What I love sharing most on Google maps.
Food food food! Posts about this awesome thing called food are my favourite. Being able to travel to many places around the world has given me the insight that you can get to know a little more about a place and its culture by trying authentic local food and flavours. For me, food is like the ultimate compilation of history, evolution, people, culture, fun, richness, creativity, tradition, love and passion. You might try the “same” dish all over the world, but I assure you it will taste very different depending on who prepares it and where it’s made. I’m going to illustrate the latter. I am from Puebla, Mexico, and as a Mexican, I can tell you that many traditional Mexican dishes are prepared/replicated all around Mexico, but they taste very different depending on where you try them. I am a fan of this traditional dish from my city called “chile en nogada”. This is a very interesting dish because it is sweet, spicy, savoury and mild. Yes, all this at the same time. This dish has lots of history behind its creation. To sum it up, it was created by nuns to welcome Agustín de Iturbide (an important guy in Puebla’s history) to Puebla. The main goal was to create a dish that could express the flavours of the city. Quite complex if you ask me. So they gathered local fruits, meat, chiles and nuts, to create this wonderful an complex fusion of flavours, textures, and aromas. The result, you may ask, is the following: a chile poblano (local pepper) stuffed with a mix of local fruits and pork meat, egg battered and pan fried, covered with a sweet fresh pecan sauce and garnished with pomegranate seeds and parsley. Sounds a little too much you might say, but I love it. The thing I like the most about this dish is that you can taste every single ingredient in one bite. The sweetness of the fruits, the meat, the nuts and the spiciness of the chile. Not one single flavour stands out, they all complement each other perfectly. I believe this dish successfully represents our city. The fruits that make the stuffing are seasonal and come from the countryside, the nuts that make the sauce are also seasonal and come from other parts of the countryside. Therefore, this dish can only be served from August till October every year. Recipes have been passed through generations, and every family has their own flavour. Every year, the town where the fruits come from celebrates a “chile en nogada” festival, and most of the homes welcome tourists and people to try the family recipe. Thus, I assure you, not one single recipe tastes the same. Despite being the same dish, they all carry the family tradition, flavours, preparation style and passion. I have tried so many but I have my favourite one, so every year I pay a visit to the same family, and we are friends now. Food has connected us and every time we visit them, we spend a great time sharing stories, great talks and a fun time.
As this dish is very popular and is made only during a few weeks every year, many other states have tried to replicate it, but they are no way close to the real flavour. If you want to really know the taste, you have to come and experience it locally, have a chat with the family and listen to their story.
This lesson applies for every dish in every city around the world. So, being a local guide and sharing this info with travellers and locals is one of the best feelings one can have. Finally, one last thought: I believe bringing people together is what gives food a meaning.