Cooking with Carrillo

THE VIDEOS ABOVE should be watched from right to left. I thank Luis Carrillo, my sisters husband, for sharing his thoughts on what he considers to be the role of food in the Mexican culture, along with sharing his ceviche recipe!

The most important thing to take out of this video is that Mexican food can be flavored to preference. Luis likes food with lots of lime and food that is really spicy. But, like he said, it is a recipe "Carrillo style." Also, Luis mentions many of the ideas I have explored in my posts, such as how food creates family bondage. This bondage then further allows one to pick up on and pass the "seasoning," which allows us to keep the traditions going.

As Luis mentioned, he picked up this "seasoning" when he went to college and realized, "I had to learn how to cook." Like he himself agrees, in a Mexican family, males typically grow up with a machismo attitude (believe that females are to take care of the cooking, cleaning, and the family). Notice the shy smile on his face when he mentions "machismo."

Also, you might notice and question when Luis says "add a little bit of salt, " or add "probably like 3 cups of water." In a Mexican kitchen, the amount of salt, water, pepper, garlic, or the correct amount of flour that goes into a dish is most likely always guessed. You will also come to realize that the omissions and additions of ingredients in his families recipes came after his mom was diagnosed with diabetes. Thus, it is important to consider that health issues have required changes in diet for many members of my family.