By Abe Villarreal

There is a popular YouTube series called Tribal People Eat. In each episode, villagers from Punjab, located in the north of India bordering Pakistan, try American-based food items they consider interesting and sometimes just plain weird.

The Punjab villagers, mostly men, wear traditional dress, often kurtas which are long, loose, collarless shirts made out of silk or cotton, as well as turban headpieces. Their colorful attire is only second to the entertaining ways that they describe their food-eating experiences.

I love watching Tribal People Eat because the modest and humble Punjab people are honest in their interpretations of what Americans must be thinking when they come up with ideas such as fast-food hamburgers, mashed potatoes, Jello, and Little Debbie snacks.

To us, these everyday comfort foods are reminders of corporate America and the geniuses of yesteryear who created food for the working man and woman. To the villagers, they are something else.

In one episode, the villagers try whipped cream from a bottle. They marvel at how such a texture can come out of a long and narrow metal container. Once they learn how to spray out the whipped confection, they become just like we do when we were kids. They are all smiles and have fun enjoying their new experience.

The villagers try fried chicken, donuts with sprinkles, New York style cheesecake, and a traditional American breakfast of bacon and eggs. During each experience, they try to figure us out as people – our creativity, our eating habits, our reasons for choosing ingredients. No matter what they try, they show appreciation for how and why we decide what we eat. These people that look and sound so different than you and me, always give us the benefit of the doubt.

I would like to think that Americans would do the same in our approaches to trying new things. Often, we are content in believing that the American way is the superior way. Nothing beats an old-fashioned hamburger and strawberry malt because we made it, and that makes it better than whatever else is out there.

Maybe our delicious indulgences blind us to seeing the beauty in the traditions of people and cultures that have existed for much longer than the Happy Meal. One day, I'll get to travel the world. I'll eat at food stands in small villages, and in open markets in big cities. I'll see things that look so strange, I would never imagine that another human being would ever put such a thing inside them.

Then I will remember what the people of Punjab showed me. What other people do is worth respecting. It's worth figuring out why they do it and why it's important to them. The taste will be different and it might make me uncomfortable, but it will open my eyes to learning and understanding other people.

If America is a melting pot, the pot is richer when it contains the ingredients and flavors of people and places that we find odd or hard to digest on their own, but once mixed together create an amazing flavor that can only be found in this place we call home.

Abe Villarreal writes about the traditions, people, and culture of America. He can be reached at abevillarreal@hotmail.com.