Gi Rosa, a senior, at Loyola was raised in dual worlds. One in New York City, and the other in Puerto Rico.
Rosa recalls elements from both worlds. Vivid memories that still stay with him to this day, especially of his time in Puerto Rico
“I was always being passed between extended family. And I remember being with my grandma. When you’re little, everything is so big! She had a grapefruit tree and I remember thinking they were the size of basketballs! And it was one of my earliest memories so I just assumed that they were that size. That the grapefruits in Puerto Rico were that much bigger. I would tell people that back in the states until my mom told me that they weren’t actually that big.” Rosa said.
Rosa also talked about the recipes he learned growing up and how they are different than what you might see. Recipes typically follow a set of guidelines with exact measurements. Rosa explained that he wouldn’t even begin to know how to explain.
“I just know how to do it. Nothing is measured. But the recipes are made to be made for a lot of people. I can’t make it for myself without making enough for multiple people.”
Rosa discussed how this spoke to the communal nature of food. The recipes are meant for a crowd. The only way Rosa can make them is for a crowd- or to have many leftovers. And it holds a special part of food.
In the states, there is often aspects of food that are lost. In the busy hustle culture, meals become rushed between work breaks and meetings, and there is often little time to sit down with others.
But Rosa offered a reflection on food as an important social activity.
“The houses in Puerto Rico were always so close to one another. And I think that made us all closer. I remember people always being in my grandmother’s house. But they would come, and they would bring food. Or, my grandmother would always have food for them ready and cooking. Always.” Rosa said.
Food was always shared, like second nature. Rosa even spoke about the way in which Latin specific foods are often sold in bulk in the Latin supermarket. This translates in food as a means to be shared. Rather than purchasing for one person, some of the ingredients already come in bulk.
But in the states, food presents itself differently. Where Rosa could pluck avocados off the trees in his grandmother’s backyard, the average avocado in the U.S. is $4. Rosa described food being everywhere.
“There are farmers that come from the countryside and sell their fruits, on the beaches they have piragua. And it comes from a woman’s house. We cleared her whole house of it once.” Rosa elaborated.
Everything is fresh, and everything is shared.
Rosa also discussed the way he struggles now to keep ties to Puerto Rico. His grandmother is 89, and he is desperately trying to gather all of her recipes while he can.
“I’m just trying to find ways to keep ties to my home there. I think if people are feeling the same way about their heritage, food can be a lifeline.”
Rosa shared the way in which cooking for his friends makes him feel like he is home again. He recounted a story where he was visiting a friend in Texas and drove with a huge pot of arroz con gandules, or rice and beans with pigeon peas. He drove for hours just to bring his friend a meal.
It is the gestures like these that are practically cooked into the food. The acts of kindness, the need to share, the coming together of flavors as well as people.
Rosa finds himself home again through food and through making it for others.
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