Eva Longoria is starring in a CNN series called “Searching for Mexico”. It is modeled on Stanley Tucci’s immensely popular series “Searching for Italy”. I can never think of this show without recollecting Trevor Noah’s famous quip:
I think Stanley Tucci was just playing you, CNN. I think that guy knew where Italy was the whole time. He was just going to keep looking as long as you kept paying him!
When I think of Eva Longoria, three aspects of her brand come to mind:
- Her appearance on the Dr. Oz show (before he became involved in politics). She talked about growing up with her sisters, one of whom had a disability. Eva recalls being furious because someone at school had stolen her sister, Lisa’s, jacket. She was so angry that someone would do this to a more vulnerable human being. “Lisa,” she began indignantly. “Who at school could have been such a jerk as to steal your jacket?” Eva recalls being stunned by her sister’s reply. “Someone who must have been cold.”
- Her appearance on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. “People ask me about my heritage,” she said to Trevor. “They say, ‘Oh, you’re 50% Mexican and 50% American.'” And I reply, “No, I’m 100% Mexican and 100% American.”
- Her statement in the teaser for her new series. “I don’t know the secret to happiness,” she shares. “I just know that when I eat Mexican food, I feel happy.“
Food, like music, has this amazing ability to tear down the barriers of time and space, thereby restoring us to our childhood joys, enabling us to recollect moments in which we felt warm and happy, safe, loved and content. Think of Marcel Proust’s famous madeleine in “Remembrance of Things Past.” Stanley Tucci’s series also heavily featured the food and wine of Italy.
My favorite Mexican meal was consumed in San Antonio, Texas. We had gone to a restaurant adjacent to our hotel. There weren’t a great deal of vegetarian items on the menu so the staff adapted an enchilada option for us. I remember the lush green color and lime-cilantro-tinged flavor of the guacamole. It tasted quite unlike anything we had consumed in local restaurants with their franchise fare. It felt very authentic in some way, even though we weren’t in Mexico. Years have gone by but like Eva, I still remember the happiness of that particular meal and how it fit like a perfect piece into our vacation.
Saranya Murthy 