In the beginning....

In the beginning...

Why does a person take that first bite of something spicy?. Was it an accident, on purpose, a part of what the family is eating? When was my first experience of eating something Hot? I truly can not remember as a young child as being scared of something hot. Spicy food is different spicy food to me means flavor not hot. I do remember having a spaghetti dinner with my Mother and her then boy friend really liked Hot food and made a pot of spaghetti sauce that I remember to this day. My anticipation of the first bite as the rest of the family was commenting on and how spicy it was not ever saying it was OMG this is going to melt your face off.. Thats was how hot I thought it was. But even with that I finished my plate, sweating mouth throbbing and stomach full of water. I was satisfied. Satisfied with the burn, the feeling I had the accomplishment to having finished what most of the adults could not. I was unknowingly caught in a lifetime of searching for a feeling in all the other meals I would have from then on. Satisfaction. A complete feeling that at the end of that meal was pure happiness  The unknowingly pursuit of endorphin's that are only released with Hot and Spicy foods. This is different than the feeling of having to eat for satisfying hunger.

This endorphin rush was what I was looking for. Looking at each meal for the feeling of completeness. Not to just satisfy a hunger but to satisfy the soul. I didn't know I was looking for Hot as a child. I didn't know I was looking for it as an adult. But now cooking as an adult I see how my Family has lead me to how I cook today. I grew up in a Spanish/Latino family and was always exposed to spicy foods but not always hot. And I do see the coloration to staying with my Grandmother a lot of my childhood has shown me the way I cook now and the search for that happiness that came when I ate my Grandmothers cooking.