Author Archives: Matthew

The podcast talks about a new kind of chicken meat that doesn’t come from chickens living on farms, but from science labs where scientists grow meat from chicken cells. This is cool because it means we might not have to raise and use so many animals for food, which can be better for the planet and nicer for the animals. The people in the podcast visited places where they’re working on making this lab grown chicken and talked about how it’s made, how it tastes, and how it might be good for the Earth. They also talked about the problems they have to solve before everyone can buy this meat, like making enough of it and not making it too expensive. I think friends my age would like this podcast because it’s about a new way to make food that’s like something from a science fiction movie. It makes you think about how we can eat in a way that’s good for the environment and animals. Plus, it’s interesting to learn how scientists are working on turning something from an idea into something we might actually eat for dinner one day.

This extraordinary piece of condiment can go with almost any meal. This changed my life for the better. From only eating rice with meat or chicken with veggies to spaghetti with meatballs, you can literally put this on any dish besides sweets. The spiciness and overall flavor that this adds to the meal is enlightened and can bring joy to anyone that seeks upon it. I literally can’t have my meals without it. Imagine having a full course meal to miss the one thing that you really bring it all together. Just getting the rice out of the pots to cutting the veggies and serving yourself some ground beef. To sit down and find the best possible youtube video to go with it, you just cannot miss it. The sauce brings a pleasure to my mind especially when there is a good video playing. The history behind the sauce is that it was first developed in the 1940s by a Thai woman named Thanom Chakkapak in the town of Si Racha Thailand. I first came across it from my friend’s house that I went to one time. I saw him eating it with his meal and was just curious about that sauce since I’ve never tried or seen it before. I am usually not really open to try new things and stick to the same meals I’ve always had in my life, this was something different. It sort of added an element to my meal that it didn’t have before. It made the chicken my mom made taste that much better whether it was with black beans with rice, yellow rice or brown rice. Hot sauce is more than just a condiment to me. It’s like a way of life. The anticipation of flavor to the heat that it brings to your mouth, to the satisfaction of the meal gradually increases the more you eat. This sauce opened me up to try new things in the world and to consider which I’d probably never looked over before. On the weekends is when I look forward to it the most. Where my mom makes the food fresh and not refrigerated like how it is on the weekdays when my mom puts it in the container. Even on the weekdays rather than spending money to get food at school, sometimes I look forward to just eating my moms food with this sauce that just makes it worth waiting a while to get home.

The meal that my mom would always make for me until this day is rice and ground beef mixed with vegetables all the time since I was little. She would make black beans with rice, yellow rice or brown rice. Always in that same rotation. She would also mix it up with either sweet plantain or tostones which would always add to the rice even more. She always added this sazon goya seasoning to the meat which made it taste that much better.  She also got this cheese called Queso de hoja which she would always get when she went to the Dominican Republic from my aunt every year. I would always enjoy that on the side or as a snack because I always had it when my mom used to take me there almost every year when I was younger. Especially when it is deep fried it probably is one of the best snacks I’ve ever had. Even though my moms family didn’t have much over there they always showed me a good time and the food that they served was always good.

 My name is Matthew Camilletti and I am an undergraduate at Baruch college. My mom is from the Dominican Republic and my dad is Italian but born in the United States. I was born and raised in Queens Jackson Heights and moved to Fresh Meadows when my little brother was born. I have two brothers and one of them is a year younger and the other is my fraternal twin (I am one minute older). I enjoy playing sports like basketball, pool, and video games and recently started playing the guitar. I go and play pool every other weekend with my friends and also play some video games like Mortal Kombat and Call of Duty. I also go on car rides occasionally with my friends going to some random places. One of the most memorable places that I went to was this place in Fort Totten park that was an abandoned civil war fortress. There isn’t anyone allowed to be there but we snuck our way in. Even though we did get caught it was probably one of the best places my friends ever been to. I also enjoy going to the gym and try to consistently work out in the early morning 4 to 5 days a week. Some favorite foods that I enjoy are my moms brown rice and ground beef with some broccoli or some spaghetti and meatballs and pizza. I could try new things but I prefer to just enjoy the foods I currently like. I am also in a club currently called the American Marketing Association where I make weekly newsletters to send out and also incorporate some of the writing on their website. I also like listening to music artists like Bryson Tiller, Drake, etc. Over the next couple of years at Baruch I hope to make connections that will help me decide my future in marketing. Here is a picture of the time I went to the abandoned civil fortress with my friends.