Essay 1 (Revision)
After catching a whiff of the irresistible scent of a steaming Chicken Bowl in front of your face and topping off this masterpiece with the tangy yet sweet seafood sauce, the art of restraint becomes nearly impossible. Mounds of fresh, crisp vegetables ranging from onions to broccoli to mushrooms are the first ingredients to meet the eye with juicy pieces of grilled, teriyaki style chicken ever so slightly protruding from the heap of vegetables that blankets the remainder of the bowl. Once the sauces have slowly seeped across the bowl’s contents, the entrée is ready for consumption The mixture of sauces, soy, teriyaki, and seafood, is the key component to this meal found at the local sensation Street Café in Montgomery, Alabama because of the creamy texture that merges with the freshly grilled taste of chicken, vegetables, and fried rice. This taste sensation is loaded with essentials to everyday life, mixed vegetables, the sustenance that you need to make it through the day, mouth-watering chicken, and a true staple in the lives of people around the world, rice.
A true Chicken Bowl connoisseur, like myself, will stir up this array of chicken, rice, and vegetables before inhaling the tasty goodness. I feel that this combination of scrumptious ingredients jumbled into one is an allegory to myself in that there are many personalities and characteristics to myself conjoined and living inside of me. As in the chicken bowl, there are both sweet and salty sides to myself as a person, areas in which I am happy with but also those areas, which reside in everyone, which I wish to improve upon. While this Chicken Bowl that I am so fond of is found at a restaurant, the origin of my love for this fusion of tastes comes from my mother and the same meal that she once cooked as many as twice a week for my family. My love for this food began long before I discovered Street Café and the fondness that I feel for this oriental cuisine is shared by every member of my immediate family. The euphoria that I feel for this perfect blend of chicken and vegetables cannot be found for any other meal and I believe that this mixture is a true symbol of the multiple characteristics that can be found in myself.
My grandmother, one of the most amazing cooks that I know, started a certain tradition many years back; an eating tradition that runs throughout our family to this day. While you will probably assume, as I did when first learning of this get together, that my grandmother would be preparing her most extraordinary three course meal for the entire family, that is not the case. “Bet Bet”, as family members know her, suggested that whenever any of our many family members from all across the country get together in Montgomery that they would be treated to dinner at one of the most popular oriental restaurants in Montgomery, Peking Palace. While my mother was the cook that got me hooked on this delicious cuisine, the love for oriental food stretches wider than solely in myself. My entire family, without knowing, has taken part in delivering me to this incredible meal. The Chicken Bowl, which I am so fond of, is only a single dish of so many that has been shared with my family.
This love of oriental food serves as a reminder of family to me, not only because of the many times in which my mother, father, brother, and I have enjoyed meals at Street Café, but also the countless meals that my cousins and uncles and aunts have joined in eating these delicious dishes. One of the most vivid memories that I have of partaking in a meal of this sort with my family is on my grandfather’s 70th birthday. My grandfather, or “Papa”, is as big a fan of this cuisine as I am and when told he would choose where all 19 family members would join to eat, his choice was simple, Peking Palace. We all gathered to celebrate my grandfather’s birthday and as an added bonus, got to eat this delicious oriental meal. The best part about getting together with the entire family to eat these meals is that as a rule, everyone orders a different entrée and we mix and match all different foods. These meals not only bring out good times with the family, but more importantly serve as memories that I will never forget.
Whether the occasion calls for take-out or a sit down meal at a random Japanese or Chinese grill house, these dinners remind me of my family and the many get-togethers that have been had. Because my family is strewn over the country, from Georgia to Vermont and back to Alabama, each time I partake in devouring a meal of this sort it reminds me of those special, yet few times a year I am able to enjoy these meals in the company of my family. This cuisine serves as a way of bringing my family together and I feel that there is no better way of enjoying the bonding that takes place when my family gets together than over a deliciously filling Chicken Bowl.
While the Chicken Bowl serves as a reminder of family and bonding, it more so serves as an allegory into my life and my personality. I am one of the most laid back and shy people that I know, but this Bowl and I share many similarities. While I am the quiet, reserved kid that most know, there are many personalities and characteristics to myself that only my friends and family know are present within me. Like the Chicken Bowl, covered to the brim with steaming vegetables, the best parts of myself are buried underneath the surface, and unless you choose to stir this bowl up you may never experience every personality that I contain. To reach the most crucial and delicious ingredient of the Chicken Bowl, the chicken, you must dive into the Bowl and search to find the chicken. I feel that I am the same way in that while it is fairly easy to reach those sides of me that I choose not to show to anyone and everyone, a layer of shyness covers me. This outer shell, like the scrumptious vegetables, is a sort of protective layer, but it is a layer that I feel is respectful and sincere. This outer personality of me, the one that anyone that does not know me sees, is only the tip of what I have to offer as a person.
Like the Chicken Bowl, the most enjoyable part to the meal, in most people’s eyes, is the mix of chicken, rice, and sauces. I believe that my many changing personalities reflect the Bowl in that once you have penetrated the surface, you come to find the true goodness of myself and the outgoing and wild, yet still respectful person that I am. This cuisine offers true insight into the person that I am mainly because of the many delicious components in the Chicken Bowl translating into the many hidden characteristics that I contain. Without this delicious meal in my life and the love for oriental food that has grown in me because of it, I am not sure that I could survive alone cooking my own boring dinners. The relationship that I now share with this Chicken Bowl has given me not only insight into the person that I am, but has also provided me with countless memories of my family. The Chicken Bowl will forever have a loving place in my heart and will someday teach me to how to break free of the layer of vegetables and step outside of the comfort zone that has covered me for so long.
