Ode to La Rellena
Marvelous rellena, mighty food
You make me feel at ease
Your warm potato shell,
The golden brown casing
With greasy meat inside
The substance of the earth.
Lovely rellena, delicate bun of angels
Splendid, salty taste of joy.
The hot scent of baked rellena welcomes me home
Earthy cumin
Sharp, spicy onion
And oily fried potato
Listen, be still
Hear the swish of the layers of the onion
The powerful knife showing the inner beauty of the white globe
Listen, be still
Hear the squish of the meat being mixed with the tomatoes:
The tiny bursts of juicy taste
Listen, be still
Hear the sizzling of the oil and rellena en the pan
Cooking the crispy casing
Listen, be still
A symphony of taste
The salty but sweet onions
In harmony with the juicy tomatoes
Underlying subtle spice of paprika
Accompanied by the powerful taste of garlic
Finished with a solo by surprising hot and juicy olives
Toasty rellena, food of my soul.
(2013)
This was a school assignment where we wrote poems similar to the famous works of Pablo Neruda and his odes to food. After writing the ode, we also wrote recipes and then cooked the food that we wrote about.
