I don’t really like chiles, but because it bears a lot of health benefits, my mindset with the chiles have changed. “The Joy of Jalapeños” written by Jose Antonio Burciaga, an author and a Chicanismo expert, is an essay that talks about the author’s personal relation with the jalapeños, where he demonstrates the various kinds of health benefits of the chiles, the Chicano’s masochistic cuisine and culture, and his own analysis about it. And through his own experiences, and thoughtful and careful examination of scientific evidence about the health benefits of a jalapeños, Burciaga have persuaded me into consuming more jalapeños. Some of the health benefits of a jalapeños are it can lower the rate of having a cancer and heart diseases. Burciaga points out that “A chile a day keeps the doctor away. U.S. Government studies show that people living in the Southwest have the lowest rate from heart disease and cancer in the …show more content…
I newly found out that every “One ounce of chile contains as much as 20,000 units of Vitamin A, which is twice the minimum daily requirement” (19). Which is surprising for me because ever since I was a child, my thoughts about chiles is that it only gives spiciness to a food. I didn’t know that a chile has something more to give. I also discovered about the jalapeño that “One hundred grams of Texas green chile contains 235 mg. of vitamin C while a California orange has but 49 mg” (19). Its an astounding and shocking because of the revealing information that jalapeños gives more vitamins than the oranges. Now, I know that not only oranges are good supplier of vitamins, but jalapeños also are a good source of vitamin C and also vitamin A which essential part of our body. In addition to that, Burciaga mentioned that “Calcium content in chiles is also high”(19) which gives me an additional information that chiles are also rich in minerals that is very important for our bone
In the beginning, Burciaga provides a brief history when Taco Bell was established. First starting in Mexico City and then spreading throughout the United States, the chain sold “mild imitations of the real thing” (382). Many Mexican businesses and people protested against Taco Bell because unlike homemade tortillas made from hand, they used “prefabricated hard tortilla shells” (383) that tasted nothing like real Mexican tacos. Additionally, the restaurant also combines food and makes up names so that it appears different. From Enchiroto, a combination of a burrito and enchilada, to Cinnamon Crispas, known as bunuelos, Burciaga points out that “the Taco Menu can be a mystery if one is not familiar with the renamed food items” (383).
At the heart of ¡Que Vivan Los Tamales!: Food and the Making of Mexican Identity, Jeffrey Pilcher attempts to find an answer to whether food plays a part in forming national character with a focus on interpreting Mexican national identity. Pilcher begins by stating, “while people have long recognized the connections between cuisine and identity, the aphorism that you are what you eat has seldom been applied to the study of modern nationalism” (2). Mexican cuisine is one of the most popular in the world, and it is made
What is Doyle’s message in Joyas Voladoras? Well, there could be many interpretations, but I specifically think that he’s trying to tell us about the heart. It does talk about many different subjects, like hummingbirds and blue whales, but it always comes back to ONE subject: the heart, the physical one and the emotional one.
Menudo is a Mexican soup made of cow guts, hominy, and red chili peppers. Menudo is typically reserved for large family gatherings and special occasions due to the fact that it takes several hours to prepare the beef stomach. Gonzalez refers to “tripas y posole” in line eleven. This translates to “cow guts (tripe) and hominy,” the main ingredients in menudo. Gonzales brings up the “tight flashes of color” because the white chunks of tripe and hominy would contrast with the redness of the red chili pepper base. He uses imagery to evoke a picture of “red caldo (soup) smears” in a notebook. This imagery relates the food back to his childhood, as elementary school is the most common setting for using notebooks. In line ten, Gonzalez calls menudo “visionary” which he elaborates on later in the stanza when he compares “our lives going down” to the digestion of menudo. “Going down” in this context does not mean becoming negative, but rather refers to life running its course, just as menudo must run its course. He also compares chili piquin to “poetic dreams,” which conveys the idea that just as chili piquin provides the spicy flavor in menudo, dreams or goals are the spice and flavor in our
The essay Eating Chili Peppers, written by Jeremy MacClancy, is a description essay. This author demonstrates a concise descriptive nature using a very fixed vantage point. It is clear to any reader what the author’s opinion of eating chili peppers is. The writer uses various similes to ignite the reader’s senses and leave a dominant impression. For example, “Biting into a tabasco pepper is like aiming a flame-thrower at your parted lips” (287) and “Tears stripe your cheeks, and your mouth belches fire like a dragon celebrating its return to life” (287).
Gina Valdes was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up on both sides of the U.S.A-Mexico border. Growing up on both sides of the border greatly influenced her life and her writing, since she was able to experience both traditions and customs at first hand. Crossing borders and identity are both reoccurring themes that Gina decides to interpret in her writings. The English and Spanish languages as well as both cultures weave through her life. Valdes received degrees from the English and Spanish departments at the University of California, San Diego. She has also taught both languages at various universities such as at the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University. Gina Valdes is the author of two bilingual poetry collections Puentes y Fronteras (Bridges and Borders) and Comiendo Lumbre (Eating Fire) both are from the Bilingual Press. English con Salsa is a poem from one of her poetry collections where she uses all the techniques and themes she is best known for.
Since then, whenever our school served taco salads, I will always ask them for an extra side of jalapeños. When I first tried a jalapeño, it felt different because it tasted different from the other chiles that I have tried. It taste better than the normal chiles that I have ate and knew. I don’t really eat chiles, but considering the jalapeño’s distinct flavor which stands out in many other chiles, my mindset about not eating it had changed. I’ve become a fan of jalapeños. I started asking our school cafeteria when will they next the serve taco
In the book Drink Cultura by Jose Antonio Burciaga talks about how it is not easy to get into one place and get anything you want in this world or something you wish for, but it’s something you have to work for, like any other person. It also explains how it is being an immigrant, and how it is to grow up in the United States as in immigrant and how had it is, and the obstacles that as in immigrant we have to overcome. Antonio Burciaga specifically talks in his book the Chicano history, the language that we speak as a person, the family values and how we as a Chicano stick together. One quote of Burciaga is “Naces pendejo, mueres pendejo --- You were born a pendejo and you will die a pendejo (Burciaga10)”. This particular quote caught my attention because the author gives you a taste of what he experienced, and what kind of language they used. “When the wells of emotion are filled only by resentment, a crying sense of injustice, racist, affronts, deliberately designed frustrations to personal development and social worthiness (Burciaga131)”. This quote talks about how we as Chicanos have the motivation by bringing in our passion from the past, but as soon as someone brings that wall down of us having that one positive outcome, we can go into a lot of resentment towards other people, and think to ourselves at some point that we are worthiness. In chapter “The Motherland” the author talks about the pride people take about being Latinos, he talks about being back in Mexico and how it’s all so different once you’ve lived on the other side, a quote that gives you a mental picture would be “Many white Euro-Mexican will shrug their shoulders, declare they are 100 percent Mexican do not partition or categorize their ancestry. On the contr...
The cuisine of Peru is a combination between traditional Amerindian cooking and the cuisine of the Spanish conquistadors that came into the country in the 16th century. Maize, beans, and potatoes were the standard ingredients of the pre-Columbian cooking in Peru. These three staples remain an integral part of Peruvian cuisine and were ex...
In this Essay, I will enlighten you about the “Dia de los Muertos” in the Spanish culture. It will contain the history of the holiday, the events that go on during it, and the food eaten on that day. One thing that you must remember is that Dia de los Muertos traditions vary from town to town because Mexico is not culturally monolithic.
de la Cruz, Juana Ines. "Hombres Necios." A Sor Juana Anthology. Ed.Alan S. Trueblood. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1988.
Geography plays an important role in a countries beliefs, values and activities. “Traditional Spanish cooking has popular roots. It is the people's cuisine. Most of it is down-to-earth, uncomplicated food, based on the ingredients available locally or the crops grown regionally. Mountains run through Spain in several directions, acting as natural barriers to communication and making transportation difficult until the last half of the 20th century. This is just one of the reasons why cooking differs so much from region to region” (Food).
What if you heard that simply consuming a handful of a tart little red berries could make you live a longer, lose weight and feel better? Like millions of other consumers you would probably jump at the idea. With these claims, its no wonder the new health craze in the Himalayan Superfruit, the Goji berry, has become prevalent in supermarkets across the globe. The health claims of the Goji berry are endless; from its anti-inflammatory properties to its dietary benefits and anti-cancerous properties, the health prospects are immense (Xanthe 2013). However, do these nutritional benefits hold any true merit? With this in mind, this research paper will discuss how the Goji berry is currently being advertised as well as the science behind its claimed nutritional benefits. I would like to compare the advertised dietary and health claims against the scientific literature and experimentation that supports the truth behind these alleged health benefits. For instance, many enterprises claim that the Goji berry is an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin C and dietary fiber. The Goji berry is additionally asserted to be high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids and a number of vitamins and minerals. It is declared to have strength building qualities and is associated with an increase in lifespan. (Amagase 2011). Packaging claims consider the Goji berry a Superfruit for its incredible nutritional value and for having one of the highest rankings on the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity), which measures its antioxidant activity (Amagase 2011). My goal is to learn which of these claims are actually scientifically supported as well as to discover how this benefits our hea...
Vitamin C, also scientifically known as Ascorbic Acid is an essential component in our diet, as vitamin C can neither be produced nor stored by the body due to its soluble nature (Ehrlich, 2011). Vitamin C helps make the collagen substance found in our bodies, and as the natural repair of certain body tissues like bones; cartilage, skin and teeth rely upon this, vitamin C is only too important a nutrient when it comes to our diets (Kenny, 2012). Naturally high levels of Vitamin C can be found within grown produce such as strawberries, kiwis, oranges, broccoli, sprouts, fresh thyme, parsley and bell peppers (healthaliciousness, 2013) and many more.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “despite the emphasis by nutritionists and other health professionals on the importance of fruit in a well-rounded healthy diet,” a survey taken during 1994-1996 revealed that “only 57.8 percent of people age 19 and younger ate fruits on a given day” (Fisher, 2004, p. 16).