Since I was very young, I have accumulated a great love for good tasty foods; in this essay I will be describing 3 of my best foods, and why they taste so special to me. These dishes come from different cultures, but were integrated into the common menu. I have been cooking since I was young, and have learned many different recipes that are useful when I need to cook. These three dishes are; crepes, Farfalle pasta with vegetables, and a well-cooked rack of ribs. I feel like each of the dishes have had their time to shine throughout my life as my favorite foods.

Since I was young, I would always love it when my mother would make crepes at home, where I would accompany them with some nutella or eggs. Usually when I would eat them, I would combine one sweet crepe, that probably had nutella in it, and one savory crepe that would hold an egg. Crepes are not that difficult to make, but do require various amounts of steps and equipment. 

To be able to make a crepe, you first need to make the batter - mix 500g of flour with eight eggs- you need to make a hole in the flour and add the eggs. To avoid getting egg shells in the flower, you break the eggs in a bowl first and then empty the bowl in the flour. However, if you feel confident, you may break the eggs in the bowl. Then you mix with a wooden spoon slowly in a circle to avoid making lumps. Next you add one liter of milk, again slowly to avoid lumps.  Then 100g of butter that you first melt and then pour in the batter. Lastly, add a pinch of salt and some orange zest or some fleur d’oranger which is orange blossom concentrate. 

If you have lumps you can always pour the batter into the mixer to get rid of them, and if you really want to go fast, you can do it all in the mixer right from the start. Depends if you are a purist or not! You let it set for an hour or even more if you can, and then off you go to cook them in the pans at high heat. This whole process should take up to 45 minutes, including all of the cooking with the pans. Then you are able to enjoy your crepes for around 4 days.

One of the reasons that I like this simple dish so much, is that I have had crepes made by my mother since I was a baby. Her recipe has been recycled and used by many members of my family. The delicious crepes always remind me of all of my memories of when I was younger.

Another one of my favorites is a special farfalle pasta with vegetables, coated in parmesan cheese. (The parmesan can be replaced by marinara sauce; both taste very good).  This form of pasta resembles a little bowtie, and when smoothened up with butter, becomes so easy and so nice to put in your mouth and consume. This dish is composed to be more of a tasty, but still healthy option. The combination of carbs and the vegetables create more of a varied dish. This dish is commonly served very warm, and the coat of cheese acts as a colder addition that soothes and cools the dish down. This type of dish is perfect to eat before a soccer game, because it has plenty of carbs, as well as a good source of fiber, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C.  Talking about soccer, the reason that this dish made it on my list, is that when I was still in elementary school, when I still lived in California, every time before I had a soccer game on the weekend, it was a special treat to go afterwards and eat the farfalle as a reward.

Lastly my last favorite dish would be a solid rack of ribs covered in barbeque sauce, cooked at a warm temperature, achieving nice tenderness. If this dish is made well, the ribs would slowly melt in your mouth, as they fill your mouth with the taste of that barbeque sauce inside the meat. Although this meal might not be the healthiest option to choose, if eaten occasionally it is enough to keep somebody temporarily happy (if you're having a bad day). This meal goes very well with your favorite drink. With all of the barbeque sauce, your mouth will get a little full, and a little drink would help wash it down before having another bite. The barbeque sauce needs not to be too strong, but neither too close to ketchup. 

The story behind this special food is not as exciting compared to the other two on the list, but relates to my earlier comment about this food making you happy. One weekend, I was not feeling very good, and had to go to the hospital involving a small problem in my left kidney. Unfortunately I had to stay for two nights, but when I finally was able to get back home, I was able to go to a barbeque restaurant near my house called “The Real Urban Barbeque” and I suddenly got into a very happy mood, and felt a lot better.

Out of the three choices: crêpes, farfalle pasta with vegetables coated in parmesan, and barbeque ribs, I would admit that the ribs would have to be the hardest to get done well. Ribs are a certain food that you have to get perfect timing for it to taste its best. Overall these dishes never fail to bring a smile to my face as they cause many memories from my childhood.  Nevertheless, I think these dishes will continue to be a part of my happiness. Hopefully from this little paper, you have learned a little bit about how food has integrated into my life.