It was a beautiful evening in Mexico City. We were seated at a terrace restaurant overlooking the Zócalo, the central square of the city — one of the largest city squares in the world. Just across, you could see the Palacio Nacional with its 2,000 square meters of Diego Rivera’s brightly colored murals. The “Murales del Palacio Nacional,” depict key events and figures in Mexican history, including the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish, the Mexican Revolution, and the struggle for independence.
My favorite murals are the ones that illustrate agriculture and food. “El Mundo debe a México,” or “The World owes Mexico” lists many of the food crops that originate from Mexico. Among these is avocado — Persea americana, magnoliids, Laurales — which was first domesticated about 5,000 years ago in mesoamerica or what is today the region covering Mexico and Guatemala. Avocado trees were an important food source for the ancient Maya and Aztec civilizations, and the fruit played a central role in their diet and culture.
Avocado is still a widely used ingredient in modern Mexican cuisine. It is used in a variety of dishes, including salads, sandwiches, dips, and salsas. One of the most popular dishes that features avocado is guacamole, which is made by mashing avocado with onions, tomatoes, and other ingredients to create a flavorful dip or sauce. Guacamole is ubiquitous in Mexican restaurants; it is served with tortilla chips or used as a topping for tacos, burritos, and other Mexican dishes.
As we took in the breathtaking view, our waiter, Crispin, approached our table with a funny look on his face and three shots of Herradura tequila in hand.
“Salud!” he exclaimed as he placed the shots on the table, along with a plate of lime wedges and a bowl of salt.
We eagerly grabbed our shots and followed the traditional tequila ritual — lick the salt, take the shot, and then bite into a lime wedge.
Except, we didn’t really take the shot. We drank in small sips and took the time to appreciate the delicately flavored reposado tequila with its hints of oak and caramel. We clearly disappointed Crispin by not ordering more shots and deviating from the tourist stereotype of gulping the smooth tequila as if it were Diet Coke. But we did order food. Guacamole of course.
Crispin decided to show off his skills and prepared a fresh batch of guacamole right at our table. As he mashed the avocados and mixed in the other ingredients, we watched in excitement, ready to dig in.
However, as soon as we took a bite of the guac, we realized that Crispin had gone a little too heavy on the salt. It was practically inedible.
“Uh, Crispin,” one of us ventured tentatively, “I think you might have overdone it on the salt.”
But Crispin just chuckled and gave us a wink, his smirk never leaving his face. “Ah, it’s all part of the experience, my friends!” he exclaimed, still with that annoying smirk.
We tried to enjoy the rest of our evening, but it was hard to get past the salty guacamole. As we left the restaurant, we couldn’t help but laugh at the unforgettable Crispin and his penchant for over-salting everything. We may have had a memorable evening, but we couldn’t stop talking about Crispin and his CRISPR-like name.
CRISPR (pronounced “crisper”) is a revolutionary gene-editing technology that allows scientists to make precise changes to the DNA of living organisms. The expression “CRISPR is amazing” became a meme for biologists because the capabilities of CRISPR and its potential to make massive advances in various fields, such as medicine, agriculture, and environmental science, are deemed limitless. CRISPR has the potential to cure genetic diseases, improve crop yields, and even eradicate pests, among many other applications. The speed and precision with which it can be used to modify the genome has generated a lot of excitement and optimism about its potential to improve and transform various aspects of our lives.
In a bout of self-depreciation, biologists like to tweet implausible pictures or situations tagged with “CRISPR is amazing”. Did you know that scientists can have a great sense of humor?
Is there a moral to this story, or is it simply a humorous recounting of an evening at a restaurant in Mexico City. One takeaway is to not take oneself too seriously — even if things don’t go as planned, it’s important to be able to laugh and make the most of the situation.
These days, many years later, when we get bad service at a restaurant or get served a poorly prepared dish, instead of getting upset, we simply shout: “Crispin is amazing!”
When life gives you inedible guacamole, make a fun memory out of it.
Notes and acknowledgments
I thank ChatGPT for assisting with the writing, DALL-E 2 for producing the image below, and Tolga Bozkurt and Sebastian Schornack for sharing this and many other travel memories.
“Mexican farmer harvesting avocados in a Diego Rivera mural style” by DALL-E 2
Check the related post: How I used ChatGPT to write “Crispin is amazing”
