My adventure with food
My food adventure starts with my mom guzzling gallons of lemonade when she was pregnant with me and now I’m absolutely obsessed with it. Sometimes when life gets too complicated I like to simplify it by just chalking it up to one big hunt for the best lemonade. Because I won’t know which one is the best until I try it right? Although I am pretty sure the lemonade my mom makes for me from meyer lemons takes the win.
In my childhood I began to associate food with tradition. Birthdays were something to look forward to except the five minutes when your family is sing happy birthday to you and you know it’s time to make the world longest wish to prolong the inevitable face full of cake that your cousin but mostly your dad will dunk you in. And of course, along with more Mexican tradition tamales are made at Christmas and buñuelos for new years and so on.
Naturally, a lot of my food adventures occurred around Mexican food.
I was thirteen the last time I went to Mexico and this was a memorable visit. After a very scenic but lengthy 20 hour drive we were exhausted but stopping at the place my mom used to get tacos as a child gave me something to look forward to.
At my grandma’s house in Guanajuato and after a hot shower the tacos were warmed and ready to eat. My sister and I hadn’t eaten an actual meal in about a day so we let the adult catch up and we dug in. While we were on about taco number three we asked our mom what we cut of meat we were eating. It was good but I couldn’t quite identify the taste of the fried taco. After the fourth time of asking our mother casual answered it ‘cow brains.’ My sister and I cringed. I couldn’t stop thinking about the poor cow and I certainly didn’t pick up another taco.
I was thirteen the last time I went to Mexico and this was a memorable visit. After a very scenic but lengthy 20 hour drive we were exhausted but stopping at the place my mom used to get tacos as a child gave me something to look forward to.
At my grandma’s house in Guanajuato and after a hot shower the tacos were warmed and ready to eat. My sister and I hadn’t eaten an actual meal in about a day so we let the adult catch up and we dug in. While we were on about taco number three we asked our mom what we cut of meat we were eating. It was good but I couldn’t quite identify the taste of the fried taco. After the fourth time of asking our mother casual answered it ‘cow brains.’ My sister and I cringed. I couldn’t stop thinking about the poor cow and I certainly didn’t pick up another taco.
But then everything got better the next morning. I woke up at four with my grandma when it was still dark and cool outside to gather corn to make fresh handmade tortillas for breakfast. It takes a few hours to grind up the corn and make the actual tortillas. But heating them up over a wood fire and bringing them in hot for breakfast is a wonderful thing I’ll always share with my grandma.
My adventures from then on just consisted of amazing Mexican food and lazy afternoons with my grandpa and I on the hammock peeling and eating sugar cane.
My adventures from then on just consisted of amazing Mexican food and lazy afternoons with my grandpa and I on the hammock peeling and eating sugar cane.
Once I was back in Texas I was far from my food adventures in Mexico but thankfully I had a mother and a grandma willing to teach me to make pozole and I had a little bit of Mexico here with me.
Then when I was 18 I started to really dislike the taste of red meat. Since I already didn’t really eat pork I decided to stop eating meat all together and see how it went. I was vegetarian for about three months. It was an experience I was happy not eating something that had started to gross me out but I missed tacos and Texas barbeque way too much for that to last.
Then when I was 18 I started to really dislike the taste of red meat. Since I already didn’t really eat pork I decided to stop eating meat all together and see how it went. I was vegetarian for about three months. It was an experience I was happy not eating something that had started to gross me out but I missed tacos and Texas barbeque way too much for that to last.
This past summer I was lucky enough to study abroad in Germany and Prague. The sum of my exploration is that beer is amazing, pretzels never disappoint you and I missed vegetables more than I thought I would.
In Prague I realized I knew very little about Czech food. My first meal affirmed that soggy bread it the worst. But what I learned about Czech food I loved. And I wish I could remember the name of the place where I had that cinnamon honey cake so I could eat it again.
Later this summer I spent time in San Francisco and got a new appreciation for Chinese food in china town but realized cold or hot knowing what jellyfish taste like is not a question I need an answered. And spending time in Napa I think wine should be a food group.
I look forward to all my other adventure with food whether it is roaming the streets of Prague looking for an ice cream chimney or cooking at home with my mom. I hope I can continue to travel and find awesome food to taste but if I can’t I am lucky enough to live in Houston where I am sure to find delicious and diverse food.