BOURDAIN's stunning love letter to Mexico and Mexicans

[yallerdawg]

8. Well, I appreciate you highlighting this subject.

Bourdain has been commenting on this since "Kitchen Confidential."

I once got on an old school bus in Miami to pick tomatoes in West Palm Beach. I was the only gringo. When we got there, the bosses said, "We want them this big, and this color." I looked down the rows and saw not one single tomato. I asked the boss where are the tomatoes? He said this was just a last run through to get the last tomatoes, you know, under the leaves and near the ground. They gave me a basket and would give me a chit for every basket I turned in. After about an hour of crawling around on the ground, much to the amusement of the migrant workers, I delivered my first basket. The boss looked at the tomatoes and tossed out all but 4. He said, "This big, and this color."

I had to hitchhike back to Miami, cause 4 tomatoes weren't getting me back on the bus. But my respect for the migrant farm worker has never ended. And I love and appreciate tomatoes!