Health and Hungry College Kids (Conversation #3)

...And the food talk continues! Much to my surprise, Essa knows so much about cooking and different variations of cuisine. After we had the customary snacks of his culture last, he began to ask me about my experience with food and cooking. To my surprise, Essa said, “Do you cook?” This was music to my ears. For the first time since being on campus, someone finally mentioned food in a sense that was not referring to some complaint about the BLUU. I explained that that my tiny dorm room does not have a kitchen, so I frequently go home to see my mom and cook with her. He explained that there is no way he would live on campus seeing as there is not a kitchen in the dorms; however, I had to explain that living on campus is mandatory for my freshman self. I began to tell him all about my mom and how much she cares to instill in me the art of cooking. Before I left home, my mom said, “If there is one thing you better know before you move out of this house it is how to navigate a kitchen.” Now of course many moms want their daughters to be able cook for their families; however, when my mom says “learn to cook” she means being about to prepare family recipes without looking at a recipe sheets or needing to measure out exact ingredients. To my mom, cooking truly does come from your heart and taste buds, not instructions on a piece of paper. What fascinated me was that Essa took a similar view to my mom. Apparently, his wife is not a good cook at all. He apparently takes the reigns when it comes to preparing meals for their family. What was amazing was that Essa knew so much about cuisine from not only his own country but other countries as well. He would describe a dish to me and then explain how different cultures supplement different ingredients to prepare a similar dish. He would make variations of pasta and prepare it differently based on recipes from other cultures or various family preferences. Apparently, I should look into Egyptian food, because Essa claims it is the best cuisine around. In Saudi Arabia, they utilize sweet and sour sauce in many different forms. In a sense, sweet and sour in Saudi Arabia is the equivalent to ketchup in America. Furthermore, white rice is used on many occasions and with all types of dishes. For example, Essa explained to me how his family loves soup. When the soup has a thick consistency they poor it over rice almost as a sauce; however, when it is of a more liquid-based, they prepare it as normal. Essa mentioned his love of pastas and how he frequently cooks spaghetti for his wife and alfredo for his daughter. I got a kick out of how particular he is about certain ingredients. For example, when it comes to soup Essa prefers lentils over any other ingredient. He also lectured me for about 10 minutes on the fact that white potatoes are far better than golden potatoes. His favorite food is falafels. He claims they are “most delicious” and explained to me that they are fried and contain beans; however, in the Middle East they make it with hummus. I also caught on to the fact that he uses “kilometers” instead of miles when explaining driving distances. When he found out I was a cheerleader, he explained to me how Saudi Arabia does not have cheerleaders. I wasn’t surprised by this, because it seems as though most foreign places do not. He asked if I cheered at basketball games, because his wife has been encouraging him to attend the games. He is interested in the sports here at TCU, and said that he would like to get acclimated to the school spirit and game day atmosphere. He wasn’t sure exactly where the events took place and which types of fields were for each sport. From there I pointed out the different locations of the football stadium, the basketball coliseum, and the practice arenas. He seemed pretty interested in this, and I was excited to introduce him to the Horned Frog pride for the first time. From here our conversation turned into a nutrition lesson. I offered him some gum and he explained how gum makes him hungry and that when he chews it makes his body think that it will be getting something to eat. He told me he had a theory, so I heard him out: Health is the edge of hunger. One should not be full all the time or hungry all the time. He believes in having 2 meals a day plus snacks to keep the body thinking it is satisfied. From there, he explained fasting to me. Apparently, last year’s Ramadan was the hardest one for him. I didn’t know much about fasting, so he explained how they do not eat from sunrise to sunset. Because of last years sunset timing, it was extremely difficult as there was a longer period of time without eating. Fasting is supposed to be a time to be thankful and to sympathize with the poor. Not only does fasting consist of food withdrawal, but it is also a reflection of good behavior, tasteful music, and lifestyles of purity and obedience. Overall, our conversations always manage to revert back to food. Like momma says: people that love to eat are always the best people.