Humans of Brighter Bites (May 2017, 2 of 3)

“My first experience of cooking is with the elders in my family, my grandma and my grandpa. They would prepare the breakfast, the lunch, the dinner. I could always remember, it was oatmeal and coffee for breakfast, so we always had a good breakfast. I always had the best chicken soup because my grandmother made everything from scratch. The vegetables came from her garden, the chicken came from her coop. That’s probably what I miss most about my grandparents – they taught us cooking and eating. My mom learned all the traditions from her mom, and she taught them to us, so I implement them at home. We use a lot of garlic, a lot of olive oil, a lot of onions. In the Puerto Rican culture, we use a lot of cilantro – it’s “culantro.” A lot of natural herbs, which give the food flavor and it takes away from using the salt and the pepper and the products that you have to shake onto food to make it taste good. We don’t use those, which is awesome.”

Humans of Brighter Bites is a series that captures how Brighter Bites volunteers, participants, teachers, and supporters connect with food. Check back here for each installment of the current story and each month for a new story.