Friday, August 24, 2012

Roots and Recipe: Final Draft


As I walk up the stairs of my grandparents house, I could smell the sweet smell that lingers in the small house. The smell of my grandma's banana lumpia. 

The sound of the pastry wrap getting fried, *crackle*, gets my stomach to growl. As my grandma is busy cooking, I manage to sneak a mouth-watering banana lumpia. I take one bite of the very crisp, sweet wrap. And it is so delicious. So I attempt to grab another. But when my grandma catches me, she slaps my hand and cussed in Ilocano. I could feel the crumbs on her palm of her hand when she slaps me. 

I brushed off the crumbs off my hand and I asked her,"Who taught you this recipe? It's so good!" As she finished another batch of banana lumpia, she replied with,"At first, I use to do the traditional recipe; banana, sugar and pastry wrap. But when your Aunty Vangie came to visit, she made her recipe and passed it on to me. Instead of regular sugar, she used organic sugar to make it taste sweeter." 

Banana Lumpia is a very special dish in our Filipino culture. The Banana Lumpia originated from Guam. But in the 17th Century, Filipino Soldiers were brought to Guam to serve in the Spanish Military. As the Filipino population increased, the exchange of customs, traditions as well as foods were transpired.

My grandma has been cooking since she was 8 years old. She learned from her Mama Lubing. I appreciate that she been cooking for more than 40 years for her family and for others as well. I always get excited for family parties, cause I know that she will always cook great big batches of her scrumptious banana lumpia. My grandma cooks batches of banana lumpia for graduations, birthdays, weddings and baby showers.

Her banana lumpia recipe is special to me because my grandmother is very special to me. She's special to me because she is the one that I can come to when I'm feeling down. She always there for me when nobody else is there. I hope that she will pass this recipe to me when I learn how to cook banana lumpia. 

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