Food Processing

Undisputed, eating is a universal experience. However, the human species has separated itself in that it is accustomed to eating for its sensual capability in addition to survival. As humans, we cook, spice, prepare and taste food similar to an art form and hold food in our hearts as a symbol of love. Food is gatherings, it is family, it is culture, it is memory and mostly it is who we are. Gary Cela, one of our very own college foodies here at Chapel Hill, is no exception. If we look into his life history, we can string along his memories encompassing the overall argument; food doesn’t satisfy unless you appreciate the processes involved in enjoying food. Aside from the biological function, sharing the processes of food indulgence has shaped Gary’s identity, value and personality traits.

When looking back on family dinners, you can’t remember the exact taste of the food on your tongue. Instead you remember the taste in context to what you may have been saying or doing at the time. We really only remember food tasting good if we remember exclaiming out loud “this food is delicious” because in that moment in time the circumstances make it so. Since we remember mostly what we value, it is clear that the mere enjoyment of food but the encompassing surroundings that are connected to it. This idea holds true for Gary Cela. He describes one of his fondest family memories as being surrounded by his large family in Albania. He was born and raised there until he was eight. Although Gary has lived longer in North Carolina and identifies more as an American, he misses Albania and family there. Gary visited two years ago and plans to reunite again this coming year. He is excited to return again, not just looking forward to the delicious food indigenous to the region, but as a time to share with family around the table. Tavë kosi never tasted as good as when Gary is catching up, listening to family stories or just sharing laughs at mealtime. Since Gary doesn’t get much time to spend with his family abroad, these meals shared with them are especially significant in they are a permanent fixture in his memory. These meals may seem trivial on a day to day basis, but they are highly valued pieces of cultural identity, beliefs, and traditions being passed on to Gary so that he may preserve these mannerisms and attributes to the next generation of Celas.

Besides eating surroundings, the process of cooking also presents itself as a major factor in the enjoyment of food. Gary cooks at home with his mom for holiday celebrations with family friends. This differs from the large family setting in that it is more direct and intimate process. He describes the foods that he and his mom prepare together as typically traditional; turkey for Thanksgiving, ham for Christmas. They always experiment while cooking, throwing recipe constraints to the wind and joking around the kitchen while chopping carrots or stuffing turkeys. This warm and fun procedure indicates and emphasizes the importance of personalizing dishes to Gary and his mom. A guest knows that the dish made is their interpretation of dinner and was made with lots of love. At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter how the food tastes, what matters is how it got on the table. This easy going and loving sentiment seen in the cooking process is prevalent in Gary’s nature. He seems to always have a smile and is very calm in dealing with what could be high stress situations.

We can also look at bonding as a process of enjoying food specifically in his home town in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This area is known as a tourist hotspot for its beauty and variety. The Outer Banks website boasts Kill Devil Hills’ has it all; with an array of from fast food and fine dining, eateries range from Italian to Thai. Gary attests to this claim and even points out one of the best being a Mexican Grill, Fogata. He goes here often with friends to hang out and grab a bite to eat without having to spend a fortune. They spend a lot of time talking on just about anything and everything outside of studies, developing a strong bond that food seems to ease into. It is evident that his friends from home really miss meeting up with him outside of school as equally as he misses them. Gary has strong friendships that will last and are sure to meet up again at Fogata for bean burrito hang outs. His bonding experiences here have created his own tradition with friends as a different approach to enjoying food.

As a first year student Gary is also presented to a vast freedom of choices to define himself. Just in looking at the kind of food choices he makes, we can tell a lot about Gary’s personality. He recalls the best food he ever ate was a banana pudding milkshake and cheesy fries from his Cookout experience with his friend Shane. This experience not only displays the freedom to experiment beyond conventional borders also tells us something about Gary’s willingness to take risks. Gary is a guy of many thoughts and is not intimidated by challenge as displayed through his favorite books and movies. Ayn Rand and Inception don’t reflect conventional thinking by any means and require a bright minded audience to achieve full appreciation. Also, this experience with food displays Gary’s bold nature and willingness to take risks. As he always says, “You gotta risk it to get the biscuit.” Not too far off from the courageous food guru himself, Anthony Bourdain who says, “I have long believed that good food, good eating is all about risk. Whether we’re talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime ‘associates,’ food, for me, has always been an adventure.”

Gary’s experiences of the different processes attributed to food enjoyment reflect a lot about him. Looking at his memory, traditions and experiences with food, all point back to the start that food plays a larger role than nourishment and in Gary’s case more about the encompassing value food brings and shapes in him.