Pull Up A Chair To The Table And Get To Know Me:
Every year that I cook, I unravel a new aspect of what it means to me and what I want to communicate to others. It’s part of what I love about cooking–that it teaches me about myself and how I want to interact in this world. There are three important pillars in my work at this time: generational cooking, teaching, and accessibility.
GENERATIONAL COOKING: Humans have been cooking as long as they’ve been breathing. It’s been a way that we interact with the earth (for good and ill), our bodies, and our relationships with others. While some cooks are drawn to innovation in the kitchen, I find myself more and more curious about the ancestral knowledge passed down through our abuelas. I think it helps me feel rooted to know there is a lot for us to rediscover in the techniques that already exist, but that we have abandoned in search of “quick” and “easy.” That isn’t to say I think cooking needs to be time-consuming and hard, but I do believe it should be mindful. The more I cook, the less I want to make a name for myself, and the more I want to celebrate what our ancestors taught us.
TEACHING: There is a special part of me that comes alive in the chaos of cooking with others. I particularly love cooking with children because they are so flexible in their tastes. I often find in my classes that younger students will eat their vegetables if you help them understand the textures and describe nutritional value. It is older students who struggle with their tastebuds that they believe to be fully developed and unyielding to new flavors. Nevertheless, I love pushing students to move beyond their first impressions of food; past the binaries of “good” and “bad” both when we’re talking about nutrition and taste. I want them to understand the history of a food, the seasonality of a food, so that we stop engaging with food as simply consumers. When we view food as an investment in our bodies, as an act of gratitude to the earth, as a celebration of ancestral techniques, as a form of love for self and others–cooking together and eating together becomes less about “quick and easy” and more about worth it and meaningful.
ACCESSIBILITY: We can have no conversations about food without talking about equity and access. As much as some might hate to believe it: food IS political. This is evident by the fact that we have food deserts in one of the most developed countries in the world. Where grocery stores get placed, whether they’re stocked with processed foods or fresh foods, the demonization of certain cultural foods, who has access to start a food business–these are all political. The wellness industry has made fresh foods a luxury and BIPOC communities are most directly affected by food injustice in this country and world.
As I navigate cooking and making recipes, I want to be conscious of this reality and make sure that I’m providing cost-effective alternatives. Along with this, I commit to partnering with local organizations that seek to end food apartheid and that champion BIPOC-led grocery stores, farmers, and activists in this field.
Have more questions about my food framework? Let’s have a conversation.
