Chloe wrote about peeling fruits and vegetables, which reminded me of Alicia. I know that in some countries it's wise to peel fruits and vegetables because the quality of the tap water that's used to wash them is in question. But that's not an issue in Spain (Alicia always drank tap water here because the bottled water was too cold). Steve usually leaves the potato skin on when he makes fried potatoes or french fries. I noticed Alicia cutting off the skin on the end of her french fries one night (which indicates that she was using a knife and fork to eat the fries), but I didn't ask about it. Then we went to Jack in the Box and she pinched off the ends of the fries with the skin on them. I mentioned that Jack in the Box had recently changed their procedure and now included the skin on their fries, and had built a couple of TV commercials around that development. She said probably because it's cheaper and easier. No, the part that gets peeled off has the most nutrients (a wash, I'm guessing, when they come out of the deep fryer, and it probably is cheaper and easier, but that was contrary to my point so I dismissed it) and that lots of people like the flavor. I don't think she bought it.
Likewise, one day I grabbed a piece of string cheese to eat in the car. She said her mother would never buy that kind of food (that sounds kind of snotty, but she was never anything but polite). Why? Because it's not fresh (isn't freshness sort of a bad thing in the aged-cheese business?). I said that it was just cheese - not a pasteurized processed cheese-like substance - in a handy portable wrapper that enabled me to eat a little protein on the run. I very nearly got mildly indignant because I don't eat that crap, either (although I'm happy to eat many other kinds of crap).
And, when Chloe first got there Ana had bought fresh green beans. Chloe loves raw green beans (but hates them cooked), and so washed a handful and ate them. They were appalled and worried that she was going to get sick from eating raw vegetables. It's hard to know what are cultural differences and what are personal differences.
Comments