…Oh, no (please leave me alone)
All the boys be loving me
Girls be hating me
They will never stop
Cuz they know I’m so HOT HOT!”
(Picture Source)
 
I sometimes listen to this on my iPod on my way back from school, and I don’t know what it is about this catchy music and amusing lyrics that make me bop along, singing, “Yeah, I’m so HOT HOT” out loud…despite the fact that I’m also rolling my eyes incredulously, and despite the fact that fellow pedestrians glare at me for disrupting civil peace.

In any case, I wish I had these singers’ confidence. I wish I could just flip my hair, thrust up my chin, and give no care to what other people think about me.

But instead, I laugh. I laugh when I see such blatant confidence, because I know it isn’t true. I laugh because I see it as a parody. I laugh because if I don’t, then that would make it very awkward indeed for these girls, because nobody should be yelling “I’m hot!” about themselves.
(Picture Source)
 
In fact, on further research, I found out that these girls have been struggling with criticism and weight issues. Which makes me sad because truthfully, I wish their confidence was real. I wish there really were women who would smile and say “I’m hot” even without a speck of make-up or dieting ploys. But I have yet to meet one like that. Have you?

That said, I think some of the most confident women I’ve met are mostly of the older generation, women who are way past their prime beauty age, who each day discovers more cellulite and wrinkles.

It sounds like a paradox, but I think it may be because they’ve given up on the physical beauty, on pining for that “ideal beauty” because 1) It’s physically impossible now to get any “prettier” and 2) they’re experienced enough to know that beauty is subjective and irrelevant to who they are.

But I wonder. What would happen to society’s image of “ideal beauty” if every single woman started declaring themselves beautiful and hot? Would this world be a better or worse place?

Honestly, I doubt it will make much difference…because then these women will just find other parts about themselves to gripe about. Because the source of their insecurity isn’t their mediocre appearances, but an overall lack of confidence and assurance in who they are as a person.

Anyway. Back to the subject of hotness.

Marx Foods sent me a sampler pack of dried chiles so that I can enter their Blogger Recipe Challenge.

• Tepia Chilies
• Puya Chilies
• Cascabel Chilies
• Guajillo Chiles
• Thai Chilies

The challenge is to create an original recipe that must be eaten with a spoon. Which to them means things like soup, stew, ice-cream, and custard. That is a predicament to me, because hey, I eat ice-cream with chopsticks.

But whatever. I love a good challenge, and it feels like forever since I last cooked a meal that wasn’t dumped into the slow-cooker or zapped in the microwave. For my original recipe, I decided to use these three chiles:

• Guajillo Chiles
• Cascabel Chilies
• Puya Chilies

I’ve never used these chilies before. The only chile I recognized was the Thai Chilies, but I didn’t want to use something I was so familiar with.
As I said, I haven’t tapped into my culinary creativity for so long, so I just wanted to make something…wacky.
I decided to make a mole first.

Because I wanted to use up this dark chocolate sitting in my fridge forever, and the jar of peanut butter I had since last year. And since I don’t have the experience nor the time to make authentic mole, let me warn you that my mole is nothing like real traditional mole…whatever that is.

Peanut Butter Mole

• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Guajillo chiles, deseeded and deveined
• 2 Cascabel chiles, deseeded and deveined
• 2 Puya chiles, deseeded and deveined
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 handful dried figs
• 1/4 handful raisins
• chicken broth
• 1 oz dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoon peanut butter (I used natural chunky)
• 1 handful breadcrumbs

Cook onion, garlic, and chiles with oil and Worcestershire sauce in a large skillet, until the chiles and onion become soft.

Add the tomato sauce, dried fruits, and about a cup of chicken broth. Cook and reduce, adding more broth if necessary. When the mixture becomes slightly thick, stir in chocolate and peanut butter.

Finally, stir in breadcrumbs, and cook until thickened. Puree with a blender until smooth.

And there you have it. Rich, thick, nutty, bittersweet mole. I couldn’t help licking at my spoon again and again, because it was seriously some sick crack!

But that is not the end of it. As much as I loved it, you can’t really eat mole by itself. It’s bold and pungent precisely because it is meant to be mixed into some kind of protein or starch. So this is what I decided to do:

• The mole
• Leftover cornbread
• Leftover mashed sweet potatoes
• Sour Cream (unpictured)
• A tall glass
• A tall spoon (unpictured)

Can you guess what I’m going to do?

I made a trifle/parfait…thingy:
Of course, parfaits and trifles are usually supposed to be sweet, but hey, what’s wrong with a savory one? Especially when it looks so much like a sweet mini trifle!
What I basically did was put a layer of cornbread chunks on the bottom, then a layer of mole and mashed sweet potatoes, and then more cornbread, and continuing on with that pattern until I reached the top rim of the glass.
Then finally, I topped everything off with sour cream.

This thing is GLORIOUS! It had a bit of spice from the mole, sweetness from the sweet potatoes, tangyness from the sour cream, and of course that coarse, gritty texture from the cornbread.
You had the fun of eating a “dessert”, yet all the satisfaction of a good, hearty meal. A meal in a glass. Hm…we need more savory trifles in our lives, me thinks!
And you know what? I just realized it so relates to the “So Hot” video I shared above. This trifle…looks “hot” in the sense that it’s pretty in a glass. But you find out that the appearance really means nothing when you bite into it and discover more complex flavors in there than just a monotonous sweet dessert.
There are more complex, intricate layers underneath the physical appearance. Of course, expecting people not to judge someone by their appearance is impractical. We’re humans, trapped in our physical shell, and that’s the first thing we see. We have to judge by our first physical impressions. It’s just human nature.
But beauty is a selfish, one-dimensional thing. It is, excuse the pun, only skin-deep. No one else really gets to enjoy it—the beholder can only enjoy it by eye, or most likely stew in jealousy, while the beauty herself gets stereotyped by her attractive looks.

So physical beauty? It’s a no-win situation. But this trifle? It’s all-win. But only if you pick up the spoon and dig into it.

My head is aching from all the cheesy metaphors. I think I’m done.

Question of the Day: How confident are you about your looks? And what do you think is the most beautiful food?

I think mushrooms are the most stunning food ever. I get mesmerized when I see a bounty of fresh, exotic mushrooms.

Related posts:

1. A Korean lady can eat Mexican food, too.
2. Gloriously Unproductive Day
3. Back in High School Again
4. How NOT to Start the Day as a Grouchy Bitch
5. Foodbuzz Festival 2010: It Is Done

Tagged as: bread, chile, chocolate, corn, dried fruits, figs, mexican, mole, peanut butter, raisins, sour cream, sweet potatoes