Travel the world, and you’ll find that food is the most honest expression of culture. It’s not just about what you eat, but how and why you eat it. There are distinctive characteristics among some simple baked goods such as the British Muffin, the Japanese bento, and the Brazilian rocambole.

Three foods from three corners of the world, each telling a story of their culture. The muffin does it through its simplicity and comfort. The bento, a masterpiece of balance and beauty is meticulously crafted within the Asian culture. The rocambole is a festival of flavor and indulgence in the tastes of the Northern Eastern Region of Brazil. Each one is a journey in itself, a taste of the places and people that created them.

I woke up on Saturday morning craving for baked goods. So I went to the supermarket. I saw frat-bros preparing for tailgating and sassy young ladies resembling Haliey Welch – the infamous Hawk Tuah girl.

I was playing on my turf, so I asked around about cooking kits and someone recommended me a cooking kit which would prevent me from making a mess in my kitchen with flour, sugar, eggs, milk, and live up to my expectations. Unfortunately, it was not what happened and you will see how it panned out.

Although the box promised to provide “the Perfect Morning Muffin,” the result was the complete opposite. The instructions were simple, I followed them carefully but it was like eating burnt shoe soles.

This is how it went. First, I removed the bag of mix from the box. Then, I poured it into a bowl. Then, I added the correct amount of water to the mix and stirred it. The directions said that after stirring the mixture and “add half a cup of blueberry, nuts, and chocolate chip.”

I continued following the directions. I added half a cup of hot sauce to the mix and stirred it. Finally, I poured the mix into muffin tins and baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. When the muffins finished baking, my expectations were high. About 2 hours after leaving the supermarket but my craving didn’t go away.

You can imagine my disappointment when, upon tasting the muffins, I discovered that they were far from perfect. These muffins were, in fact, absolutely terrible. Not even my dog was interested in eating that monstrosity.

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Muffins are simple and unpretentious. To make them we simply use basic ingredients present in every comfort food. Whether it’s for your breakfast at home or a snack during your afternoon work break. They’re the go-to breakfast item, a reliable companion: quick to make and even quicker to eat.

I would appreciate a full refund for the 20 bucks I spent on it, but there is no refund for the time I spent trying to cook. Besides that, nothing will make up for 3 days of rinsing my mouth with listening and throwing up before forgetting what moths taste like.

In the end, food is never just food. It’s history, it’s culture, it’s an experience. So next time you bite into a muffin, unpack a bento, or savor a slice of rocambole, remember – you’re not just eating. You’re traveling, you’re exploring, you’re living.