Memoirs of Food in My Family

Grain and Other Starchy Food ($15)                                 Condiments ($7)
Spaghetti Pasta, 1 lbs                                                              Liquid Cream, 500 ml
Rotini, 1 lbs                                                                            Red Onion, 2.2 lbs
Brown Rice, 4.4 lbs                                                                Ginger, 0.6 lbs
Potato, 2.2 lbs                                                                         Garlic, 1.1 lbs
                                                                                                Onion, 1.1 lbs
Processed Food ($15)                                                             Salt
Ham, 2 boxes                                                                          Teriyaki Sauce
Sausage, 1 box (20)                                                                 Black Pepper
Minced Bacon, 1 lbs                                                                Oyster Sauce
                                                                                                 Mushroom Flavoring
Seafood/Meat ($80)                                                                 Soy Sauce
Minced Meat, 3.3 lbs                                                                Sweet Soy Sauce
Sirloin Steak, 3.3 lbs                                                                 Sugar
Salmon, 2.2 lbs (8 slices)
Dori fish, 2.2 lbs                                                                       Beverages ($10) 
Crab Meat, 1.1 lbs                                                                    Water, 15 gal
Peeled Shrimp, 2.2 lbs
Sliced Beef, 2.2 lbs
2 Whole Chicken
Eggs, 20

Vegetables/Fruits ($40)
Broccoli, 2.2 lbs

Carrots, 2.2 lbs

Lettuce, 1.1 lbs

Pumpkin

Tofu, 2 box

Spring Onion, 0.6 lbs

Spinach, 0.6 lbs

Chinese Leaves, 1.1 lbs

Tomato, 4.4 lbs

Apple, 6.6 lbs

Orange, 4.4lbs

Kiwi, 4.4 lbs

Grapes, 2.2 lbs                                   

Papaya, 4.4 lbs

Pear, 4.4 lbs

Mango, 6.6 lbs

Pineapple, 4.4lbs

Melon, 2.2 lbs

Watermelon, 3.3 lbs

Banana, 3.3 lbs

Dairy ($10)

Milk, 1.1 Gallons

Cereal, 1.1 lbs 

Greek Yoghurt, 20  

       In Indonesia, the most important thing in a family is spending time together in the dining room for dinner. It has always been a part of my tradition that my parents and I would gather around the dining table at 7 PM and eat a wonderful homemade dinner, cooked by my lovely maid. My parents hate the kitchen, it would be a miracle to make my mom stand in the kitchen for 3 minutes. In fact, we have an air-conditioner in our kitchen because my mom can't stand the heat. Our kitchen is small since we live in an apartment, there's the stove, oven and other essentials. In our small dining table, we have a   hotpot on the table because as an Indonesian family, we love to cook our vegetables and meat on top of a hot pot. We also have a TV in front of the dining table, because my dad loves watching the news while we're eating. During dinner, we usually talk about current events and also share things that happened during the day.
 
      In Indonesia, the tap water is not safe to drink at all. In fact, death caused by drinking tap water in Indonesia is pretty common. Therefore, we buy over 15 gallons of water each week to was our fruits, grains and also for drinking purposes. Rice is a staple food in Indonesia. White rice is the universal grain. However, my mom is an organic-freak and she wants all of us to eat brown rice since it's organic and healthy. Spices are not a big thing in my family, and therefore we have limited and simple spices. For meat, my maid usually grill it with teriyaki sauce. For the salmon, it is a well-known dish in our household to put the salmon in the oven and sear the skin, and finally finish it with a touch of teriyaki sauce. Seafood is very popular in Indonesia, and my family is a big fan of seafood. We like to season our seafood using mushroom flavoring and then we boil all of them in the hotpot. Usually in every meal, my parents try to balance the meat/fish with vegetables. We usually have 1 dish of meat/fish and 1 dish of vegetables. We usually sauté the vegetables with garlic and red onions. It's that simple.

    My family and I is not a big fan of snacks, desserts or processed food. My mom is strict with processed food and we use processed food occasionally, maybe once a week when we cook pasta. We don't eat snacks because we regularly eat fruits in between meals. Fruit is a big part of our daily lives, we consumed nearly 40 lbs of fruits every single week! For breakfast, my mom makes mixed-fruit juices. She really does experiment with a lot of fruits, mixing random fruits together and sometimes it is really nasty. Milk, cereals and greek yoghurt is also a part of our breakfast every single morning.


     Food has always been a big part of our family. If there's a motto to describe my family, we live to eat not eat to live. We love experiencing different types of food because that's how we share our love and joy. Even if I'm 10,000 miles away, I still cherish every single memories that I have in a dining room with my parents. Those are the time where we can let go of our problems, and share our stories while eating a delicious comfort food. I like going to the city once in a while and go to this Indonesian restaurant at the Queens. Those Indonesian comfort food helps me reminisce the precious moments that I've spent with my family every single day. Once in a while, when I call my mom, my mom would just tell stories about her dinner experience with my Dad. She would talk about what my maid cooked for the past few days and that simple story makes me smile. It is remarkable as simple as comfort food is, it is a bridge that connects me with my family.

 

Food and Culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Grains and Other Starchy Foods : $17.40 (10.4%)
Dairy: $17.77 (10.6%)
Meat, Fish and Eggs $54.22 (32.4%)
Fruits, Vegetables and Nuts $28.18 (16.8%)
Condiments $8.75 (5.2%)
Snacks and Desserts $21.74 (13%)
Prepared Food $2.47 (1.5%)
Beverages $16.90 (10.11%)

This particular family in Bosnia consists of 5 people, 3 children and 2 adults. They have a small kitchen and dining room, however most of the products that they consume are fresh and don't require a lot of cooking. They roughly consume 90% of fresh products and the products are very simple and traditional. Their weekly consumption mostly consists of meat, fish and eggs (32.4%) and grains (10.4%). They also consume a lot of bottled beverages and dairy products to make their own home-made pastries and cakes.

The first thing that stand out from the picture is the amount of bread, fruits and vegetables. There's also a lot of pastry-associated ingredients on the table such as sugar, pastry sheets, flour and "jufka" (thin pastry sheets). Although protein products aren't shown in the picture, the family spend 32.4% of its weekly spending on proteins, primarily ground beef, chicken, veal and eggs. Surprisingly, this family doesn't consume any pork. It is also apparent that families in Bosnia love homemade and fresh food. They consume 15 lb of bread and 4 pounds of potatoes with over 20 pounds worth of fruits. From the amount of bread that they have, bread must be a staple food that is served with every meal in Bosnia. They also consume a lot of fruits, especially tangerines, apples and oranges. They have over 8.8 lb of tangerines, and it is possible that they cook some of their protein with tangerines as it gives a fresh sweet and sour flavoring. They barely consume any frozen food, as they only spend 1.5% of their spending on prepared food. By looking at the small refrigerator, it can be concluded that they eat fresh food that doesn't require any refrigeration. They also barely have any spices at all. They only cook with oil, salt and sugar. Their condiments are very limited and they flavor their protein with vegetables and cheese. The family doesn't consume a lot of processed snacks and desserts. The main snack that they consume is raisins. To satisfy their sweet desire, they make their own cake using fresh ingredients. However, they love beverages, especially sodas such as orange soda and coca cola. They drink water, but not as much as sweet drinks such as blueberry and grape juice and orange juice. In comparison, they only drink 2.1 qt of water and over 10 qt of processed fruit-flavored sodas and juices. Also, all the products that they consume are locally and freshly produced. The only imported products that they have   are snacks, desserts and drinks.

Food and Culture Prodigy in Rutgers Preparatory School

Dear Master Zardox, 

Hereby, commander Zorgon is reporting an analysis of Rutgers Preparatory School in Planet Earth. Without further ado, based on the food and culture in RPS, I can guarantee with my life that taking over this school will be the easiest mission that we’ll ever accomplish. On the first day here, the students had burgers and fries. From these food, I learned that it is actually possible for a school cafeteria to ruined a burger. I guess it’s true, “Impossible is Nothing.” The meat patty is black, it’s completely overcooked. The so-called garden burgers were also black, they totally have a lot of courage to named that “garden” burger. I mean, RPS students were outstanding and wearing these fancy clothing, but the cafeteria failed to prepare a simple cafeteria menu, burgers. How can you expect these bright students to be the leaders of the future when you’re serving them dry and overcooked burgers?

I saw students grilled sandwiches with a paper bag. What kind of a private school requires students to grill a sandwich with a paper bag? Rutgers Preparatory School! It was the most hilarious thing ever, the paper bag got burned and everything turned out to be black. When the students were trying to take their sandwiches off the paper bag, the paper bag sticks with the sandwich and it was all a mess. It’s so sad to watch these “leaders of the future” eat at this cafeteria. However, at least they have a salad bar and some fruits. I mean, it’s not possible to messed up fresh fruits or chopped fresh vegetables. The majority of the girls ate salad and sandwich, while the boys ate the burgers and fries. I guess RPS boys don’t care much about the taste as long as there are a lot of carbs and proteins. 

The cafeteria also offers a wide assortments of drinks, such as Lemonade, Sweetened Ice Tea, Cranberry and Apple juices. Along with a dessert of marshmallow bars, I think that RPS students have an extremely sweet tooth. No wonder they’re so smart, the cafeteria also provides 2% and skim milk.

The next day, RPS totally live up to its name, Diversity. I’m not sure if there’s some kind of Cambodian or Thailand national holiday or something, but the cafeteria managed to offer Cambodian and Thailand food. There were Pad Thai, Mouan Ang and Num Chet. I don’t understand why they don’t just find an english name for it. Well, the Mouan Ang apparently was a grilled chicken. I understand they’re trying to amaze the students with fancy food, but it was an epic failure. Pad Thai is supposed to be stir-fried noodles, but instead they used rice vermicelli. When a cafeteria in a prestigious private school couldn’t even differentiate rice vermicelli and noodles, that means we need to commence a takeover as soon as possible. 

With all due respect, 

Commander Zorgon