butter, milk cream. Sunita also keeps half-baked rice flour chapatis (called bhakris) in the fridge, which can be cooked quickly over a gas flame.”
Ching-HuEI Kuo, 56, married to Jennifer kuo, 52, New taipei city, Taiwan
“Vegetable and fruits plays a really important role in our daily diet, so apples, papayas and oranges sit in the center of our fridge (vegetables are on the bottom shelf, not seen). We have a double door fridge with freezer, which gives us enough space for almost everything, including soy and other sauces, sesame paste, pickled radish and also rice and millet. The latter two are not commonly kept in the fridge by most families here. However, considering the humidity in Taiwan, we decided to follow the experts’ suggestion to refrigerate them. Above all, my wife and I are both soup lovers. We have soup at every dinner. A pot of soup is often there.
IGOR Gorjup, 23, single, Ljubljana
“I am a computer science student. I also have a job and a few small projects I’m working on. My hobbies mostly involve computers, and I enjoy traveling. I prefer spending time with friends to cooking and eat mostly canned food while at home. The picture was taken at my 23rd birthday party, and that’s why there’s so much alcohol in the fridge. Normally, I have mango juice and some beer.”
Meaghan Stannard, 42, married to Andrew Stannard, Sydney
Three boys, ages 11, 13, 15
“My boys play a lot of sports, from rugby and tennis to soccer and rowing, so they’re constantly hungry and in search of milk and their favourite fruit and chocolate biscuits. Frozen meals also help keep hunger at bay once they’re home from school. As my husband has coeliac disease, I have to be very careful with the ingredients I use in cooking-simple, unprocessed food is best. This means I regularly bake homemade cakes and bread-hence our large supply of eggs. This photo was taken just after I’d been food shopping so it’s bursting with food.”
Beverly, 74, married to Adrian, 80, Cuernavaca, Mexico
Three adult children
“On weekends when the children and their families visit, we feed 13, including two vegetarians and several lactose intolerants,” says Beverly. “To cover all their needs and preferences, we have four types of milk: regular, light and lactose-free cow milk and a non-animal option; three types of eggs: regular, free-range organic and egg whites; two types of flour tortillas: refined and whole wheat, three types of chorizo: pork, turkey and soy, etc. As well, there are nine dogs and two cats in the family, and sausages are kept as treats for some of them. Needless to say, we have another fridge and a freezer in the basement!”
