The Finale: Food Philosophy

With this school year coming to a close, all of our learning has lead up to this blog post. Throughout this year we prepared ourselves for creating our food philosophy by learning about locally produced/ sustainable foods, food injustices, and adjusting recipes to reduce waste.

My Philosophy:

To me, food is so much more than a source of sustenance. It is a gift from God that allows us to express our love, creativity, culture, and history to those we share it with. The quality and source of ingredients is reflected in the final product and message sent so it is ideal to use local, in season foods.

Its Source:

Food is something that my family puts a lot of value in. My dad loves to cook and has shared that with me from a young age and instilled in me a lot of his kitchen values. His siblings also share his passion, some even more than him which has even further instilled the love for and value that I put into food. In particular, I remember a time when I was at a farmer's market with my Uncle Philip on Vancouver Island where we talked to the farmers about their farms and their stories. It really opened my little mind to what was really behind the food that we purchase and eat. Another key memory for me is when I first connected the dots about my Uncle Victor being a cattle farmer. We had spent lots of time with him on his farm ever since I was little, but I had never really connected the animals with what we were eating until one day. I was with my dad in the slaughter house and I saw several cattle mid process and it helped me take another step in understanding the process of getting food to the plate. I really value my family experiences and opportunities that helped form my view and understanding of the food process.

My Inspiration:

Inspired by the great film Chef, I made cubanos. I watched the movie with my friends and we really liked it so I thought it would be fitting to recreate a key aspect of the movie. In the movie, Jon Favreau's character explains to his son in one of the scenes the value of good quality food and why it is important to take pride in cooking for others. In another he buys fresh food with him and explains the concept of cooking with what you find/what is in season and drawing inspiration from it. Both of those scenes really stuck out to me probably because I had similar experiences with my family.

My Creation:

I started by re-watching the key scene from the movie where they first made the sandwich to make sure I knew what went into it. The key part that stood out to me was the mojo pork. Sure enough, that was the part that needed the most time and attention.

The first step was brining the pork shoulder in some citrus, rum, vinegar, herbs, and spices.

Once it had absorbed those flavors for just over a day, the brine was removed and replaced with the mojo marinade.

After resting overnight, I removed the pork from the marinade and placed it our barbecue. While recipes instructed around 300° F in an oven, I thought that utilizing the smoker feature in our barbecue would add even more depth of flavor to the pork.

After about it was cooked about half way, we moved it into the oven to finish it. Once it reached the around 150° F internal, we turned the oven up to give it a nice chard exterior.

Next up was sandwich assembly. Now that the pork was finally finished it was time to get the other components ready. After slicing pickles, cheese, ham, and bread, I was ready to begin the final leg of my journey.

While we didn't have the exact right bread, I think the sandwiches were an incredible success. I'm so glad that I got to check this off my food bucket list. Here are some photos of the final product.