How do I feel about the food I eat? Eating and tasting can be a wonderful experience, but it also can be scary experience.
When I was a kid, I didn’t like to eat any kind of food because I was dying to eat just chocolates and candies all the time. However, when I was 10 years old my tasted in food changed. As long as I had been aware food reminded me of my grandmother because every day her magic hands woke up my appetite for food in my life.I always have had this natural passion for food because my family pretty much inspired me and taught me how to eat well by eating healthy food.
I love eating my grandmother's food. My grandmother, on my mother's side, has her own restaurant in my native country, Peru, and she makes all her meals perfect every time she prepares them. I remember from a my young age the idea of working in the restaurant business always frustrated me because all the time my grandmother was busy, and always she was tired. However, her passion for food and making people happy always was her priority.
When people went and ate the real food that my grandmother made, they always asked for an extra portion. I remember that my grandmother asked me daily what I wanted to eat after school, and I always said that I wanted to eat my favorite dish green rice with chicken. Every morning before I went to school, she used to make a special green vegetables juice just for me. I always felt lucky to have my grandmother with me.
My mother has been a wonderful cook too, but she never felt interested working in my grandmother’s restaurant.I used to eat well when I lived with them back in my country, but I never learn how to cook because they always cooked for me and that affected me when I started living by myself in this country. I didn’t even know how to fry an eggs; I was useless in the kitchen. While I lived with my grandmother and my mother, I never learned how to cook. I never thought that it was going to affect me when I moved to The United states. I started living with my aunt, on my father side, who had been living in this country for almost 40 years.
My aunt didn’t know how to cook Peruvian food, and I didn’t know either. Her collection of recipes just contained how to put chicken fingers in the oven or how to open a of can tuna for dinner. She used to cook frozen food or fry something in the pan: for me it wasn’t real food. Almost every weekends she used to take me to a diner where they sold burgers and French fries . She didn’t have any idea about cooking real food until I started watching videos and learning about cooking food or asking my grandmother by phone how to cook my green rice with chicken.Little by little I started learning how to cook my favorite dishes.
However, the food didn't taste as good as my grandmother's or my mother’s food. My interest about food change completely when I came to this country. The only bad experience that I had was when I tried American food for the first time; I almost died because my stomach wasn't used to American foods like frozen food or heavy food. The food affected me so badly that I couldn't get up from bed and I was throwing up every single day for the firsts two weeks.
I was even hospitalized for three days, which depressed me, because I just given medicines and serum. I died to eat green rice with chicken from my grandmother, and at the same time I felt so bad because she wasn’t taking care of me how she used too. For the first time, since I enjoyed eating my grandmother’s meals, I was scared about food, my body couldn't digest American food. I started losing weight by eating just organic vegetables.
After a few week , little by little I tried to eat American food again; this time my body started accepting American diet.I love to try different kinds of dishes. Since I move to the United States, I have been working in different restaurant as a host, server and expo. At first, it was hard for me to work in a restaurant because I had had the bad experience with American food in my past and I was afraid to try different meals. But everything changed when I started working in a Mexican restaurant.
My passion for Mexican food became an addiction. I wanted to know more and more about Mexican culture; I even learned how to eat tacos with my hands.Working in the restaurant business gave me a different perspective about food because I was tasting new dishes like Italian, Chinese, Indian and even Peruvian food, and most of the time I tasted some new vegetable that before I never seen in my life. On my day off, sometimes I tried to go to a new restaurant and see what they have on their menu; of course it had to be healthy food. Some countries have exotic foods that I can't even imagine and would probably never be willing to try.
However, I like to discover new taste sensations and enjoy the new culinary experiences.I know that the food probably doesn't taste the same as in their own country because that has been my experienced , I tried Peruvian food here in America and the food doesn't taste the same as it does in my country . Since I had had different experiences with food, trying multiples dishes and reading different books about food, I had decided to have my own restaurant business in the future. Of course I’m not going to be a great chef like my grandmother, but I will try to prepare what I know.Every time, when I talk to my grandmother by phone, she says that I‘m ready to be a chef because I’m always trying to find healthy and delicious recipes. In short, I’m still eating everything and I want to know more about different food and where they come from.
No matter if my body doesn't accept it, I just want to try and know more about food from other cultures. Also, I'd like to be like my grandmother who uses the food to express her love and many other emotions. I always say that food gives me energy; without it I can't celebrate anything. Food has become such an important part of my daily life.
