Beautiful witty Irish-Colombian song [VIDEO] about respecting food, its origins and caretakers
Here I provide the context, lyrics, my translation and commentary
Toitico bien empacado = All your food is pre-packaged
Context: Apparently Katie James wrote this song after having a disagreement with someone who pretended to be sophisticated while revealing complete ignorance and disrespect for his own [Colombian] culture, food, and traditions. In artistic perfection, she turned her frustration into beautiful creativity.
¿Que tal su café? ¿Cómo estuvo su agua de panela?
How was your coffee this morning and how was the [sugar water]?
Panela is raw/crude brown sugar, which is famously and affectionately mixed either with water or lemon juice as a refreshing drink in Colombia.
¡Que buenas arepas las que prepara doña Rubiela!
How delicious were the corn cakes prepared by Mrs. Rubiela
Notice how she’s giving respect to the person who prepares the food instead of just assuming that some random employee is going to make the food without being respected for it.
¿Qué tal el ajiaco, con el frío de la mañana?
How was your [typical Colombian soup*], with the cold of the morning?
Foodies respect and understand how terrain and climate affect the flavors of food; here, she begins connecting food with the land and climate.
*SEE VIDEO RECIPE INCLUDED BELOW
¿Y el sabor de la papa que traje fresquita allí de la sabana?
And the flavor of the potato which brings the adored freshness of the cold region outside of Bogota, Colombia?
Notice how she’s giving respect to the exact region where the food was grown and its exact climactic characteristics. She’s not just saying that the almonds come from California but she’s respecting the exact region/location/climate and the effect that the rain/temperature/soil have on the flavors of the food.
Discúlpeme, si interrumpo su desayuno; Para salir de las dudas es el momento más oportuno
Sorry for interrupting your breakfast but this is really the best time for me to get rid of the doubts in my mind [about you and your lack of knowledge about the land and your food]
I interpret her here as being somewhat sarcastic, but maybe she’s being playful and being disrespectful at the same time—probably so. If you have read Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead or Friedrich Nietzsche’s Zarathustra then you can see some similarities here.
Dígame usted, si conoce la molienda; ¿O el azúcar es solo una bolsa que le compran en la tienda?
Tell me what you know about the sugarcane press/mill… or do you think of sugar as only a bag that you buy at the store?
More biting sarcasm here but she’s being more aggressive and more overt, even if still being playful.
¿Y cuénteme que sabe de su tierra? ¿Cuénteme que sabe de su abuela? ¿Cuénteme que sabe del maíz? ¿O acaso ha olvidado sus antepasados y su raíz?
Tell me what you know about your land, …your grandmother, …the corn … or have you forgotten everything that came before you including your own roots?
Dibújeme el árbol del cacao, mientras se toma ese chocolate con pan tostado
Draw me a picture of a Coco/chocolate tree while you sit there drinking chocolate with your toasted bread.
Here, I think she’s being much more aggressive. She’s basically saying, “You eat chocolate but you don’t even know what chocolate is or where it comes from, much less what the tree even looks like!”
Dígame su mercé, ¿qué sabe del azadón?
Basically what she’s saying here is “tell me what you know about a pitchfork, hoe or a dirt shovel?” Which is kind of her way of saying “what do you really know about raising your own food?”
At the next level of interpretation, she’s almost saying, “In addition to being ignorant about the origins of your food, you’re also ignorant about hard manual work, which you also do not know by personal experience.”
She’s being formal and respectful, possibly atop her underlying sarcasm.
The literal translation of “su merce” is “your mercy” but the more accurate interpretation of this is “Your Grace” as if a peasant is talking with a King or Nobleman. Colombian culture is much more formal than Spanish or American culture so “su merce” is commonly used in the countryside as a sign of respect and humility and politeness.
Ese es el que le trae a usted la sopita hasta el cucharon
Or do you think that a shovel is the same thing as a soup ladle/spoon?
Here she’s definitely cranking up the sarcasm heat, yet again
¿Y cuénteme que sabe de su tierra?¿Cuénteme que sabe de su abuela? ¿Cuénteme que sabe del maíz? ¿O acaso a olvidado sus antepasados y su raíz?
Same as above: Tell me what you know about your land, …your grandmother, …the corn … or have you forgotten everything that came before you including your own roots?
Venga le cuento, los cuentos del huerto y de la malanga; La yuca, la yota, los chontaduros, la quinua, las habas y la guatila; Le tengo el guandú, las arracachas y la calabaza; Le traigo guineos, también chachafrutos; Y unas papitas en la mochila
Here I’m going to tell you the story of the food garden and the foods we eat
She then lists some typical characteristic foods of Colombia: I have provided this list with translation toward the bottom of this page
¡Ay perdón señor! Por ser yo tan imprudente Es que a veces me llegan estos Pensamientos irreverentes
Please pardon me but sometimes I have these disrespectful thoughts.
I interpret this as being very classic for Colombian culture, which is typically very respectful and would be considered formal by American standards, or very formal by Spanish standards.
¿Pa'qué va usted querer saber Sobre el arado? ¡Si allí en la esquina lo encuentra Toitico bien empacado!
What could you (possibly) know about planting seeds when you find everything perfectly packaged for you at the local store?
She’s smart and sarcastic and she knows it, so you’d better watch it: she’s probably going to beat you at this game unless you’re a smart and socially-aware sustainable/biodynamic farmer.
This is my reasonable translation but if somebody wants to offer corrections then I will make them and provide appropriate credit.
Here are the foods that she lists:
malanga: root vegetable that's commonly used in South America with a texture similar to potatoes and is often milled into flour
yuca: starchy root vegetable, somewhat like a potato or sweet potato
yota: a type of bean
chontaduros: a fruit somewhat like a peach, nectarine
quinua: quinoa grain
habas: fava beans
guatila (also: chayote): a type of fruit-squash that looks like a pepper
guandú: a type of bean
arracachas: root vegetable related to carrots; commonly used for making soup
calabaza: squash
guineos: green bananas
chachafrutos: grain from a fruit tree
papitas: potatoes
Her website: http://katiejamesmusic.com/bio/?lang=en
Dr Alex Kennerly Vasquez (introduction; brief Bio-CV) writes and teaches for an international audience on various topics ranging from leadership to nutrition to functional inflammology. Major books include Inflammation Mastery, 4th Edition (full-color printing, 1182 pages, equivalent to 25 typical books [averaging 60,000 words each]), which was also published in two separate volumes as Textbook of Clinical Nutrition and Functional Medicine (Volume 1: Chapters 1-4; Volume 2: Chapter 5—Clinical Protocols for Diabetes, Hypertension, Migraine, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, Vasculitis, Dermatomyositis and most other major inflammatory/autoimmune disorders); several sections have been excerpted including Antiviral Strategies and Immune Nutrition (ISBN 1502894890) (aka, Antiviral Nutrition [available as PDF download] and Brain Inflammation in Chronic Pain, Migraine, and Fibromyalgia. Dr Vasquez’s books are available internationally via bookstores such as BookDepository, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, ThriftBooks, AbeBooks, BetterWorldBooks, WaterStonesBooks and his new Telegram channel is https://t.me/DrAlexVasquez.