Pork Gisantes Draft

Living in an americanized 'filipino' home, is different than your usually traditional ways. Your meals aren't all filipino foods and your parents probably don't know how to speak the language. It doesn't change the fact that you're filipino and neither does change the fact that you're proud of your culture, heritage and nationality.

My nostrils fill with the sweet aroma of boiling tomato sauce and thats when I instantly start jumping up and down on the inside. The famous smell of freshly cut meat and boiling tomatoes, tell me that the classic Giantess is being prepared. I constantly walk in and out of the kitchen, just to peek at the majestic food right in front of me. All the scents of the ingredients, meats and vegetables, fill the house and create a trail all the way to my doorway. My dad kindly asks me to bring out the green peas from the refrigerator and I feel the icicled bag melt as it reaches the warmth of my hands. Its the little things that are imprinted in my memories and events while making Pork Gisantes.

I ask my dad, "What makes this dish so special to you? Do you have any special memories with it?" He replies, "Yes, special memories I have with it is that whenever my parents went to the pig farm for meat, they usually made 2 traditional dishes. One of those dishes were Pork Gisantes." As I sit there, my heart melts in the fact that this dish really means a lot to my Dad. As well as for me. This food reminds me of moments when I was in Virginia with my two elderly Grandparents. When my Mama would prepare the dish for my gigantic family of about 50 people, everyone went crazy for it, eating as if we've been starving for weeks. Thats just our immediate family! It also brings back memories of the one time all of my dads siblings and their families were together in Virginia, all 11 of them. It was an unforgettable and it was also the first time our whole family was together and complete.

Patiently waiting for the Gisantes to finish, I think a lot about the background and even about how my dad may be feelings. He looks so happy and proud to be making it, that I ask him, "Dad, how do you feel while making this"And once more, his responses touch me. "It always brings me back to the days growing up and it reminds me of my mom and dad" Its a bittersweet feeling while we prepare and even consume the dish. Having my Mama and Papa so far away, is really devastating. Every chance we get to go there, I cherish every single moment and second I can with them. And even though I wish I could fly over seas in few seconds, or teleport to them; eating Gisantes makes things just a bit more easier, for not only me, but for my family to accept. 

Roots & Recipe Brainstorm

1.  The food I will be describing is a very popular Filipino dish. It is called Pork Gisantes. It's usually at every single Filipino party you go to and it's kind of a family tradition for it to be there. This dish isn't there at all of our 'immediate family gatherings' because we're more Americanized Filipinos. Immediate family, as in my dad’s siblings and their families. Although, when we go to parties with people I don't even know, in other words, extended family gatherings, they always have this dish prepared!

2.      Some special memories this food has for me is that its originally my grandmas recipe. Making Pork Gisantes is pretty much the same steps and directions for any Filipino family that makes it. Although, there are many things you can do to make it different from others. I have memories of learning how to make our families’ recipe with my dad and also eating it with my family. The most special memories I have with this food, is eating gisantes with my grandparents in Virginia. 

3.  Some sensory details I could use are, “My nostrils fill with the sweet smell of boiling tomato sauce and that’s when I know my dad is making our classic gistantes – pork and peas ”. Also, “As my dad tells me to bring out the green peas, I feel the icicled bag melt as it reaches the warm of my hands.” Little detailed expressions like these will really put the reader into the story!

4.  For this food, I will be interviewing my dad. Part of the reason because I have easy access to speaking to him about this dish. Most importantly though, because my grandma is his mom on his side.