Food Culture in my Household

After viewing the presentation on the different Jewish food rules, I found it very interesting and thought about how different it was to my own culture. I am Hispanic, or more specifically Mexican, although I was born in the United States. My mother is from Mexico and she was born there while my father was born in the United States. His family was from the area of Mexico in which my mother grew up.

After my parents were married, they came to the United States. However, their cultures and traditions still live on in our household. For example, we make many Mexican dishes. One of my favorites is called Arroz con Leche. We tend to make this dish when we want to relax or have some sort of vacation. It's been a while since I've had it but it's definitely an important dish to my family.

A part of our culture is pretty obvious to most people. We eat lots of beans and rice as well as meats. We use tortillas for nearly every meal. Usually we would gather with family for dinner. However, most of my family lives in Mexico and so it is just my parents, my brother and sister, and I. I think most of the foods we eats might not be too healthy, but all in all, they are still very good.

Global Warming Presentation Reaction

The presentation on global warming on Monday was definitely an eye opener for me. I had heard a lot about the topic, but I had never looked into it at all. I liked that there were many scientific reasons as to why it was not simply the Earth's natural cycle and that it may actually be us and our actions that are causing the Earth to warm up.

An important part that was brought to my attention was the part about the difference in temperatures. If the Earth gets warmer - even by just a few degrees - it may affect us in a negative way. As mentioned, it may get harder to harvest crops and to grow things because the soil may dry out, making it unfertile. Even if it is very difficult to change our lifestyle because it requires a slight bit of effort on our part, it is extremely important that we do so. If not, the lifestyle that we live now may not be as comfortable anymore. A few degrees of change does not seem like a lot. However, once we looked at the past of how the Earth was when it was a few degrees colder, we can easily see the difference - much of North America being covered in a layer of ice.

The farming and agriculture part of the presentation is extremely important because global warming has a huge effect on agriculture. I figured that global warming would only affect the weather or something of that sort, but this entire presentation opened my eyes. I really enjoyed it and think that if more people were aware that we are the cause of the Earth's warming, maybe something would be done about it.

Ironic Video Games

It was mind-blowing to find that video games that we all play are very ironic. I think the presentation on Wednesday was very interesting actually, something that caught my attention. This was probably because of the fact that we could all relate to it. All of us had played some sort of video game, but I'm pretty sure that none of us had ever really stopped to think about the message that the makers were trying to get across or even the shocking culture revelations.

I very much enjoyed the examples of Bioshock and Grand Theft Auto, personally because I had played those games before. However, while I played those games, I had never stopped to think about the irony behind it all. For example, Grand Theft Auto had many parody-type factors that played into it. In class we went over the commercials that appeared in the game. When you are playing, you never really pay attention to things like this. Instead, we simply move on with the game and the goals set out for us. But the songs shown actually do contain a message that can be shared with everyone.

There was a message about fast food restaurants and this was interesting to me because it was a reflection of real life. We had heard many scandals about the food industry and the way that it worked so it was fascinating to see that even in media such as video games, we can see messages reflected there. The injecting of hormones into chickens in the song of the restaurant (whose name I cannot seem to remember right now) was very alike to how fast food restaurants operate. I remember hearing a lot about how McDonald's would crush the chicken completely and use every single part of it, even the eyes and the beak and everything to make chicken nuggets. Of course, this was something that we all tend to ignore - even I ignored it because I love chicken nuggets.

Even if we see all of these messages in our video games, I can't help but to think that the majority of us simply ignore them. It may be funny because we relate to it, but seemingly at the end of the day, we only care about beating our game and moving onto the next one.

Eating at a Korean Restaurant

There are many different restaurants around Kalamazoo from different cultures and although a list of the different ones were provided for our literature class, I decided to do something a little different. My friend had told me about how she had been working at a Korean restaurant in Kalamazoo, a small shabby place that seemed to be a bit of a ghost on the street. I hadn't really noticed it before but it caught my eye once and noticed the name was Lee's Garden.

I went with my friend to this restaurant  few weeks ago actually, before we were actually assigned to eat at a culture-rich restaurant, and I've got to say that I very much enjoyed it. I can't quite remember what I ordered, but I do know that it was a bit different than what I was used to. To start off, they gave us an appetizer called Kimchi - something I'm not even entirely sure what it was. It looked strange and was extremely cold! It surprised me because the red color fooled me into thinking it would be cold.

Afterwards, our plates came and my friend had ordered some type of noodles. They were a bit spicy and had a side of fried rice, much like Chinese restaurants. My meal was some sort of meat, a bit spicy as well but not too much as my friend's noodles were. I think my meal was far better than hers and I also got a side of fried rice - which was a huge amount actually. I couldn't finish it myself.

During our meal, my friend's boss came over to talk to us. Her English was not fluent enough to have a full-blown conversation but she asked us if the meal was alright and we nodded our heads as a yes. She seemed pleased and urged us to eat more. At the end of our trip, we ended up talking to her a bit more and thanking her for the lovely meal. She rewarded us with a free bottle for each of us of an Aloe drink. All in all, it was a very enjoyable experience and my stomach was satisfied.

Midwestern Writers on Food with Peggy Wolfe & Bonnie Jo Campbell

The event that I attended was the Midwestern Writers on Food. Of course, I had no idea what I was getting into and had no idea what to expect other than the fact that it would have to do with food - obviously. However, I was surprised to find that the event had very little to do with literature at all and mostly had to do with food itself. What was discussed was food and different recipes as well as different ways of cooking things such as fudge or even what to use for the crust of pie (Crisco was agreed to be the best).

There was very little reading done or discussion over the book that the author held in her hand - a book I had never read - and so it was difficult for me, personally, to follow along. I did notice that the audience was mostly composed of elderly ladies who knew so much about how to cook - something I am nowhere near an expert in.

Something that did stick out to me, however, was that these ladies held experiences that were quite admirable. It is unfortunate that our generation was unable to experience the things that they did, the way that they tasted fudge in such a way that we did not. They were able to remember the texture, food making up a major part of their lives, unlike the generation of today where technology reigns. It is unbelievable and sometimes you wish that things would not have changed so much so that you could have beautiful memories the way that they did.

All in all, what I took away from this meeting is not something that had to do with food or literature at all, no. Instead, it made me want to appreciate the simple things that existed, that I would appreciate my childhood and would have something to talk about with such love in the future the way that these ladies talked about food, smiles adorning their features. It was something truly admirable.

Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya - Discovering New Foods

In Kamala Markandaya's story, Nectar in a Sieve, we often come across different foods. However, there is so much that you can barely keep track! Even so, most of the names of the foods were foreign to me and so I decided to take a look at what each of them were. For example, she mentions the food in her garden, "the beans, the brinjals, the chillies and the pumpkin vine."

The first food that I searched up was brinjal since I had never heard it before. However, I realized that it was more familiar than foreign. Brinjal is just another word for eggplant. In South Asia, the plant is referred to as brinjal instead of as eggplant and there are other name variations as well, such as augerbine, garden egg, guinea squash, or melongene. It simply depends on the area that you come from.

The descriptions of food in the text are simply amazing and detailed in such a way that they make you hungry as well. "Between us we prepared mounds of rice, tinting it with saffron and frying it in butter; made hot curries from chillies and dhal; mixed sweet, spicy dishes of jaggery and fruit; broiled fish; roasted nuts over the fire; filled ten gourds with coconut milk; and cut plantain leaves on which to serve the food."

This description is pretty fantastic and some of dishes I was unsure about. I searched up what saffron is and ended up getting the location of an Indian Cuisine restaurant in Kalamazoo called Saffron. However, after looking a bit more, I realized it was a spice commonly known as Saffron Crocus. It is one of the costliest spices by weight and originates in Greece and Southwest Asia. It is said to smell like hay and make foods appear a golden color.

Curry is another dish I was uncertain of. I had heard of it before but never before had I bothered to see what it consisted of. Curries are dishes usually from Southern Asian countries. They consist mainly of spices and herbs or dried chillies, making it somewhat spicy. The spices put into the curry is either whole or ground and the dish can be cooked or raw. Curry can contain meat, poultry, or seafood.

Dhal is something else that was mentioned throughout the book quite a lot. I found that it can also be spelled as Dal and is actually lentils or dried lentils, peas, or beans that have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. Dhal refers to a thick stew so I am imagining that Dhal would be like lentil soup, something that is common to eat in Mexico as well - something I ate when I was younger. I think all of these foods may sound fancy but they are in relation to what we eat everyday as well - unless all you eat is fast food, then that's a different story...

Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya (Page 1 - 50)

The story that I chose is called Nectar in a Sieve, written by Kamala Markandaya. I was not completely interested in the book at first, but once I started reading it, it became more and more interesting to me. I really enjoyed the way in which the story was written, from the character's point of view. It was also extremely descriptive and it kept my attention while I was reading.

The story is told from our main character's point of view - Ruku, which is Rukmani for short. She is telling her story from the present so she gives us a look at her past which seems pretty sweet in comparison to the bitter present. Her husband is already dead and so it is quite sad how she starts off, telling of how she can feel her husband still with her beside her. I think it would be very sad to experience something like this. I don't think I would be able to live without my husband after having spent so much time with him.

The rest of the first fifty pages starts telling the story of how they got married, their marriage starting off when Ruku was only 12 years old. She mentions how she was married beneath her, to a poor farmer because she had little money and no dowry to offer. It was also said that she was scared of her new life. However, throughout the story, her husband seemed very loving and nice to her, always being sure to take care of her. He had made their house himself and he comforted her when she needed it. Although she was very inexperienced nor did she have the looks apparently, he never put her down and he treated her well.

She also made a few friends from the village who would talk to her and tell her things, which is how she found out about her husband having made their house. Even later, she has to help her friend deliver her child although the girl - whose name I cannot remember (many of the names are difficult to remember) - did not want her to be present for her childbirth. Ruku learns very much and her husband even comments that she had grown into a woman after only the first month, having learned many things and even how to grow things. One of the things I thought was cute was when she grew a pumpkin and she was very proud of it, much like a child would be, although she is of course a child.