
By Maddy Byl
When people talk about food that’s important to them or meals that are nostalgic, they are meals about their family with a long history about the deeply-rooted meanings and importance that that meal has. My meal is about found family -- family in friends -- those who mean as much to you as family does. Eating poke bowls isn’t a tradition, in fact my friends and I have only had it once all together, but it was the first time each of our friendships with each other was at its strongest and it's a memory I hold close to my heart. Surprisingly, I haven't known my found family for very long, only over a year, but they have had a significant positive impact on my life. The poke bowls we ate at one of my friends' fifteenth birthday parties was the first time I looked around at the people surrounding me and really truly felt at home. It’s a simple meal, albeit one of my favourites because it solidified the fact that our friendships will last for a very long time despite any obstacles. Making these poke bowls for my real family now just reminds me how important family is. Found family and the family you are born with each have their own importance. So although I do not have a traditional recipe passed down for generations, the simplicity of the poke bowls is half of its appeal. My friends, my found family, are not perfect, in fact we are a messy group but it’s a group filled with laughter and love and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Naomi, whose birthday we were celebrating, had expressed her love for the food long before the party was planned. It happened late because of our busy schedules however we were all grateful because it gave us more time to plan her gift. Naomi and her mom had gone to T&T to pick up ingredients for the poke bowls. When my three other friends and I showed up, we helped set the table; setting up each component of the bowls in their separate dish to assemble.
The poke bowls we made were a little bit of a flop in some parts. The salmon looked vividly like the food I feed to my cats, one of my friends doesn’t even like shellfish and ate chicken nuggets with hers, and the birthday girl of that night had attempted to make dumplings which turned out to be pretty terrible. However the reason the meal is one of my favourites isn’t because it's the best tasting or looking, it’s because it represents the people I have chosen to be my family. Making this meal brings me immense joy because it is a representation of our friendships, messy, colourful, and meaningful. It also represents each of us along with the moment I knew they were people I would have in my life for as long as I possibly could. It’s a meal for the families you create with the people surrounding you with kindness and a colossal amount of love.
When people talk about food that’s important to them or meals that are nostalgic, they are meals about their family with a long history about the deeply-rooted meanings and importance that that meal has. My meal is about found family -- family in friends -- those who mean as much to you as family does. Eating poke bowls isn’t a tradition, in fact my friends and I have only had it once all together, but it was the first time each of our friendships with each other was at its strongest and it's a memory I hold close to my heart. Surprisingly, I haven't known my found family for very long, only over a year, but they have had a significant positive impact on my life. The poke bowls we ate at one of my friends' fifteenth birthday parties was the first time I looked around at the people surrounding me and really truly felt at home. It’s a simple meal, albeit one of my favourites because it solidified the fact that our friendships will last for a very long time despite any obstacles. Making these poke bowls for my real family now just reminds me how important family is. Found family and the family you are born with each have their own importance. So although I do not have a traditional recipe passed down for generations, the simplicity of the poke bowls is half of its appeal. My friends, my found family, are not perfect, in fact we are a messy group but it’s a group filled with laughter and love and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Naomi, whose birthday we were celebrating, had expressed her love for the food long before the party was planned. It happened late because of our busy schedules however we were all grateful because it gave us more time to plan her gift. Naomi and her mom had gone to T&T to pick up ingredients for the poke bowls. When my three other friends and I showed up, we helped set the table; setting up each component of the bowls in their separate dish to assemble.
The poke bowls we made were a little bit of a flop in some parts. The salmon looked vividly like the food I feed to my cats, one of my friends doesn’t even like shellfish and ate chicken nuggets with hers, and the birthday girl of that night had attempted to make dumplings which turned out to be pretty terrible. However the reason the meal is one of my favourites isn’t because it's the best tasting or looking, it’s because it represents the people I have chosen to be my family. Making this meal brings me immense joy because it is a representation of our friendships, messy, colourful, and meaningful. It also represents each of us along with the moment I knew they were people I would have in my life for as long as I possibly could. It’s a meal for the families you create with the people surrounding you with kindness and a colossal amount of love.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup of sushi rice
10 small pieces of sliced salmon
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 whole avocado
1 cucumber
1 package of imitation crab
Grated carrots (about 1 quarter of a carrot)
1 package of chicken nuggets (to bake in the oven)
4 tablespoons of mayo
1-2 squirts of sriracha (depending on how spicy you like it)
2 packages of dry seaweed
Instructions:
Step 1: Cook the sushi rice according to the ingredients on the box. While the sushi rice is being cooked, chop up your vegetables: avocado, cucumbers, imitation crab, and grate your carrots.
Step 2 : Cook chicken nuggets according to the box information.
Step 3: Mix a quarter of a cup of mayo with one squirt of sriracha.
Step 4: Cut up seaweed slices.
Step 5: Mix salmon with soy sauce and ignore how it looks (it tastes good).
Step 6: Once the rice is cooked, begin assembling your poke bowl with either the salmon or the chicken nuggets and everything else.
Step 7: Enjoy!!!!
Ingredients:
1 cup of sushi rice
10 small pieces of sliced salmon
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 whole avocado
1 cucumber
1 package of imitation crab
Grated carrots (about 1 quarter of a carrot)
1 package of chicken nuggets (to bake in the oven)
4 tablespoons of mayo
1-2 squirts of sriracha (depending on how spicy you like it)
2 packages of dry seaweed
Instructions:
Step 1: Cook the sushi rice according to the ingredients on the box. While the sushi rice is being cooked, chop up your vegetables: avocado, cucumbers, imitation crab, and grate your carrots.
Step 2 : Cook chicken nuggets according to the box information.
Step 3: Mix a quarter of a cup of mayo with one squirt of sriracha.
Step 4: Cut up seaweed slices.
Step 5: Mix salmon with soy sauce and ignore how it looks (it tastes good).
Step 6: Once the rice is cooked, begin assembling your poke bowl with either the salmon or the chicken nuggets and everything else.
Step 7: Enjoy!!!!