Progect Space -Samuel Bermudez

Samuel Bermudez

Amy Reynolds

English 113 B

May 8, 2012

Mom’s food vs. El Pollo Loco

            For project space I decided to compare my mom’s food with the food of El Pollo Loco. What I first thought I was going to discover by comparing both sources of food is how my mom’s food is authentic Mexican food and El Pollo Loco is Americanized Mexican food. But I found much more: difference in how the food is eaten, difference in environment, and differences in emotions. It made me appreciate my culture and mother more.

            As I studied every movement my mom made to prepare her meal I discovered a lot that I didn’t before. She first started by getting all the ingredients and placing them on the kitchen table. She got chicken, carrots, onions, tomatoes and other vegetables to make caldo de pollo (chicken stew). She then called my little sister Alejandra over and asked her to chop vegetables. My mom always asks my sister to help her cook since she was small but only now did I realize why she does it. My mom doesn’t really need help in the kitchen; in fact my sister makes it more difficult for my mom because she is just horrible at chopping vegetables. Instead she invites my sister to help in order to bond with my sister as well as teach her how to cook. As my mom and sister both chop vegetables for the family stew my mom started to talk to her. They talked about school, boys, and my mom even teased my sister of how horrible her cooking is. My mom playfully told her “Hey, Mija, how is it you could get an A in geometry but not know how to chop a single carrot?” Then my sister said “then teach me.” My mom then went and held her hand and the knife and guided her to the correct way of chopping vegetables. She then told my sister to heat up tortillas on the stove and to help her make Jamaica (Mexican Drink) that complement the chicken stew ever so nicely. My mom uses our kitchen or space as much more than just a place to prepare and consume food. She also uses it as a space to teach and bond with her children. As a matter of fact, when we consumed the chicken stew as a family the majority of our time we spent conversation among each other, which made us eat our food slower and really enjoy and savor each spoon full. I felt relaxed and safe taking my time eating my meal surrounded by my family. When eating in my home I always feel happy because it’s a familiar place filled because I have lived there for so long I became accustomed to it.  

But that wasn’t the case at EL Pollo Loco. In El Pollo Loco I didn’t enjoy my food and I was not relaxed. I was in an unfamiliar space crowded with unfamiliar faces and a lot of noise, which always makes me tense and anxious, even a little stressed, I was in and out of there in about 6 minutes then I ate my meal on the way back home quickly. After finding out that eating at home made me eat slower and enjoy my food and when eating at El Pollo Loco put me in a position to eat quickly I decided to do some research on the proper speed to eat ones food and I found that according to WebMD.com “Fast eating, not just fast food, can increase the risk of acid reflux after meals, according to a new study. Researchers say people who eat their food quickly are more likely to suffer from gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD).”

            What I also found interesting was the difference in environment when it comes to my mom’s kitchen and El Pollo Loco. My mom’s kitchen is large, but very simple. There is a sink, dinner table, stove, refrigerator and cabinets. The walls are painted a warm peach color and cabinets are a wooden color, which relax your eyes. Everything from my mom’s kitchen is inviting. El Pollo Loco, on the other hand, is small and crowded with people. The walls are painted and decorated with bright red and yellow and it only has tables available for those who choose to consume their meal in the restaurant but they’re dirty and sticky from fountain drinks being spilled as well as guacamole and other salsas, the tables and chairs were uneven which would wobble every time someone sits on the chairs or rest their arms on the table, which is uncomfortable. El Pollo Loco is sending out a message by the way they’re restaurant is being arranged and that message is order your food and as soon as you get it leave to make room for the next customer and it makes sense why. Michael Pollen explains in Omnivore’s Dilemma that the food industry treats food like an assembly line and I saw that in fact, it is. We get in a line, order our food, pay for it then walk to another line wait till our food is ready and then we leave exactly like an assembly line.

            The other apparent difference was the quality of the food. For instance, my mom’s food is 100 percent authentic Mexican food and it’s filled with vegetables that were bought from El Super with chicken that was bought at a place where you pick your own chicken. Strangely my mom always picks the smallest chicken and when I asked her why she said “because the smaller ones remind me of the ones from Mexico.” My mom without even knowing it is making a healthier choice for not only her but all of our family. El Pollo Loco had the calories of each food on the menu and the calories were really high. To top it off its not traditional Mexican food at all, it’s dipped in fat and oversized, which is a concern because according to Alicia Miller author of “Why Fast Food Is Bad for You” explains that “Eating fast food more than occasionally can cause a decrease in your overall level of health and nutrition.

When comparing two spaces that involve food one can easily find out how different those spaces can be. For example my mother’s cooking and El Pollo Loco’s meal. Both are sources of Mexican food, but once one steps into the space, there are many differences and through observation that my mother’s cooking is healthier and authentic Mexican food and In El Pollo Loco you see Americanized Mexican food dip fried in a lot of oil. Observing it even closer you see a difference in everything like the environment, authenticity and your attitude in those places.

Work Cited

• "Eating Food Too Fast Speeds Acid Reflux." WebMD - Better information. Better health.. WebMD, 23 May 2003. Web. 2 May 2012.
• Miller, Alicia. "Why Fast Foods Are Bad For You | livestrong.com- Lose Weight & Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools | livestrong.com” N.p., 5 Feb. 2011. Web. 2 May 2012.