By DINA ARÉVALO
Port Isabel-South Padre Press
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com
Caldo weather. Hoodie weather. Read a good book weather. Sleep in weather. Hot chocolate weather.
We’re almost there, and I can’t wait. Wednesday morning brought with it some light rain and a pleasantly fresh breeze. No longer did the air caressing my skin feel like the wave of warmth that comes when you open the oven door to check on the cupcakes you’re baking. No longer did it feel like I was one of those cupcakes baking in the oven as I stepped into my car.
Granted, as the day progressed, so, too did the mercury in the thermometer. It’s still pretty warm during the day, but the mornings and evenings? Those are finally beginning to cool off.
It’s when the moderate morning temperatures linger long past noon that my mom starts talking about “caldo weather.” And, like her, it’s on those days where I start craving a steaming bowl of hearty caldo de res or caldo de pollo.
I’m a firm believer in the power of food to foster peace and cultural awareness. You can tell a lot about where a person comes from, what’s important to them, by the foods they eat. And caldo is one of those foods that serves as a perfect conversation starter. Why? Because everyone and every culture understands the concept of soup, but not all soups are the same.
Back when I was in college, the weather had turned cooler one day just like today. And, as usual, I got a craving for my mom’s caldo, so I decided to throw together a pot. My roommate, a friendly girl from Kansas, happened to walk in just as I was tossing all the vegetables into the bubbling broth. She asked what I was making and I told her “caldo de pollo.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Chicken soup,” I said, tossing in chunks of potatoes, and calabasa squash and cabbage.
Her eyebrows went up as she saw the cabbage go in. “You put cabbage in your soup?” she asked, to which I replied yes.
Thus began a conversation about the ingredients that go into making caldo de pollo (and similarly, caldo de res). It’s a bit of a jack-of-all trades soup, I explained. You put in whatever vegetables you have. The Latino flavor comes from the cilantro. It’s a one-pot meal where a lot of people can be fed well for not a lot of money. It was a staple in my house growing up.
When my second grade teacher asked us to fill out a worksheet listing our favorite things, such as colors, sports teams, and foods I chose chicken soup. Everyone else wrote in pizza or hamburgers. As you can tell, I’ve always loved caldo.
So there we were, my roommate and I, as I stirred the simmering pot and having a conversation about the soups our mothers made when we were children. Not long after, we sat down at the table together where she was able to taste a little bit of what the idea of “home” meant to me.
Has food ever served as a bonding experience in your life? Let us know online at www.portisabelsouthpadre.com.
Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
Comments