We have reached the end of 9th grade, which means that this is the last Action Project for this class, Food For Thought. In this unit, we asked ourselves, "What is the real cost of food?". We went to two places to find out an answer to this question. we visited a rooftop farm at Uncommon Grounds, which is located in Edgewater. We also visited Hyde Park to forage. This unit went by really fast. We learned about the Ayurvedic tastes (pungent, sour, sweet, bitter, salty, and astringent) and the two revolutions, the green revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. This AP is about finding the actual cost of food beyond just the price that it is listed at a restaurant. We needed to buy food from a restaurant and make our own version of the food at home, and write a review on it using words out of our comfort zone. I chose to eat a Burrito, mostly because I love them, they have always been my favorite. My parents want me to expand my food palette because I always order a burrito when I see it on the menu. The restaurant that I chose is called Zacatacos, I chose this place because they cook the meat on a grill instead of frying the meat.
Review
Restaurant: The dish looks like a big mess, ingredients here and there, the meat looks nice and charred, and the sour cream is not too thick nor is it too liquidy. The lettuce and tomatoes look fresh as if they were just cut. Can't see the cheese until you open up the tortilla. And the refried beans looked very creamy almost the same consistency as yogurt. The dish smells very delicious, with all of the ingredients mingling to make up a unique smell, a mix of a grill and dairy smell. The dish feels soft and squishy, when I bite into it, the tortilla has a crumbly texture, and it alone tastes like flour and is a bit chewy. The lettuce and tomatoes are crunchy. The beans and sour cream are somewhat creamy. The meat is chewy, which in this case is not that big of a deal mostly because of the fact that the meat was cut into small pieces. The dish tastes amazing, every taste compliments the other. The tortilla tastes like flour, it tastes good alone, and it has a little bitter taste. The lettuce and tomatoes have a fresh taste, it is almost like water. The beans have an oily taste, the sour cream has a taste that is similar to milk, and the meat has a salty and bitter taste due to the fact the meat was grilled. The charr gives it that taste of “authenticity”.
Homecooked:
The dish looks very neat, and layered, beans, lettuce/tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream, then the meat. The meat looks great, it's seared and fatty, and the sour cream is not too thick nor is it too liquidy, like mayonnaise. The lettuce and tomatoes are as fresh as they could be. And the refried beans looked very rich and lardy. The dish smells very satisfying and citrusy, with all of the ingredients coming together to make up a weird and unexplainable smell, a mix of oil, spices, and lime. The dish feels soft and squishy, when I bite into it, the tortilla has a flaky texture, and it alone tastes like flour and is a bit chewy. The lettuce and tomatoes are crunchy. The beans and sour cream are equally as creamy. The meat is soft to bite through and is chewy once you start to chew it. My hands got all greasy when I started to eat it because I don’t know how to fold the tortilla, it kept falling apart as opposed to the restaurant, which stayed together, almost like they used glue to hold it together. The dish tastes amazing, every taste compliments the other. The tortilla tastes like flour, it tastes good alone, and it has a little bitter taste. The lettuce and tomatoes have a fresh taste, it is almost like water. The beans have an oily taste, the sour cream has a taste that is similar to milk, and the meat has a sour and pungent taste due to the fact the meat has some spices and was soaked in lime.
Comparison: I would prefer the homemade meal because I'm able to enjoy the cooking as well as eating. it is all part of the experience. There is more of a connection to the food when you cook it in my opinion, you should cook the food at home than going to a restaurant and ordering and then waiting a little while. The biggest difference between the two is the connections that you have with the food. There is more of a connection with the food when you cook it, meanwhile, at a restaurant, all you do is get there and look at the menu, then order, wait a while, and scroll through your phone. Then the food gets there and you try it and you don’t like it, then you complain about it, while at home you can cook it to our preference. I would recommend both of these dishes, not only because I made one of them, but because it is good and savory. And if you like good and savory foods, well these are the right choices for you. I would say that if you are looking for an “authentic” take on the Burrito, then you should head over to Zacatacos. I would also tell them to order Agua de Horchata (rice water) because it compliments the Burrito beautifully, with its sweet taste of vanilla and its pungent taste of cinnamon accompanying a delicious Burrito de carne asada.
Connections: I would connect the burrito to Grains to refined (one of Michael Pollan's 5 food transformations) because the tortilla of the burrito is made of flour and flour used to be made of whole grains, but since the grain roller was made during the industrial revolution, flour has been made to be extremely refined
