Author Archives: DAVID TAVERAS

The tea was very unique, lots of different flavors and flowers.

Following the recent acceptance of chicken bred in a lab in the United States, the show talked about the science behind the process of making meat from animal cells and looked into the problems that come with trying to lower the cost. However, there are still problems that need to be solved before this can completely change the way we think about sustainability and animal care. This podcast makes me think about the future of meat in interesting ways that make me wonder what kinds of lab-grown steaks we might be cooking in a few years. I will definitely recommend it to my students who are interested in food technology.

Think about a time when the taste of a food reminded you of a whole experience. The nostalgic memory of a time that long ago when life was stress-free. While I cannot bring you back to your own memory, I will take you to one of mine. But before we go on a trip in memory lane, we need food to open the doors.

Let us go to the kitchen and open the fridge. Take notes on the foil container that is all busted up from when we ripped it open using our primal instincts to just get a taste. As we open the lid, we see 3/5 of a Quesillo with sugary slices of pineapple and cherries in the middle. We could be civil people and cut it for a plate, but there is nothing nostalgic about that. So, grab a spoon and get the biggest piece you can. Get ready, because as the smell enters your nostrils, into your brain where it gets transferred by Serotonin into endorphins the taste is 100 times better. As you slam your teeth into it slows down completely engulfing your brain into nirvana, we finally get taken back to 2016 when we first tried it.

I would be sitting right there, at the end of the dining table when people were yelling at old men on the TV.I would ignore all the banter about politics and just focus on how I am going to obtain the latest enchantment book in Minecraft, mending all my weapons and armor. After the yelling, came my aunt with a brand-new recipe, Quesillo (Venezuelan flan). My family just called it Flan, though I remember not hating but not liking Flan, when she opened the lid I fell i love. The bubbly texture, the spongey feel, the amount of sugar coating on the pineapple splice, and of course how could forget the cherry literally on top. It was a match made in heaven. Nothing in the world mattered in the 5 seconds the small piece of it lasted, not the reports of nuclear testing, not the conflicting ideals of exiting a union, not a world-famous play first starting, nothing. And what’s better than first trying something? Having it the next day all to yourself. It would take me approximately 12 minutes and 45 seconds to finish half of the entire thing, while I did get into trouble you better believe it was worth it.

As we crumble up the lid and throw up the empty container the doors of memory appear again as if it was waiting for our return. We walk back to the door into our empty apartment with an amazing memory with us for the rest of the day, totally not lined with a bunch of political agendas that may or may not still be a thing today.

It would be a cold morning in August where I would receive a message about a coffee shop that serves cups of iced or hot drinks for only 2.50. I thought finally a source of warmth that didn’t cost an arm or leg, but I doubted it. I tried it on this cold morning which proved to be a dull drink that was cheap. Months go by and I think back to the idea of that coffee shop, maybe if I can find ” the one” I will finally have good mornings. After another cold month of trying different drinks, I decided I would try a hot chai latte with half and half. The second the spice of chai mixed with the thickness of half and half with the taste of cream, I knew I found the one. This discovery shaped my cold commutes into warm mornings. it wasn’t long before I found an option to add additional shots of flavor to the drink, it would take 2 and a half weeks for me to go through all the flavor shots. Sometimes two separate cups every two days a week I would add and enjoy Vanilla, Hazelnut, Caramel, French Vanilla, Sugar-Free Vanilla, pumpkin, chocolate, and strawberry Syrup(in order of most to least favorite). I have it almost every day and yet it still never gets old, like if it was the same morning i first found it.