Culture vs Meat and Potatoes

Ana Berry, America’s Gypsy, interviews a “meat and potatoe” eating guy from the Bronx about how learning more about cultures has changed his palate.

Ana

Greetings Mr. Penasso, may I call you G?

Giuseppe

Yes

Ana

I would like to ask you a few questions regarding how learning more about culture has changed your eating habits and your palate.

First of all, where are you from?

Giuseppe

I am from the Bronx of Irish and Italian descent

Ana

And would you call yourself a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy?

Giuseppe

yes you could say that

Ana

What would you typically eat growing up in the Bronx?

Giuseppe

Steaks, pizza, sausage, pasta, pork chops, bacon

Ana

and was Italian style cooking the norm or was it more All American meaning fast food and what ever was cheapest?

Giuseppe

A little of both. after school my grandmother would always get me happy meals as a child, but at home we would eat the some pasta  but lots of steaks and other meat

Ana

What was the most "exotic" thing you ate growing up? Something you thought was strange, foreign or weird?

Giuseppe

Olives and salad !! :-):-) I never acquired a taste for them and they always seemed too colorful for me to eat.

Ana

and what cultures have you been recently introduced to?

Giuseppe

I have recently been introduced to the Middle Eastern, Thai, Russian and Indian cultures

Ana

and can you name some of the new foods you have been eating that are of these cultures?

Giuseppe

Well most of them I can barely pronounce and spell but I do like hummus, babagonoush, Falafels, Pad Thai,  Perogies, herbal tea,  pickled cucumbers, samosas and the curries of Indian food

Ana

And has your palate changed since you started eating these foods? Meaning, are you craving more cultural foods now instead of Happy Meals?

Giuseppe

Most definitely! I now prefer to have colorful salads or spicey noodle dishes over fast food and steaks. I have started to love the experience of learning the way other cultures sautee, cook and serve their food, and especially in the atmospheric settings in their restaurants.

Ana

And since being introduced to these foreign foods have you learned certain things about their culture, why they are they way they are, what their country might be like ...etc?

Giuseppe

Yes I have! And it has sparked some serious curiosity that I never knew I had. I see how the Indian spices come from the certain climates in their native lands and how colorful their food is, similar to their clothes and cultural deities. Thai food is amazing with all of its fruits and spicy dishes, totally beats Chinese take out where I would just get a beef dish. And Middle Eastern foods at first were strange because they didn’t eat with a fork alot, they dipped the bread into all these sauces and now I love that. But I can see how the Arabian people, who for many years were nomads in the desert, would make sustainable bread and use that as a fork. It makes sense.

Ana

What are some other cultural foods you want to try next?

Giuseppe

I would love to try the foods from Uzbekistan and the surrounding areas, especially Persian food from Iran. Also Brazilian food sounds fun and exotic.

Ana

Thank you, G and I wish you many good meals around the world!