If there is one place in Naples that I never get tired of going to, and where I can have fun just by basking in the ambiance of its atmosphere, it’s the authentic Mexican restaurant, Cilantro Tamales. At first glance the restaurant seems to be in an inconspicuous spot, lying in a strip mall containing a no-name music store and consignment shop. However, despite the location, Cilantro Tamales stands out from all other restaurants or gathering places.
Cilantro Tamales isn’t a typical Mexican restaurant. Upon entering you are immediately greeted with warm smiles, and are led to a bamboo chaired table with all sorts of hot sauces and other sizzling toppings to greet you. The air is filled with spices. The cinnamon and jalapeño aromas mingle and make the mood rich. Every dish on the menu seems delicious and it is always difficult to decide what to order. I always think that any dish which I don’t try gives me the excuse to come back again. Everyone who eats at Cilantro Tamales gets to have an unlimited amount of their fresh, homemade salsa with warm, salty tortilla chips. The thick chunks of tomatoes and onions with hot peppers and cilantro make a perfect combination for anyone’s taste buds. The waiters and waitresses carry immense trays burdened by the weight of great tasting meals, and each dish has enough on it to make mountains jealous. The delicious food is not the only reason Cilantro Tamales stands out. The restaurant itself is rich with culture and flavor. All the walls are a shade of bright yellow or sun burnt orange and red, which add to the Mexican feel. On the walls are historical black and white pictures of Mexico and its people which act as cultural memories of times past. The Latin and Mexican dance music can always be heard in the restaurant. I sometimes can’t help but move to its invigorating rhythm. An interesting facet to the restaurant is the hand crafted pottery.
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).
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.
Chipotle’s cuisine is Mexican. Their menu consists of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads prepared with fresh ingredients employing classic cooking methods. The customer proceeds down an assembly line choosing the various components of their meal as they proceed. They have recently created a children’s menu offering smaller portion sizes. They offer three types of meats: chicken, beef, and pork. Condiments include fajita vegetables, rice, two types of beans, four different salsas, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce.
Two locally owned famous restaurants in Sedalia, Missouri, El Espolon and El Tapatio, are both recognized as quality, authentic Mexican restaurants that serve Sedalia with outstanding service and great food. After paying each establishment a visit this past weekend, I have discovered some differences and similarities in the two. Although many of my relatives have chosen El Espolon as their favorite, I found El Tapatio to provide a more ethnic experience with their excellent food, sharp service, and clean venue.
Doroteo Aranga learned to hate aristocratic Dons, who worked he and many other Mexicans like slaves, Doroteo Aranga also known as Pancho villa hated aristocratic because he made them work like animals all day long with little to eat. Even more so, he hated ignorance within the Mexican people that allowed such injustices. At the young age of fifteen, Aranga came home to find his mother trying to prevent the rape of his sister. Aranga shot the man and fled to the Sierra Madre for the next fifteen years, marking him as a fugitive for the first time. It was then that he changed his name from Doroteo Aranga to Francisco "Pancho" Villa, a man he greatly admired.
Chipotle’s provides a simplified and delicious menu to its customers. Burrito bowls, quesadillas, flour tortillas and corn tortilla tacos, salads, soft and alcoholic beverages. The price of each item varies depending on what type of protein is chosen. Choices of grilled chicken, steak, carnitas, barbacoa, steak, or vegetarian. They also have a variety of fresh salsas, such as, sour cream, cheese, or lettuce and guacamole. Each restaurant has a unique style inspired by the Mayans. The furniture and arts are made from pressed, recycled paper which is more durable and sustainable.
The Amazon Rain Forest crosses several national boundaries in South America, although the majority of it is located in Brazil. It covers over 3,562,000 acres, making it the largest in the world. But globally, over 138,600 acres of rain forest are lost each year to deforestation, 50,000 of those in Brazil alone (Holdsforth), and the world's rain forests are quickly disappearing. Deforestation in the Amazon occurs primarily for three reasons: clear-cutting, fragmentation, and edge effects.
Niger, home of the free flowing Niger River, is a Sub-Saharan, western African nation. Sadly, it is an extremely poor country because part of the country is desert and less than 3% open for crop use. The present economic situation is bleak at best. Yet, the vibrant tradition and history of this country lives today in its tribes and its people even through all of its adversities. From severe droughts to military coups to a dysfunctional government to the culture has stayed strong.
Jimmy Santiago Baca’s poem “Green Chile” describes a personal experience growing up with a staple food of the Southwest tradition. In the 3 stanzas and 45 eloquent lines, Baca uses symbolism through red and green chile peppers. The red chile peppers symbolize strength and progression and are also the peppers the author prefers. On the other hand, the green chilies represent youth, which are Baca’s grandmother's favorite. Both the red and green chilies are differentiated by the flavor and taste to tell a story of Baca and his history of growing up with his grandmother.
Environmental issues affect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. There are many resources that humans and animal needs to survive; some of the most obvious resources come from the forests. Forests make up a large percentage of the globe. The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath, determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. The wood from the forests are used everyday form many useful resources. Moreover, thinning the forests increases the amount of available light, nutrients and water for the remaining trees. Deforestation (forest thinning) is one of the most critical issues of environmental problems that are occurring today.
The Santa Fe Grill is a relatively new Mexican restaurant that was started by two former business students from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The idea sparked after the two roommates who were both interested in pursuing entrepreneurial interests decided that a Mexican restaurant in their city would be highly successful. While taking an entrepreneur class at the University, the plan for the business began coming together. Their main focus was to create a restaurant that would feature the freshest ingredients, as well as a lively atmosphere, cutting edge advertising and marketing, plus exceptional service for customers. (Research Methods, Pg. 19) By doing so, the students hoped that they could fulfill their dreams of ownership.
This report will discuss the effects of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest on the people and Environment and suggest possible solutions for deforestation. The Amazon Rainforest located near Brazil is being cut down at a rate of roughly 10,000km every year according to Source 1. Deforestation is affecting the entire planet.
During the past several decades, changes in the global climatic pattern has become evident and has attracted much attention from both the general public and the professional environmental organizations. Deforestation is one of the main reasons for these known changes. One of the reasons that cause the disappearing of the Amazon rainforest is industrial logging, which is the single largest problem. Other problems that also contribute to the disappearing of the Amazon forests include road construction, cattle ranching, and the production of wood products, all of which are important factors to be considered. The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest rain forest today, which has 54 percent of the total rainforests that are remaining on the planet. If Amazonia is a country, it would be the ninth largest country in the world. The Amazon is very important because it is a major contributor to the balance of global climatic patterns and because it provides places for variety of living organisms. A single pond in Brazil can contain more kinds of fish than are found in all of Europe's rivers. Twenty-five acre of rainforest in Borneo may contain over seven hundred species of trees, which is equal to the number of trees in the whole North America; one single rainforest in Peru has more bird species than the entire United States. One tree in Peru had forty-three different species of ants, which is the estimated to be equal to the number of ant species in the British Isles. The Amazon rainforest is truly amazing. (Taylor, Leslie. Herbal Secrets of the Rainforest. Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA)
According to National Geographic 2014, Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Deforestation occurs all around the world and tropical rainforests are primarily targeted. Our world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation. Currently or in the recent past countries with significant deforestation include Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, parts of Africa and Eastern Europe. Deforestation affects our planet and everyone in many ways. According to LiveScience 2013, seventy percent of the world’s plants and animals live in forests and are losing their habitats to deforestation. Loss of habitat can lead to species extinction. Our world has lost so many species of plants and animals in last couple of decades. This has negative consequences for medicinal research and local populations who rely on the animals and plants in the forests for hunting and medicine. In some regions of the world deforestation can cause floods, when it rains trees absorb and store large amount of water with the help of its roots. But when they are cut down the flow of water is disrupted w...
Today deforestation is all over the world and it is increasing. Our forests are disappearing at a very fast rate. Most people, when they think of deforestation, think of the Amazon Rain Forest. However, this is not the only place that deforestation occurs. Deforestation also occurs in East Asia, Indonesia and the Congo. China has only 2% of its forests left. Some of the last of the world’s rainforests are in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Amazon. Deforestation is a big problem. It not only affects the world around us, bu...