– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

- Hi, my name's Eli and I'm here to learn

my grandma's recipe for arroz con gandules.

Gandules, gandu--

it's really sad.

Abuela's Puerto Rican rice.

If there was one pivotal thing,

as a young Puerto Rican growing up,

it is the arroz con gandules, the rice, the essence.

First off, I'm not a cook at all.

I am terrible.

She is probably the best cook I've ever met in my life.

That rice is like crack, son.

I was always such a grandma's boy.

I was always attached to her hip.

She was really like my second mom.

At this point about 20 years ago,

she was diagnosed with MS,

and it got bad to the point where

she was not really able to do much.

I live in Los Angeles and she lives in Chicago

and unlike my other family members

who can come visit me, or I can meet them somewhere,

she's pretty much stationary.

It makes me a little emotional.

I grew up in a Puerto Rican household,

but I'm fourth generation.

I don't know Spanish, I can't dance salsa,

and I can't roll my R's, arroz.

Through this experience, I wanna feel more connected

with my roots, more connected with my culture,

and also connect with my grandmother

who means so much to me.

What I'm gonna do is to learn how to make the rice,

go on a shopping spree, and cultivate my ending

with making it for the Pero Like team.

The pressure is on.

Come on with me to this journey while I embarrass myself.

- Hey, grandma.

- Hey, hey, no, I'm just calling you because

I just wanted to let you know that I am

finally ready to learn how to make your Puerto Rican rice.

- No, I'm gonna cook for at least

six to eight people.

- Okay.

Cut how many onions?

(intense music)

- Then I'm lit? (air horn sounds)

- Oh, grandma, love you.

- Holy shit, that's a lot of ingredients.

- Oh, I thought I hung up, I'm sorry.

I knew if I was gonna go on this journey,

I was going to need authentic help.

And who's more authentic than Ivan, who's from Puerto Rico?

- Hi, I'm Ivan, and I'm from Puerto Rico.

- What part of Puerto Rico are you from?

- I am from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

(rolls R) Rico. - Puerto Rico.

(rolls R)

- I think you're jump starting--

- I'm making my grandma's recipe of arroz con gandules.

- Arroz. - Arroz.

- We all know I can't do that.

- Arroz con gandules.

- Do you feel like you're better than me, Ivan?

- I could say so.

I grew up going to my grandma's house

and I used to help her peel the gandules.

- That's legit as hell.

- Yep, super legit. - Okay, all right.

You are more Puerto Rican than me.

- But it really depends, everyone has kind of

their own style, but

I feel like the basics are all the same.

- Tell me what it's like living in Puerto Rico

as a wee boy.

- Something that's very distinct

that I kind of miss is waking up

to the sound of chickens.

- The sound of chickens? (chicken clucks)

- Yeah, they were just roaming around your neighborhood.

- Are they clean chickens?

- Yeah they're clean chickens. (chicken clucks)

- Can you just go pet them or something?

- Yeah, I wouldn't pet them. (chicken clucks)

- Are they mean?

- All right, we have to go to aisle 20.

It says, "Latin American food."

Comidas Latina, that's where we're gonna find it.

- [Eli] Do you feel like you're home, Ivan?

- This feels like home.

- They got the gandules. - Look at that.

They got gandules, baby.

This is what we need, baby.

Yep.

- [Eli] Extra long?

- [Ivan] Yeah.

- [Eli] Okay.

I just thought rice was rice.

Need to make sure this is the right rice.

- Grandma.

- So it's not extra long grain?

- [Eli] You're trying to sabotage me.

- It's okay, you know, I don't do this often.

- Which oil?

- I don't know, maybe you should call your grandma again.

- Canola?

- She's giving you all the details

so that you don't call her again.

- Grandma, I got another question.

- Yeah, so there's two pound bags of rice.

How many pounds should I get of rice?

Maybe I'll just get four pounds and see what's up.

- Okay, all right, all right, love you, Grandma,

thank you, all right, bye-bye.

I think I'm bothering her at this point.

I want you to be a part of the taste test.

- Oh.

- Will you be a part of the taste test?

- I will.

- He gets to be a part of the taste test.

- I will for sure.

- Now the pressure's on.

I'm in the process of waiting

for the pork chops to defrost.

And I fell asleep, so now today is the day

I need to serve the rice and nothing is made.

I'm kind of freaking out, I have,

I don't know why I looked at my wrist.

I have only a couple hours to present this rice

to the Pero Like team,

and I need to go now.

Ingredients, I gotta get the ingredients.

Holy shit.

Right now, it's 6:30 AM,

so that means I have to be at work by 9,

which I think is enough time, so we'll see.

I don't know if it's too much or too little

but I got pork for days.

I've been listening to Hector Lavoe

and I feel like he's my Obi Wan right now,

as I'm cooking this.

Literally doing one thing here

and then I have to go all the way over here

for my vegetables and I'm going back and forth

and I'm freaking out.

I feel like I'm in an episode of Chopped,

disappointed Abuela edition.

Thyme, thyme is definitely of the essence,

but it smells fucking fantastic.

It actually is starting to look like Puerto Rican rice.

I did that, I made it.

Even if it tastes like poop, I still,

it looks, visually, it's there.

Struggle right now, it looks great.

It's ready to go, it's ready to go,

but the issue is is that I keep putting water

and it's not absorbing, so it's still crunchy, it's still,

it's very disheartening and I need to leave now.

So I have my first taste testers

who happen to be Puerto Rican.

And also, it's Ivan, he's from the island

and he thinks he's better than me, so

that really, kind of nervous right now,

so I'm hoping for the best.

- So, I had arroz con gandules for breakfast,

lunch, dinner, Monday to Friday and Sundays.

- What?!

- I'm from Miami, so definitely in Miami, there's,

I've tried many Puerto Rican restaurants.

- I've never had Puerto Rican rice before.

- Me neither, that I know of. - Yeah, should be interesting.

I'm excited.

- Mm. - Mm.

- Oh wow. - It smells legit.

- It looks delicious.

- This looks so good. - This looks so good, Eli.

- I will say, I will say--

- It looks like arroz con gandules.

- It looks like arroz con gandule

and it smells like arroz con gandule.

- Three, two, one.

- Esta un poco simple.

- [Claudia] I haven't had lunch yet.

- Eli, this is great.

- Okay.

- It's not bad, it's not bad.

It's really close, all you need is a little bit

of salt and that's it.

- Your first time, listen.

You can get it, okay Eli?

And not like that.

- Arroz con gandules taste is there.

The rice is a little bit mushy.

- Yeah, it's amogollao? - Amogollao.

- A little amogollao.

- I would throw a bunch of salt on it

'cause I'm a salty girl, but.

- She puts salt on everything, she puts salt on ice cream.

- Do we have any salt right now?

I'll sprinkle a little bit.

- He's just standing there.

- I'm proud of you, Eli.

You're a real Puerto Rican.

- A real Puerto Rican.

- Eli, I commend you

for even making this and attempting it

and sharing it with Latinos. - With us.

- With us that are like, we be knowing.

- If you feed this to a bunch of people

that have never had arroz con gandules,

they would say it's good.

- This is really good.

- I am shocked by how everyone's reactions were so positive.

It really meant a lot to me.

It was kind of like I found this kind of emotional

response to it all.

You make this food to bring joy to someone else.

That's what my grandma's done my entire life.

She consistently made this food

to do exactly that, to see my reactions,

to see me smile, to see me happy and fed.

And to have that experience with my friends,

I now understand where she was coming from all those years.

It meant a lot to me.

I think it added a new level of thinking

when it comes to eating food and preparing food.

It just shows how amazing my grandma is

and how amazing her cooking is

'cause even a D level version of her rice, people love.

- Hey, so I made the rice.

Everyone loved it, surprisingly.

- So it's a little bland, it's a little bland,

but the color's there.

- I'm glad we're able to have this now.

I just wanted to say I really love you

and I really appreciate you

and I'm proud to have you as my grandma.

I just wanted to say that.

- I love you too.

- I'm full fledged, yes.

(triumphant Latin music)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
grandma /ˈɡrænˌdɑː/ A1	noun - the mother of one's parent; a familiar term for 'grandmother'
recipe /ˈrɛsɪpi/ B1	noun - a set of instructions for preparing a particular dish
rice /raɪs/ A1	noun - a cereal grain used as staple food
gandules /ɡænˈduːlɛs/ C1	noun - pigeon peas, a type of legume used in Caribbean cuisine
Puerto Rico /ˈpwɛrtoʊ ˈriːkoʊ/ C1	proper noun - a Caribbean island and unincorporated U.S. territory
essential /ɪˈsɛnʃəl/ B2	adjective - absolutely necessary; extremely important
terrible /ˈtɛrəbəl/ B1	adjective - extremely bad or serious; causing fear or dread
crack /kræk/ C1	noun (slang) - something extremely enjoyable or addictive, used informally (e.g., "that food is like crack")
attached /əˈtætʃt/ B2	adjective - emotionally or physically connected to someone or something
diagnosed /ˌdaɪəɡˈnoʊzd/ B2	verb (past participle) - identified the nature of (an illness or problem) by examination
stationary /ˈsteɪʃənɛri/ B2	adjective - not moving; staying in one place
emotional /ɪˈmoʊʃənəl/ B2	adjective - relating to feelings; showing strong feelings
connected /kəˈnɛktɪd/ B2	adjective - joined or linked together; related
culture /ˈkʌltʃər/ B2	noun - the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or group
pressure /ˈprɛʃər/ B1	noun - the continuous influence or stress placed on a person to do something
journey /ˈdʒɜːrni/ B2	noun - an act of traveling from one place to another, especially over a long distance
embarrass /ɪmˈbærəs/ B2	verb - to cause someone to feel self-conscious or ashamed
authentic /ɔːˈθɛntɪk/ C1	adjective - of undisputed origin; genuine; true to its cultural roots
ingredients /ɪnˈɡriːdiənts/ B1	noun (plural) - the foods or substances that are combined to make a dish

Key Grammar Structures

• If there was one pivotal thing, as a young Puerto Rican growing up, it is the arroz con gandules, the rice, the essence.

  ➔ Conditional Sentence (Type 2/3 - mixed)

  ➔ The sentence uses a hypothetical structure: "If there *was*... it *is*..." This blends a past unreal condition (if things had been different in the past) with a present result. The phrase 'pivotal thing' functions as a noun phrase.

• I grew up in a Puerto Rican household, but I'm fourth generation.

  ➔ Past Simple & Present Simple with 'but' conjunction

  ➔ The sentence contrasts a past experience ("grew up") with a present state ("I'm fourth generation"). The 'but' indicates a contrast or exception. 'Fourth generation' is an adjective phrase describing his lineage.

• I don't know Spanish, I can't dance salsa, and I can't roll my R's, arroz.

  ➔ Negative Parallel Structure with Coordinating Conjunctions

  ➔ The sentence uses a series of negative statements with the same grammatical structure ("I don't know...", "I can't dance...", "I can't roll..."). The 'and' connects these parallel clauses. 'Arroz' is used as an exclamation, highlighting his inability to pronounce it correctly.

• You are more Puerto Rican than me.

  ➔ Comparative Adjective

  ➔ The sentence uses the comparative form of the adjective 'Puerto Rican' ('more Puerto Rican') to compare the degree to which two people identify with Puerto Rican culture. 'Than' introduces the point of comparison.