annotated list

fast food nation- I'm going to use it because in this book i learned how food changed over the years.

family- because did know how platano were like over 100 years ago.

internet- use it to find a great website on how platano were like 100 years ago.

friends- ask them questions about platno.

google- find better sources. 

Dominican mangu

Ricardo Lozada

English 101

March 18, 2011

                                                            Dominican Mangu

            Mangu is a very popular meal in the Dominican Republic, but also has found its way to America and around the world. Over time the recipe to make a mangu has changed, but one aspect has stayed relatively the same “platano” is still the main component to making a mangu. Every Dominican who is in tuned with their cultute knows how to do it since the recipe hasn’t changed much from the past to the present. I was introduced to mangu when I was one year old, when my mother gave me some to taste. I am hooked on it ever since. In the Dominican Republic, mangu is eaten almost every day and almost every meal has platano. This is a reason why some people call the Dominican Republic, the land of the platano.

            About a hundred fifty years ago, the people of the Dominican Republic had a different recipe to make mangu. The reason is because they didn’t have the many new products that we do now. For example, there were neither refrigerators nor different types of cheeses that we have today. Although the people of the Dominican Republic had limited supplies compared to today’s varieties, they still managed to make this meal an icon. According to my grandmother, the way mangu was prepared was simply on type of cheese and fresh meat. The meat would vary from cow, lam, or chicken. The cheese would be white and it was home made. This was what Dominicans across the land would eat every day. I asked my grandmother “how was it prepared” she told me that it was different from today, but it didn’t change that much. The recipe was shorter than today’s recipe it was made by putting warm water on the stove and putting about two tablespoons of salt in the water. Moreover, killing the cow or lam whichever one was available to them at the moment then they would cut the meat that they wanted and cook it. As the meat was being prepared, the platano is put into the boiling water with salt. It takes about 20 minutes for the platano to be fully cooked in the water. Once the platano is done boiling, you take it out and mush it down till the platano takes the shape of upside bowl. After you’re done preparing the platano, you finish cooking the meat and put some cheese around the plate. After all that is done you have a mangu, it’s simple and ready in no time. My grandmother also told me that back then the food was much healthier than it is now.

            Today’s mangu has many different ingredients in it compared to 100 years ago it’s still prepared slightly the same, but the main difference is that instead of having one type of cheese you have many types of cheeses and instead of having fresh meat now you have to buy the meat. Today’s Dominican mangu recipe is made with 4 green platano, 2 table spoons of salt, 1 cup of water, 1 and a half cup of milk, cheese and 5 strips of bacon with some chopped fried onions. It might sound like there’s a lot more to be done, but in reality today’s mangu takes about the same time to make as 100 years ago mangu. The truth is that today’s Dominican mangu has more ingredients than before and because of this it’s less healthy.      

            A hundred years ago the food of the Dominican Republic was a lot healthier mainly because the food was fresh and not frozen. Back then mangu was made with fresh ingredients rather than frozen ingredients like today. All of the ingredients that went in the mangu were homemade and unprocessed unlike today’s mangu ingredients. Moreover, they were organic for example, the eggs were pasture and raised on small farms. The milk to make the cheese was raw and freshly made unlike today. The richness of nutrients in the ingredients the mangu tasted much better than it does today. However, if you go to the more poverty level areas in the Dominican Republic same techniques as back then are still being applied today.

            In conclusion, 100 to 150 years ago the ingredients to make the iconic Dominican mangu was not frozen nor processed. The mangu tasted better and was more healthier than it is today’s,. The New York times once said “this year, Americans will spend more money on fast food than on higher education” I couldn’t agree more with this quote. People need to start choosing healthier food options. We need to go back and relive the great home cooking experiences as we once did.

food ink

1.     In the movie food ink we learn how food is really grown. This movie also gives us an understanding that large amounts of food are grown in small amounts of time.  If you read “Fast Food Nation” you won’t be stunned by what the movie shows and tells about the killing floors and soybean fields. Although to some people might be gross out by this movie I think its great because we see what really goes behind the food industry. Of course the big name companies didn’t want to be interviewed because they were to scare to comment on the food process. But to my surprise the company were not the only ones that were sacred to show their faces but also the famers were scared as well. The reason these framers were so sacred to be interview is because these big companies are controlling them.