The Sacred Spices

Comino, Chili, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

The Five Pillars of Wisdom

The Pentateuch,

The Torah of South Texas Cuisine.

Comino, rich, dark brown,

Called “cumin” by some,

Brings the heat,

Opens the airways.

Chili, the deep warm red,

Adds spice,

Which is not the same

As heat.

Salt, the Biblical spice,

The covenant of friendship,

Helps the tongue tell

One flavor from another.

Pepper, glorious in blackness,

Adds depth,

Makes flavors sharper--

Use it sparingly.

Garlic, faintly yellow granules,

Opens flavors up,

Spreads more evenly through food

Than its fresh cousin.

This sacred five,

This holy quinity,

The five-fold ministry,

The building blocks of life.

Together they manifest

Tantalizing tacos,

Fabulous fideo,

Pleasing picadillo,

Glorious guisada,

The list goes on,

Arroz, elote,

Carne al pastor…

The only debate,

How much of each to use,

Family secrets,

Or hand-written recipes

Abuela’s cookbook

A sacred trust.

My theory:

You can’t use too much comino.

My oldest son says

“You add comino until

Your ancestors rise from the grave and say,

‘Ja, mijo. Basta,

‘That’s enough son.’”

And then you add

A couple of shakes

More.

If your wife enters the house,

And can’t smell comino

When the door opens,

You didn’t use enough.

Our faith

Welcomes impure thought;

Divergence from the path of righteousness,

Yields delicious deviations.

Want to entertain heresy?

Remove the comino,

Add onion powder

And you have brisket rub.

Want to stay sacred

But veer away from doctrine,

Creating an apocrypha,

Still holy, but not quite pure?

Remove the chili

Add tempting turmeric

And a bit of oregano,

And you have sazon.

I share the Gospel with you

In all its glory,

Go forth,

Spread the Good News:

Chili, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder,

And comino,

Blessed be

Comino’s holy name.