Gambas al Hate-O
Each time the door opens, a familiar aroma hits me like a ton of bricks. I try to hold my breath to avoid inhaling anymore of this smell. The smell I was avoiding was the fishy foul smell of shrimp that my brother couldn’t get enough of. My family would visit the restaurant Barcelona a lot for his birthday since the Gambas al Ajillo were so enticing to him. The gambas had a great garlicky smell to it, but the overpowering fishy shrimp made me want to gag.
On one occasion after we came home from the restaurant, my brother begged my parents to make the gambas at home even though I was very forthcoming with my opinion:, “Please,! Mom and Dad, don’t make me have to eat this again!”
The first time Gambas al Ajillo was officially presented as a possible dinner plan, I shrieked. I was as red as a cooked shrimp and just as loud as olive oil on top of a scorching flame. My mom said “This is what we are making;, you can make something else, if you want to, but by yourself”. I didn’t want to make anything else, so I pouted and I stomped up the stairs and whined like a teapot for a few minutes. I can say that at the time I might have been over reacting, but I hadn’t yet made the meal, so I didn’t know what I could truly do.
My stomach was grumbling, so I splashed water on my face and then wandered down to the kitchen.
My mom had started deveining and deshelling the shrimp, and I was in awe with the technique she was using to get every part of this hard and slimy seafood out of its shell. I was stuck in a fixed state, staring at my mom, with my jaw almost becoming unhinged. By the time they were all evacuated out of their shells, I was brought back to reality and I could hardly stand being in the same room as them. My mom put the creatures in the pan and started cooking them.
Then, it was my time to shine even though I didn’t yet know, it was my time to shine how to shine. In my house cooking is never set into stone. There is always room to add your own touch to the meal. I pulled on my chef's hat and With my mom's help, got straight to work. With my mom's help I started putting the seasoning into the pot and added my own special touch - letting the paprika infuse into the olive oil and gray monotoned shellfish. Paprika dust was everywhere;, my fingers reeked of garlic and every ingredient that was put into the pan brought me farther and farther away from happiness. Towards the end, though, my mom thought everything was all good. I tried the sauce and let out an, “EWWW!”. It was not good enough for my standards. I knew immediately that we were missing the salt and that we needed a bit more paprika.
“DINNER!!!” I called out. I probably knew back then that the first time that I called my brother and father down for dinner would not do anything but I had to try. I didn’t think the second call would work either but when I called “LOGAN…DAD…..DINNER!”
the footsteps of my brother followed very quickly. That night he made it to the table before I did. Today I am always the first to be sitting at the table. After I spend hours preparing dinner I can barely stand and I find my seat as soon as I can.
My brother grabbed at the gambas bowl, almost knocking over his water glass. I waited for everybody to have their portion before I went in and got my portion of the meal. While my brother stuffed his face as quickly as he could, I took one shrimp and took a bunch of bread, and 5 heaping spoonfuls of the sauce. My brother was jumping with joy that the meal tasted just like it does from the restaurant. My intuition saved the day, by adding a little bit more salt during the cooking process, and made the fishy, nauseating meal a little bit more tolerable.
Gambas al Ajillo returned to my dinner table many times after that night. My brother's requests were hard to swat away since he is very picky for everything but this meal. Gambas also showed up when we went to the Restaurant Barcelona and when my family took a trip to Spain. Looking back, after we came back from Spain, I finally realized that this meal was not going to go away. I knew that I would never grin from ear to ear for this meal, but it was time for me to welcome it into my life.
When my brother comes home from college, Gambas al Ajillo is a part of the dinner plans. My brother gets so excited to eat this meal while I am counting down the minutes until I get to make this meal for my family. A quick sigh comes from me internally, b. But the bright red paprika and the garlic that adds so much taste to the meal, aid me in putting my chef's hat on and making a masterpiece. My brother gets so excited to eat this meal while I am counting down the minutes until I get to make this meal for my family.