A Fourth Grade Mofongo Lunch

I had a bit of pride as I packed my daughter’s lunch yesterday morning. She was positively salivating at the mere thought of what her lunch would be later that day. We had ordered some take food from a marvelous restaurant in Jersey City, called Delicias De Puerto Rico, after mass on Sunday. We ordered plátanos rellenos, alcapurrias de yuca, ensalada de bacalao and of course mofongo con pernil.

The smells of the restaurant are heavenly and bring me back to my grandmother’s kitchen so many decades ago. Their asopao de pollo tastes as if my own Abuela had made it herself. It is the pure perfection that quiets the soul and soothes the body all at once. It is that which makes you ache for a time gone by, while filling you with that bitter momentary joy of having relived it all too briefly.

Food is one of the defining factors of any culture; cultures a large as societies and as small as families. I believe it is because the way each culture has transformed mere sustenance into the flavors, aromas and experiences they have in their foods, carry the stories of the people and the traditions. Those most cherished traditions bring us the most sense of pride when we pass them down to our children. When we do our part to create a future for the history that helped define us and guide us, we too become immortalized.

So my daughter brought her garlicky mofongo to school. And while some showed interest or curiosity, and others turned their noses up at the strange food, she gleefully dived in to her lunch enjoying every bite, unwittingly bringing forth the essence of our ancestors and their traditions into yet another generation. You can see why I was filled with pride.

Do you have food traditions that you've passed on to your children? Do your children resist or readily accept the foods of your traditions?