Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Hey there potato face!

Between the poles of vegan, omnivore, and Atkins, exist many gradations on the spectrum of dietary principles and preferences. There are pescatarians, fruitatarians, freegans, those who only eat free-range/grass-fed/organic/humane/sustainable meats (this is the realm I've begun to enter, with a few lapses here and there), and plain old vanilla vegetarians. I knew a girl in college who seemed to subsist on bread alone--a panivore? panitarian? Then there is the friend of a friend who consumes according to the principle: "I don't eat anything that has a face." So my question for him is, if your potato smiles up at you with a knowing grin, then what?

If you're me, then you smile sweetly back and crunch that smirk in two. Sounds brutal, but it was oh so tasty. I encountered this little tater at a "por kilo" restaurant in São Paulo, where you select your food from a buffet spread and pay by weight. Por kilos are my favorite way to eat casually in Brazil because I like to try just a tiny bit of everything. In the photo above, I lay my cheeky potato friend lovingly on a bed of arugula, accompanied by a mug of pineapple juice blended with fresh mint. Yum!

5 comments:

Emilio Fraia said...

isso mesmo, a batata amiga está no agrião.

batata é alegria!

kale daikon said...

mas que vergonha! perdi toda a minha credibilidade vegetal...

Emilio Fraia said...

você podia ter confundido a batata amiga com o agrião. sua credibilidade está intacta

Anonymous said...

Hello, I am Andrea's friend. I love food. They sell those potato faces by the bag in the freeezer section of most US grocery stores. McCain's brand calls them Smiles. I love them for movie nights or small gatherings (wine tastings?), with some mustard or Siracha. So if you find yourself missing them, you know where to find them easily.

kale daikon said...

Wow, you've just changed my life. Thanks. But are you trying to get me to endorse McCain? The McCain Smile Train? Political seduction via smiley potato? I'm not that easy...