Final Portfolio

Fruit has been an integral part in our daily meal. Besides providing vitamin that is needed by our body, fruit is also providing extra benefit to our immune system such as anti-oxidant. There are many ways to categorize fruit. If we have to do classification based on the economic importance of fruit, there are two categories: climacteric and non climacteric. Climacteric fruit can be stored unripe in low temperature before being ripened and sold. Examples of such fruits are mangoes, bananas, papayas, avocados, and tomatoes (Carrington, 2002). Since such fruits can endure long distance travel without losing their quality, those fruits can be sold to the other side of the world weeks later. Strawberries, along with other kind of berries and citrus fruits, fall into the non climacteric category where they “…ripen only while still attached to the parent plant and cannot be picked early and stored for later ripening” (Carrington, 2002). Historically, strawberries were eaten fresh or processed into dried or fermented products (Finn, 2003).

In the earliest years of the 1400’s, the monks in Western Europe were using “wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscript” (Darrow, 11). With its lovely shape, strawberry has captured the eyes of monastic painters and they “found it worthy, and share their offerings to the Virgin Mary” (Darrow, 11). Some historians believe that strawberry has been cultivated in Greek and Latin gardens and “was served at banquets” (Darrow, 11). In 1300’s, strawberry has been cultivated in France, Europe. The cultivated strawberry (Fragaria X ananassa) was considered “more ornamental for its flower than its use as fruit” (Darrow, 16). The ‘X’ in the Latin name is for the “cultivated strawberry, which indicates that it is a hybrid between two species” (Finn, 2003). In 1714, “the most important event in the history of the modern strawberry took place” (Darrow, 24) as the Chillean berry (Fragaria chiloensis) made its way to France. Chillean berry was brought into France since it has the quality that European berry does not have, such as its huge size. Amedee Francois Frezier, who was commissioned by King Louis XIV of France to sail to Chile on an intelligence mission, has brought back F. chiloensis to France. The Chillean berry was later hybridized with F. virginiana (from eastern North America), which results in the cultivated strawberry that is now popular worldwide (Finn, 2003).

Much of the breeding work on the European Continent is rather recent. In France the cultivation began “after early work by amateurs and private farms had largely ceased”. As in Italy, “first attempt toward the origination of varieties adapted to a particular location”. Germany cultivation dates back a hundred years and “maintained exchange with England” and in fact, with all Europe. (Darrow, 270).

In the United States, commercial strawberry production began circa 1880. Most strawberries were gathered from the wild meadow and pasture area (Darrow 138). Strawberries have become an “important part of the U.S. fresh fruit industry over the last twenty years” (Cook, 2002). California is the most important production area in the world and it “accounted for 83 percent of production during 1998-2000” (Cook, 2002). When the strawberry grows in subtropical regions, “most varieties become weak and grow feebly, or not at all, the second year” (Darrow, 378). Thus, Florida, with cold rest period or chilling (Darrow, 378), has accounted for “11.4 percent of area and 10.4 percent of production” (Cook, 2002). Strawberries are now available fresh most of the year, “making it possible to avoid frozen strawberries, which tend to disintegrate when thawed” (“Cambridge World History of Food”, 1886).

Strawberry industry consists of both fresh and processed sectors, but the lion’s share of the production has always been for the fresh market. Strawberries that go to processed market are usually by-product of the fresh market: either the strawberries are too small or malformed or “they are harvested from cultivars specifically designed for processed market” (Finn, 2003). The U.S. is a net exporter of fresh strawberries with Mexico being the primary source of fresh imports. Further growth in consumption is expected over the upcoming decade as strawberries, and other berries category product, have gained more attention in the food press.

A strawberry is a superstar when it comes to anti-oxidant power. One cup of strawberries can give 140 percent of recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. Strawberries are also supplied with flavonoids that could help keep bad cholesterol (LDL) away. In addition to that, strawberries also contain Ellagic Acid that has a range of claimed benefits against cancer, heart disease, and other medical problems (“A2Z of health, beauty, and fitness”, 2009). Moreover, strawberry can also be used as “teeth whitener since it consists of Malic Acid, which acts as an astringent to remove surface discoloration” (Timmel, 2009).

You need:
1 ripe strawberry
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions: Crush the strawberry to a pulp, then mix with the baking soda until blended. Use a soft toothbrush to spread the mixture onto your teeth. Leave on for 5 minutes, and then brush thoroughly with toothpaste to remove the berry–baking soda mix. Rinse. (A little floss will help get rid of any strawberry seeds.) You can apply once a week.

Bibliography

A Historical Dictionary of the World’s Plant Foods: R-Z. (2000). In Kenneth Kiple & Kriemhild Ornelas (Eds.), Cambridge World History of Food, Vol. 2. (1842-1886). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge. Retrieved March 16, 2009, from Gale Virtual Reference Library via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3450400203&source=gale&userGroupName=wash_main&version=1.0

Cook, Roberta. Strawberry Production in United States (1999-2000). June 2002. Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, UC Davis.

Carrington, C. M. Sean. (2002). Fruits. In Richard Robinson (Ed.), Biology, Vol. 2. (105-108). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved March 16, 2009, from Gale Virtual Reference Library via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3400700179&source=gale&userGroupName=wash_main&version=1.0

Darrow, George M. The Strawberry. 1^st ed. Canada: Holt, Rinehart, Winston of Canada, Limited, 1996.

Finn, Chad Elliott. (2003). Berries. In Solomon H Katz (Ed.),Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, Vol. 1. (192-197). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Retrieved March 16, 2009,  from Gale Virtual Reference Library via Gale: <http://find.galegroup.com/gvrl/infomark.do?&contentSet=EBKS&type=retrieve&tabID=T001&prodId=GVRL&docId=CX3403400072&source=gale&userGroupName=wash_main&version=1.0>

Sears, Barry. Top 100 Zone Food. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2004.

“Strawberry Nutrition Facts.” A 2 Z of Health, Beauty and Fitness. 16 March 2009. <http://health.learninginfo.org/strawberry.htm>

Timmel, Karina. “Whiten Your Teeth the Natural Way.” Health. 16 March 2009. Health Media Ventures, Inc.<http://living.health.com/2008/02/21/whiten-your-teeth-the-natural-way/>

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Supermarket Culture

As people who leave in 21^st century, we are supporting freedom of choice as much as freedom of speech. We want to have a freedom to choose where we live, whom we play with and what we eat. We want to have a lot of choices of what we can purchase for our meal. Supermarket has become a great invention here and I could see that people have prefer to go to supermarket because of the convenience and the choice rather than to farmers market. Raj Patel mentioned that “…consumerism has constructed us, built consuming people at the same time as building consumer goods…” (pg. 223) Our mind has been set to consume stuffs that we don’t necessarily need. Supermarket is a good example where such condition can be applied since “…people tend to consume more, to pick things off shelves…” (pg 218) when they are presented with wide range of choices.

I took marketing class last summer, an introduction to advertising. In that class I have learned how a corporate can push their items through supermarket shelves. If I want to push the sell of salsa sauce I will not only put the salsa at Hispanic section, but at the chips and snack section. It said that when people buy chips, they will have high tendency to buy something they see at the snacks section that could compliment the chips. This strategy applies to all the food in supermarket. We may have chosen what we want to buy, but we cannot choose what we don’t want to buy. We have the freedom to choose but that freedom “was born in a cage.” (pg. 222) Our pattern of buying has already been prepared for us as soon as we set our foot into the supermarket.

To use a metaphor of cage as supermarket is not totally ridiculous, although the cage is huge. Our choices are limited. Our taste is no longer ‘our’ taste, it has become a corporate’s taste. We have to buy ‘tastes’ that are presented to us in supermarket because the production cost is cheaper. Although those ‘tastes’ are not healthy for us, we are made to believe that we have no other choices when we have to pick between health and money. What we previously believed as improvement in increasing our shopping experience is starting to lose its core meaning. We believe that supermarket is convenient, it is not. It has shaped our culture to consume more. We are living in the culture of consumerism. Judgment is not made based on our moral and value, but on the materials that we consume. The fun of shopping is solely base on how many choices we can make and I feel pity for that.

Fast Food and Indentity

We have heard of “We are what we eat.” What that says is that what we eat defines our identity as a consumer culture. Every culture has its own unique taste and flavor and we are proud of ours too. With the advancement of technology and transportation, foods have traveled around the world; from east to west and from south to north. Foods that we think we will not able to taste are now easily available around the corner. McDonald, for example, has reached even a rural part of India. Now, people there are taking about the language of McDonald, or the language of west, instead of the language of their own taste.

With globalization influences the production and distribution of food, we are starting to lose the uniqueness of cultural foods. Alison Leitch mentions that fast food symbolizes homogenization of taste (454). Modern society requires everything to be fast, including food. We are starting to forget the taste of our culture in foods since we prefer to consume something ‘fast’. Before I reached America, my food taste was limited to home cook meal that I could find at hawker center in Indonesia as well as Singapore. The meals that I had back then were something that requires extra attention and care in their cooking. Special ingredients and technique were involved. I could taste the essence of both cultures in the food that I consume. Despite the availability of fast food restaurants in Indonesia and Singapore, people still prefer to have home cooked meal. Contrary to Asian preference of meal, when I reached here two years ago, I was surprised by a vast number of fast food chains in Seattle. All the fast food restaurants are readily available within my viewing zone.

Fast food is fast, absolutely, but it also provides something different for its consumer- a different identity. Fast food chains have been identical with western cuisine. Every fast food chain in Indonesia and Singapore is all from west, such as McDonald, Subway, A&W, Pizza Hut and etc. My father dislikes fast food restaurants so much because he mentioned that to preserve our identity as Asian people; we are not supposed to eat ‘western’ foods so often. The consumption of those foods will cause us to forget about our own culture’s taste. Fast food tastes have been commodified to suit our modern taste. And because of globalization, we can see how our ethnic food has been commodified as fast food and lost their value. We can find a burger with ethnic flavor at McDonald or a pizza with Asian flavor anywhere, it’s just not unique anymore.

Globalization also promotes the movement of taste from one side to the other side of the world. Those tastes have been “reinvented and repackaged as an exotic item for gourmet consumption” (448). Corporate culture believes that food commodification is the best way to preserve the taste of foods from the danger of extinction. With the power of marketing and promotion, that we subconsciously consume, we are driven to support the notion of food globalization. We are also supporting the consumption and commodification of exotic food since we are not aware of the consequences. We are not only losing our food identity but also causing others to lose theirs too. In the end, the taste will eventually become homogenized if we do not do something about it. To eat or not to eat depends entirely on your belief of your food identity.

Michael Pollan and Meat Eating

As a human being, we are being categorized as omnivore. We eat everything that can be eaten. From leaves to insects, from fruits to bird, anything as long as those things can be put into our mouth and cause no damage to our body. When we are fed with something delicious, seldom do we think about the process of having those foods on our plate. Where the foods come from? How the foods processed? and many more. Like an old saying “ignorance is bliss”, we are blessed that we are not knowing about the foods that we are eating. Does it sound right? We are arguing that to be able to enjoy our foods, we have to ignore how the foods come to our plate. But now people are taking more and more attention on what they are going to eat. People are no longer ignoring their foods. If this keeps continuing, will there be any probability that we will treat the animals as our companion instead of food?

Michael Pollan said “…most of us would simply rather not be reminded of exactly what meat is or what it takes to bring it to our plate.” (pg. 304) I would totally agree with him in this part. Personally I will try to ignore how a piece a chicken can arrive at my plate for my dinner. Thinking about the slaughtering of the chicken will make me sick and thus I will try to ignore it. Michael Pollan has also mentioned that “…practice of eating animal… can now be seen for the barbarity its, a relic of an ignorant past that very soon will fill us with shame.” (pg305) Again, I agree with him. We no longer can ignore the fact that these animals are also a being. If these animals were to have feeling, I cannot think how they will feel if they were raised by human just to be eaten by that human too. It’s just like cannibalism, except we believe it was not.

Relate back to Carole Counihan’s article about Italian eating culture, moderation is the essential key in our consumption. Italian people believe that eating a lot is good but eating too much will lose the enjoyment. Contrary to them, American culture believes that the bigger portion the food, the bigger enjoyment it will bring. I have watched several shows about the excess consumption of foods of American people. They found it pleasurable, I do not think so. Took for example Hooters restaurant, we always know that Hooters is popular for their chicken wings. When I went there and saw that a person could eat almost 20 pieces of chicken wings, I thought it was ridiculous. But it was not, it’s just the way it is here. If one person can eat 20 pieces of chicken wings, does it means 10 chickens have to be killed to feed that person?

I have mix feeling about our meat consumption. Meat has become an integral part of our meal. We are not encouraging people not to eat meat at all. The most important thing is moderation because high demand of meat will cause high number of animals killing. To fulfill the high number of meats consumption, many animals were forced to raise unethically. We may not know what kind of suffering they are having because we want to eat our food more enjoyable. We try to console ourselves that those animals do not have any feeling at all; that they are meant to be served as food. We have hold this belief for thousands year and I think it will be very difficult to change this mindset. We are not ready to change yet. The most we can do is to reduce the consumption and to eat in moderation.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Farm or Organic to Table

When I first found out that most of our foods are genetically modified to suits our taste, I was surprised. When I first heard that the foods I have eaten are not grown organically, I was frowned. And when I heard that most of our foods are made of corn, I was afraid. I feel that I have eaten ‘fake’ food all along. I did not notice about the choices I have made about the food I have to put in my body and my mind. If what we eat defines ourselves, does it means we are becoming artificial?

The most persuasive lines from Pollan’s book are when he mentions how much petroleum we have to use to produce food. To produce a calorie of food, it takes more than a calorie of fossil fuel energy (Pollan, 46). To produce cheap corn, petroleum was used as fertilizer. Corn was made affordable for everyone; too cheap that we are starting to use corn in every possible ways there are. Now, corn was used in every ingredient of processed foods and drinks. I always assumed that corn is a “natural” ingredient that will cause no harm for me, I assumed wrongly.

This week discussion opened my eyes about corn. Corn starch, corn sugar, corn oil and etc, are only a few examples of how food industries produce cheap and affordable food for everyone. When I think of “natural”, corn always fall into that category. Before I took this class, I never have knowledge about the ‘corn filling’ in the food I have eaten. Little did I notice how corn has become one of the ‘essential’ ingredients of processed food. Since corn has to be grown on the field, we never thought that corn may be harmful for our health. The mass production of corn in America has caused food industries to substitute their natural ingredients to something that is cheap; corn. Sugar, for example, is substituted with corn sugar. Corn is supposed to be natural, it’s true, but corn sugar is not natural. A sweet flavor from corn is made by using chemical. Corn sugar is cheap, easy to made and abundant.

Though we know that artificial food is not good for our health, we are ignoring and continuing to consume it. The mass produced foods are cheaper and easily available. For people that have little time to cook or have no knowledge in cooking, processed foods is the only way out. The industrial agriculture has introduced to us a new way in consuming, it is fast and convenient and cheap. I have repeating the word cheap in this article more than five times. Our main obstacle in moving away from industrial agriculture is the economic side of the production. Price has become our main consent in buying foods. With such economic situation, cheaper food is the only option to provide a meal on the table.

Not many people have the luxury in buying organic food. Yes, I mean luxury since organic foods have become the choices for everyone in eating healthy. The ‘artificial foods’ do not always unhealthy. The main point here is in choosing the ‘correct’ food and eating in moderation is also recommended. All in all, eating is part of our integral activity as a living being. We just have to make ‘intelligent’ choices in what we are going to become.

The industrialization of Taste

I like instant noodle. The sound of the noodle when you slurp it into your mouth is so tasty (like the one in the Tanpopo movie). The taste of the soup is spicy and hot and is absolutely delicious. The one that I like the most is the Nong Shin Korean instant noodle. Inside the noodle you can find dried vegetables. Although I know instant noodle should not be eaten too often, I could not resist the temptation to eat it whenever I do not have anything else to cook with. In the end, instant noodle has become one of my essential supplies to buy whenever I went to buy groceries. It’s a complimentary to my daily meal.

Instant noodles are very popular in my country. Matter of fact, they are almost everywhere. With the cheap price and the easy availability of the product, most of Indonesian people like to eat instant noodle as a substitute for the regular meal.

One of my classmates in senior high consumed instant noodles three times a day. Since he comes from other town and has to rent a room, he has to take care of himself and depends on instant noodle as his way of eating. He eats instant noodle just for the sake of eating. He does not care about the lack of nutritional value in his meal. “It’s cheaper”, when I asked him why he has to eat it everyday, “And it’s absolutely easier to cook”.

We are being bombarded with lots of commercials about instant noodle in Indonesia. There are also varieties of flavor to choose for, ranging from chicken to curry flavor. With a large market to be served, there are also many brands of noodles advertisements. Some ads promised the taste of ‘juiciness’, ‘crunchiness’, and also ‘satisfaction’ when you consume the noodle. Some ads also promote the sense of kinship while consuming the noodle. In one of these ads, they will show one normal family consuming instant noodle when the festive period ends. Instant noodle has become the ‘meal you eat with your family.’

Roger Haden mentions that “advertising mantras promise that products will deliver on pleasure, sensation, and satisfaction…” and that “the senses have themselves become mediatized.” We are made to believe that by consuming instant noodle we will be able to satisfy our pleasure in eating and able to substitute the cooked meal. In addition to that, we also believe that instant noodle is the symbol of kinship with our family, as well as friends. Media uses manipulation in ads to our senses to urge the feeling of ‘needness’ in consuming the noodle. Once satisfied we will not be able to stop our ‘needness’ in tasting the noodle again. We have known the easiness in cooking the noodle, the ‘crunchiness’ of the noodle, the ‘juiciness’ of the soup and we are longing for the taste again because it has become our symbol in eating.

Food and Identity

Strawberry, a very delicious and aesthetically beautiful fruit, is not a common fruit to be found in my home country. Strawberry for us is a foreign food. We believe that eating strawberry means that you are embracing a Western culture. We use strawberry only on cake’s decoration and could only be found in ‘high class’ grocery store. Strawberry is so alien to us that we don’t even know how to eat it (should we use sugar, milk or just wash and eat it?). But what makes strawberry so popular among fruit eater is also the value that it holds. Eating strawberry makes you look cool, modern and ‘high class’.

Strawberry is not as abundant as other local fruits in Indonesia. Indonesia has been blessed with sunshine all year long (with rain at the end of the year). We are also blessed with many exotic fruits and unfortunately strawberry is not one of them. We have to import strawberry from other country and the price is so expensive compare to other fruits. And due to that reason, strawberry could only be afforded by the rich one.

When I reached here and saw many fruit that I would not dare to buy or eat at my hometown, I was so excited. Strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and all other berry fruits are so abundant here with affordable price. Eating those berry fruits is very common and guess what, everybody is eating. But in contrary, I could not find a pineapple here, no jack fruit, no passion fruit, no star fruit and other fruit that I am starting miss so much.

I still believe that globalization will not reduce the culture behind some foods. As I have mention about strawberry and other berry fruits, we still recognized Strawberry from Western country. I believe what we need is more information; information about fruits or foods that we eat. Information about culture and history of what we are eating can enhance our appreciation. As for strawberry, I don’t think it can represent my culture and probably my history. But by eating that strawberry, I can see the culture from the other continent. At least, I am eating a food that has rich value.

Bento (and how I interpret it)

Bento box, or usually known as lunch box, for me is a construction of ingredients to convey one’s interpretation of beauty of food. Since elementary school until senior high, I’ve never had a lunch box. My parent is not able to prepare a lunch box for me due to their hectic schedule nor do they able to send a lunch box to school during my lunch break. I was always envy to one of my classmates because her father will always able to send a lunch box for her. There is even a point where I felt that my parent did not even care about my meal.

Being able to prepare food for someone else is very extraordinary felling. My father is a great cook. Our dinner is always prepared by him. He specifically does not want anybody to help him in the kitchen, the reason he was giving is we are just giving him an extra trouble. There was a time when I ask my father about making a lunch box for me. He refused it for that a lunch box that is prepared a day before will not taste as good as freshly made meal. I could not receive the reason that he is giving to me. What is the difference?

When I came here two years ago, I was still an apprentice in cooking a meal. I learned to cook from my brother and my father (through a phone call by asking a recipe). I learned a lot from what I have to do to prepare my meal. A presentation is essential. Anne Allison’s article said that bento making in Japan has been so competitive among mothers. Your children’s bentos are used to show your responsibility as a mother. The more attractive your bento is the more appraisals you will get from your peer. Not only do the presentation is important but the taste is also determining your ability to provide the best for your children when they are at school.

I just realized what my father has told me few years ago. The color of the food will change after a night as well as the taste. I found myself a habit to have a lunch box while I am studying here. The price of the food at the HUB as well as at the Ave is too expensive for me (since I got no pocket money from my parent). I realized that the meal I cook the night before will taste differently. I don’t give an extra care since I, myself, will be eating the lunch box.

The class cooking activity gives me extra taught about food presentation (and taste as well). It is always a rule of thumb about food; that presentation of food will increase people’s appetite. I was so careful and probably gave too much care about how I will present my lunch box. I feel I was competing with other people in making the best bento box. It makes me wonder if this is the kind of feeling that Japanese’s mothers are having about making a bento box. If it is, then I believe that their lives are full of excitement. The bento making is the activity where you will be able to show your ability as a person (not a mother or a wife).

Andrea Arai mentioned in class that most of these Japanese mothers are well (maybe over) educated women. Since they have to perform their task as a wife and a mother they have to stop working and tend their household. I believe that bento making for them is a medium to channel their knowledge and capability as well educated person. After all, they are competing with other well educated woman too and (probably) I believe this is the reason that bento making is very enjoyable for most of people (including me).

Food and Memory

Talking about foods that have sense of memory, I feel it everyday. Get up in the morning and have some toasts and milk for my breakfast, I recall a memory of having brunch with my classmate in my hometown. The most nostalgic food for me is hot pot, a hot soup with lot of meat ball and sukiyaki inside it. Every year, every Chinese New Year to be exact, we always had a hot pot gathering with my family. The very last one that I had with my parents was two years ago. I flew back from Singapore (that’s when I was still studying in Singapore) and my brother will return from Seattle to have this reminiscence together. We always gather in one round table with 8-10 people sitting around it. Although it was a bit cramped, I enjoy the feeling of closeness.

In his article, Feld mentions that by sharing food we are also sharing our social relationship with the others. What we are doing every year is a tradition; it was a Chinese tradition to always eat together in this very moment. To reaffirm again that our social relationship toward another is still there and whenever I need to seek it, it will still there. My interpretation on our hot pot ritual is to tighten our social bond. Usually (this is particularly my personal opinion) the other relatives that I do not share my meal together with are not very close.

Now I am away from my parents for two years. Our food exchange is only limited once a year. I could not join my Chinese New Year ritual again this year due to the distance that I have to travel. My contacts with parents is gradually decrease to once per week, sometimes once per two weeks. Like the article “Breast of Aphrodite”, my ritual of having a hot pot is slowly diminished while I am at Seattle. Friends of mind are not interested in having a hot pot and I could not have one with too. The memory and the feeling of togetherness are substituted with a restaurant’s meal. Although we are gathering in one round table, the feeling of sharing a meatball from the same hot pot is no longer there.

Hot pot can’t be a media for me to share the feeling with my friends here. Despite the fact that I enjoy the feeling of sharing a meal with my friends during Chinese New Year dinner, I still long for the feeling of sharing a hot pot (and fight for the last meat ball in the pot) with the one I care. Give back my hot pot!

The Anthropology of Food with Molly

So, it has been the second day of ANTH 361 (Anthropology of Food) and I feel so excited to join the discussion (not to mention the cooking activity).

Today we have a guset speaker, Molly….(forgot her last name) and she is talking about the fun as a food blogger. Her blog is so successful that she was offered a contract to write a book (what a blast!).

During today class session, we have a chance to listen to first few pages of her book “A homemade life”. I particularly like her story telling, it was so engaging. I could image that her life is full of spices, especially with her father. In another chance, she also mentioned how she enjoying cooking and eating food, because it is the time where you build your relationship with others. I think it’s true. I use cooking and eating with my friends as a time where worries about school project is gone. That time is where I could imagine that nothing will makes me worry.

By any chance, eating as well as cooking is my way of getting to know my friends too. The way they’re picking out some food, the way they like their steak to be cooked and etc, it gives me some particular picture of their character. In the end, food can also shows one’s way of life.