Andrea Lopez Labrador

Professor Lacey
English Composition 111
September 16, 2019

Magic Words and Spanish Food

“Let’s eat!” Those two words sounded like magic from my mother’s mouth. Nothing else

was needed for all the people in the house to leave what they were doing and sit at the table.

It was never a planned menu since we have never been the type of family to mark dates

such as “ Friday night pizza” or “Sunday family meal.”, At home, we intuit what was for dinner

by the smell that came from the kitchen.

There were only two things that were always the same, the places at the table and the salad

in the center. Was like if each chair had our name. I was in the front on the table, the best place to

watch TV. My mom at my right, because is the closest place to go to the kitchen and my mom

always forgot something there. My grandma at my left, because she does not need to go to the
kitchen and this is the place with most space on the table. I can watch the TV on those occasions,

but I prefer to listen to my grandma and her stories, which are always so interesting.

The second thing is always there is the salad with tomato, olives and lettuce, essential

ingredients in the center of the table. Depending on the day and the time of the year, it was
accompanied by one or other ingredients: the classic Mediterranean salad in cold seasons,

although it was such a typical dish that you could find it at any time of the year. That salad is

formed by the indispensable ones (lettuce, tomato, olives) and could include items such as
carrots, onions, and corn along with a special vinaigrette that we bought at the supermarket. In

hot seasons, like summer, more typical were pasta or lentil salads, since my mother makes these

salads while resting them in the fridge and they always have a cool point that is appreciated
when it is very hot. These could add corn, onion, carrot, crab, boiled egg and a soft delicious

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cocktail sauce. And in these, you also ended up finding the indispensable (tomato, olives, and

lettuce). The salad can never be missing in the center of the table in my house as if it were

somehow our tradition. Since my mother always says that it is important to eat vegetables every
day and it was the only way for me to eat vegetables when I was younger.

I have never liked green foods much, but I love salad and, for my mother, while eating

something healthy, it was enough for her. So I think that I am the reason for the tradition of

always putting a salad on the table.

Always arriving at the table, before sitting down, I used to ask: -“What about breastfeeding
today?” I knew perfectly well that two possible answers could have been: The first one, she tells

me exactly the dishes I had prepared, or the second option, his subtle response of “A very good

thing” followed by a mischievous smile, as if he were seeing her right now.

This second possible answer meant that there was a 99% chance that the menu of the day
would include dishes not especially to my liking. But for these occasions, my savior appeared,

my dear grandmother.

When I encountered this most unpleasant menu, I knew that my grandmother would reward

that bad taste in my mouth. With just one look my grandmother and I understood each other, we
have never needed words to know what we thought or what we wanted to say. I have always had

a special connection with my grandmother, it has always given me the feeling that she protects

me, as if I were her favorite. Maybe it's because I'm the last granddaughter she has had, I'm the
little girl in the family and maybe that's why she protects me more than others.

But even so, the relationship we have goes beyond that. With a look, we understand each

other, with an expression on his face he perfectly knows what he feels at that moment, or what

goes through his mind. Sometimes we even talk at the same time and say exactly the same. I
adore my grandmother, and not only because she is my only grandmother and the best cook on

the planet, but because she is a special person in every way, affectionate, funny, affable, tender

and very wise.

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 And well, returning to the menu and the main theme, she knew what to do or rather that

cooking to take that anger out (because I always beat myself with food): cooking her star dish for

dinner, potato omelette.

My grandmother never needed helpers in the kitchen, and she liked to teach me how to
cook the dishes she did as she did before with my mother. The clothes he wore were always

different, so I imagine he didn't follow a custom to cook with certain clothes. The only thing that

always did exactly the same was the process of cooking your special tortilla.

When she made potato tortillas, she sat on the sofa two hours before making the tortilla and
while watching the news, she took a potato peeler and began to peel 4 to 5 potatoes (the largest

ones there were). He cut them into semicircular slices. When he had already accumulated the 5

potatoes, he went to the kitchen, took the largest pan, sprinkled it with olive oil and let it heat for
2 minutes. Then, put the potatoes to fry, and in the meantime, beat the eggs. He used to use 3 to 4

eggs (he always liked the tortilla to be bigger than small). When the potatoes began to look

toasted, add the eggs to the pan and cover for 5 minutes.

After five minutes, he took a plate, and with a subtle movement of the wrist, he turned the
tortilla around and left it frying for a few more minutes.

I loved (and I still love) to see how my grandmother cyclists, to see the passing of the years

on her skin and her same vitality and happiness when doing her dishes that 15 years ago. It

seems that time only passes in it physically because its vitality remains the same as always and
that is why I admire it so much.

After a few minutes, I was ready! The best dish in the world just in time for dinner.

This dish was always accompanied by other Spanish food at the table: you could find bread
with tomato, oil and salt, serrano ham along with other Iberian sausages, gazpacho, olives, and of

course the salad in the center of the table.

So I wanted to hear the magic words and run to the table, chat with my mother and

grandmother, gather the 3 generations in one place enjoying something as beautiful as joining
food and family and create memorable magical moments.

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 Grade: C

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