towards sustainable living [in Chile]: shark fin melon soup

So our generation seems to have inherited an unsustainable way of living, an unsustainable culture(s), really. A few years ago I never heard the word of "sustainable" applied to plans for the future of "first" world countries, it was only ever referred to when talking about the sustainable development of "third" world countries. Seems like the world's really messed up because probably every piece of clothing I'm wearing was made in a sweat shop, the food I eat is full of chemicals as is the clothing I wear, the weather is all screwed up, the air I breathe is toxic and those are just some of the problems of modern life. But in the wise words of G.I. Joe, "Now we know, and knowing is half of the battle."

So here's an article that describes the locavore movement in the States as bigger than just another fad. It's actually catching on.

And I'm doing my part, experimentally cooking. So I bought an alcayota the other day. This food grows here in Chile and the only thing that Chileans make with alcayota is "dulce de alcayota", which I believe is similar to a jam. Since I'm trying to cook with unprocessed foods, and I suppose with an enfasis in local foods, I didn't want to use sugar. On the internet I found a recipe for "shark fin melon soup" which I guess is a Chinese soup. (This is not to be confused with shark fin soup.) They have alcayota in China too. It's a sort of melon, though it's a bit tasteless. The soup actually turned out pretty decently. The big problem I had, however is that this soup calls for pork ribs, and the carnicería didn't have pork ribs, but it did have costillar, so I bought that, but it has a ton of fat. Yucky. After the soup cooled, a layer of lard formed on the top. It just floated there. So I scooped it out. (Lard is fabulous hand lotion.) And the chunks of pork were super fatty as well, and really not that tasty. Ribs aren't big here in Chile, at least how we eat them in the States. But I will find some pork ribs and try it again, because this could be some mighty tasty soup. Besides the lard and pork, I really enjoyed it.