My Favorite Foods

Growing up in a hispanic household, I always had to eat everything that my mother cooked. There was no way around it, even if I did not necessary enjoy the dish my mother was cooking. Due to this, my mother would praise about me to my relatives because I ate everything she made me. I've recently confessed to my mother that are certain dishes that she used to make that I would throw out. She wasn't too happy when I said this to her but she understood that she was a little harsh on me when it came to food. Now, I've expressed my love for not only eating food, but cooking as well. My favorite foods are tacos de chorizo, ceviche de carne, and bolones de verde.

It was about two years ago, one of my best friends, Chelsea, invited me over for dinner. As a daughter of Ecuadorian parents, I had only eaten Ecuadorian and Peruvian food. So, I was unsure of what I was going to eat because I had never eaten Mexican foodand I keep thinking that I would embarrass myself. However, when I went to her house, her family was so nice and welcoming. This calmed my nerves and when I sat at at the dinning table, I saw a burning red meat filled with cilantro and white onions on top. I took my first bite and my mouth just bursted into a sensation I had never felt. It was hands down the best thing I had ever tasted. Everything was fine, the soft tortilla combined with the semi-spicy meat. At the end, I ended up eating about 5 of the tacos de chorizo.

As I walked through the bridge that separated Ecuador from Peru. I smelled fried food and the curious/hungry individual I am. I decided to stop at the restuarant that the smell was coming from. I came in and took a seat and a waitress approached me and gave me a menu. I was little frightened because I was alone but I was hungry. The waitress came back and told her if she could tell me what was the smelled. She told that it was Jalea and she briefly explained what the food was. I ordered that and when it was placed on the table, I was blown away and I didn't know where to start. The plate consisted of fried fish, shrimp, clam, yuca, calamari, and octopus. Nothing stopped me from eating it all and I defintely burned some calories walking back to Ecuador.

Not too long, I went to Ecuador to visit my grandparents and I stayed at their house for about a month. One day, my grandparents were leaving for the weekend and I had to stay behind. At that time, I did not how to cook but my sister was always raving about this place that sold tamales and bolones de verde. I didn't want to eat tamales, so instead I decided to go buy bolones. The restaurant was walking distance and it was about a 5 minute walk. As soon as I arrived, I noticed a long line of people waiting to be served and I had to go back of the line. While I was waiting, my stomach began to growl and I felt embarrassed because I thought the lady front of me heard it. I would say that half an hour passed when I reached the top of the line, I told the waiter that I wanted bolones. It took 10 minutes to come back with it and then I went home. I opened the bag where the bolones were in and I took a bite of it. I wasn't expecting to taste the richness of the plantain and the crunchness of the chicharrones. I knew from this day and beyond this food had become my favorite food.