The Hot and Cold Taste Buds | Teen Ink

The Hot and Cold Taste Buds

June 11, 2012
By dlitebgirl BRONZE, Sacramento, California
dlitebgirl BRONZE, Sacramento, California
2 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I am me, not no one else. I act how I was taught to and learned to."


Who figured out the word "food"? Have you ever wished to eat all the food in the world? Why is food so important?

The topic that interests me in Latin Studies is food. The description and details in poetries, data sets, or read aloud show that food shows that food is important in cultures. Latino/a family get together and eat within smiles at the table. In my culture, Hmong food represents who we are.

Within a month and a half, I’ve learned that Latino/a likes their food to be like happiness and joy. In the issue data set Creek states, “She kneads and cooks each tortilla with care”. What Creek meant was that being happy while cooking makes the food good and more perfect. It’s so important to pay attention to what you’re making people or yourself to eat. Food is important to Latino/a, because it also brings discussions while gathering at the table. I think making food with care shows how important it is to you. Making food with care like as if you’re taking care of your love ones.

Not everything just got to do with food. Food brings in racism. Eating the food that is a different race brings judgments to food like it’s not their taste bud kind. Being compared to food isn’t needed at all in life. Creek explains, “Pale-faced Anglos were the vanilla ice creams while we brown Hispanos were the sauce”. The skin color is what Creek is trying to make readers notice that white is better is what I think. The color of your skin shouldn’t be compared and be a thing that they should stand up without any violence.

There are so many things about Latino/a food, but one thing that I found interesting was that their food is like a Native tongue. They tend to sometimes forget their own food just like their language. But some remembers it like they really will stand up for their cultures. Creek explained in details, “Tomatoes and yellow chilly for the hot sauce”. Meaning, if it’s their main dish or side dish, they’ll never forget it no matter if they try or taste other better food in the world. I think it’s always important to remember your own food, because it’s a special thing in life.

Now, it’s my turn to talk about why food is important to the culture. Food is the only thing that represents who we Hmong people are. Little food with a big family for everyone to share makes the family happy already just by gathering together.

I always remember my mom telling me, “Even though we’re so poor and can’t afford much to eat, it’s better than nothing. Our food is important to us and yourself because it represents who you are”. It just touched my when she told me that, it made me think a lot , and made me thinking that I’ll never forget my own culture food. I think food is like a family tree that gets passed down forever and ever, even after 3 generation.

Culture brings food and food brings bilingualism. Sometimes in spiritual things, I tend to eat the stuff I’m supposed to eat, but sometimes I just want to change it to American or Chinese food for spiritual family gathering. It’s so hard to follow food rules when you’re craving for something else. Pronouncing food names brings bilingualism, saying different words that aren’t the same as your original language.
English is such a language all over the world now. Speaking English helps me and my siblings understand, but my parents. On the other side of the story, they don’t understand English so we have to speak Hmong for them to understand throughout life for now. Dinner nights are the time when my family and I discuss things at the table and have fun like usual. Bilingualism makes me as a Hmong kid doesn’t have many of my “Native Taste buds” no more.

The simplest food that had been passed down ever since 3000bc was rice and water mixed together. Growing our own food and many crops for myself, my relatives, and my family. Food, the thing that represents me, my culture, and everything in my life. It can be describe, but can’t be explained why it’s important. It’s just important because it makes us people live and not feel hungry. To survive is what food is needed for. I say, “Think about food like as if it’s your friend”.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 5 comments.


on Aug. 30 2013 at 10:09 pm
dlitebgirl BRONZE, Sacramento, California
2 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I am me, not no one else. I act how I was taught to and learned to."

Sorry for the late response, but thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Jayhawk said...
on Jun. 28 2013 at 3:51 pm
What a great essay! I learned so much reading it. I learned about food in the Hmong culture & about food in the Latino culture. I learned how food & family experiences are shaping who you are. Thank you for sharing his part of yourself.

jj77 said...
on Jun. 28 2013 at 10:49 am
Wow!  I love your take on food in Latino/a culture and your own. 

on Apr. 28 2013 at 4:30 pm
dlitebgirl BRONZE, Sacramento, California
2 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I am me, not no one else. I act how I was taught to and learned to."

Thanks for taking the time to read one of my works. I really apriciate it .

Uknown said...
on Mar. 7 2013 at 4:57 pm
Very inspirational; the thought of combining food and culture as being related to one another. Keep writing (: