Food, Self, and Society

So i was bored at home on Monday night. I had just finished dinner, which was this stew my mom made with potatoes, green beans, and pork. I find this stew to be very healthy and filling, as does my mom. The stew is not what i’ll be writing about though. After the stew, i was in the mood for something sweet. The only problem was that we didn’t have much for dessert. I opened my fridge and i saw strawberries, pineapple, and Land O Lakes whipped cream. I immediately took the pineapple out of the equation. I took out the strawberries and whipped cream, and began to eat. I had about 5 strawberries until i was unsatisfied. I started opening drawers up in my kitchen until i stumbled upon a bag of chocolate chips, BOOM! that was it, i was going to have en extravagant dessert filled with chocolate covered strawberries tonight! I went around in my kitchen searching for a glass bowl and a pan. I put water in the pan, and the glass bowl over the pan, and began heating up the water. Pouring in a generous amount of chocolate chips into the bowl was followed by some milk, vanilla extract, and of course, Nutella. So once the chocolate melted i started the dipping. Once the chocolate had cooled down, i started going around my apartment serving my mom and sister some chocolate covered strawberries as well. Even after I ate them, i STILL wasn’t satisfied ( i have an extremely big sweet tooth). The only food i had left to dip into the chocolate was some whole wheat bread. Surprisingly, i liked the bread with the chocolate more than the strawberries. It might be because i usually dont eat chocolate covered strawberries, and that night i got carried away. I love me some Nutella spread over some fresh bread. It is a breakfast that cannot be beat. Ok, that’s a lie, smack some peanut butter on another piece, slice some banana, and you have yourself a masterpiece.

Nutella, or any chocolate spread, or just melty chocolate in general, is a sweet that you can do many things with. You could make brownies, dip, a drizzle over something, or my favorite, a bread spread. Although my chocolate covered strawberries were a success, nothing can beat a fresh piece of bread, or for me, a couple of pieces of bread, with Nutella spread over, VERY generously, alongside an ice cold glass of milk. This was made for the person that is too busy, or lazy, to make anything else in the morning rush, or for the chocolate lover.

I came home Friday night feeling awfully tired. I just swam three events at the CUNY championships and now it was time to go out and eat. Now, our family doesn’t usually go out to eat, but this was a very special occasion. It was my mother’s birthday. She had just turned 49, and there was no way i was staying home on her birthday. My mother and sister have been telling me about this small hole in the wall restaurant on 8th street and avenue C. They say that you could hear the music coming from it even if you were a block away. I was born into a traditional Serbian household, where most of our diet consisted of meat, meat, and, you guessed it, meat. However, the longer we stayed in the U.S. the more we have assimilated, so now my dinners consist of Pasta, and pie for desert. I was thrilled, maybe even ecstatic, to finally be going to a restaurant that cooked traditional Serbian cuisine. Much to my surprise, we could hear the music a block away and each step i took i felt as though i was getting closer to home. The restaurant is fairly small, cozy, and cute. There are photos, mirrors, and signs that are all in Cyrillic. You could smell the food coming out of the kitchen. Out waitress sat us at our table, which we reserved a couple of days before (You really need ot is you plan on going, its a very small place and the chances that you will get any table when you come in without a reservation are slim to none.) The first thing we got from the waitress was the menu. All of the dishes are written in Serbian, but because this is America they give a small description in English. I was looking around, and observed a table that was getting their food. Their faces lit up when the waitress brought out the food and placed it on the small yet sturdy wooden table. They looked like lower east side hipsters who have never ate Serbian cuisine before- it was very funny. I ordered my favorite dish, the one i usually get when i go out to eat in Serbia for two reasons. One, it was my favorite dish and it never failed to satify my hunger and taste buds. Two, I wanted to see if at all the food here had assimilated to American culture in any way. What i mean is substituting Serbian ingredients for American ingredients. I am currently reading this wonderful book called Gastropolis and in one chapter the author talks about fusion of culture in NYC. One way cultures fuse is if you have food that is a combination of different ethnic backgrounds. for example, pizza with falafel on the top, or Vietnamese sandwiches. Another kind of fusion is the fusion between the outside culture and the American culture. Anyway, i ordered the food and while we were all waiting three plump men came into the restaurant. Two of them were holding guitars and the other was hold an accordion. This is exactly what i was waiting for, the product of which this restaurant was famous for. Once they started playing these beautiful Serbian songs, I was sold. I had ordered “punjene pljeskavice” which basically means a beef patty filled with ham and cheese, with fries and a salad. The first bite i took i felt as though i was home. That, combined with the music REALLY made me forget i was in New York. It was midnight, the restaurant was crowded, and people were eating, singing along, and the ones that had enough to drink started dancing, giving money to the accordion player requesting songs. The funny thing was, almost everybody knew the words to the songs! I have never had more fun in a restaurant eating food. This restaurant makes eating an interactive experience. The combination of the food with the music, the singing and dancing really reminds me of home.

Welcome to Macaulay Eportfolio Collection. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then get started!