Adobo and celery

Today I had to bring an item that defined my cultural identity to my Moving Out Moving In class(codeword pointless Interdisciplinary class that turns out might be the only bright spot in my current Emerson life). Last night I paced my room and tried to decide what makes me who I am(you know the lovable Puerto Rican/Pennsylvania Dutch ball of quirk and foodyness). I kept staring at the PR survival kit Rob gave me but somehow just the adobo didn't seem to define me completely. SO I looked for my other side. I looked deep inside and thought to myself if I could bring in the PA Dutch version of adobo what would it be. Thank goodness for Matt being sick last week because I had the perfect thing just sitting in my fridge.

Celery is the Pennsylvania Dutch version of adobo. I don't know why it didn't come to me sooner. My mom's spice cabinet is full of celery seed. What one does with celery seed as a spice is completely a mystery to me, but I am not joking when I say that cleaning out my mom's spice cabinet resulted in at least 3 full containers of celery seed. Celery is added to almost everyone of my mom's best recipes. It really is a cool veggie. It even turns blue if you put it in a container of blue food colored water. You can't say that about many vegetables.

Celery is wholesome. It is chicken noodle soup. It is chicken and dumplings on a cold night. And at the same time celery can be cold and refreshing. I was never a huge celery and peanut butter fan when I was little(the whole lack of bread bothered me), but simply eating a stick of celery can be refreshing and according to Matt you actually burn more calories eating it than are in it. Ugh I totally just contradicted myself right in the middle of a paragraph. If you were reading my comment about celery being wholesome, and then my Matthew fact about celery being pretty much no calories, you might be confused. Celery is in wholesome foods that my mom makes, so I consider it wholesome; the fact that is not wholesome at all is just a cool little perk.

It was obvious that food had to define me and my cultural identity. Adobo is delicious with anything. I make an omelet in the morning and add some cheese and adobo. Ok let me take a step back. Adobo is delicious with almost anything. If Rob were to make me a good chocolate adobo gelato I would not be surprised, but only Rob would be able to actually pull that off. Normally adobo goes good with all savory foods. Salt, pepper, garlic, and a little bit of yellowness(which I really can't explain)all meld together to form a party in my mouth.

Being Puerto Rican is loving the food. Getting together involves lots of food. Family involves who is the best cook and enjoying their food. Being Pennsylvania Dutch is intricate. It is stubborn and frugal and warm and comforting and at times completely standoffish and untrusting. Being both is me. Sassy and somehow still comforting with a skeptical side that does not trust easily. Adobo and celery.

So what are you? If you were one food, what food would you be. Is it a cultural food? I hope you think long and hard and find something completely crazy like I did.

In other news I celebrated a week at Emerson College. I bought the largest Hersheys milk chocolate bar they sold and ate the whole thing on the way home. People looked at me like they've never seen an Emily walking down the road eating a Hersheys bar. I felt bad for them because this experience was new and decided that I should continue the weekly tradition so they were given the opportunity to not think this an abnormal occurrence. Hersheys chocolate puts me in a happy place. I love that happy place.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily