I got it from my Momma

Cooking is an art. That poetic way in which we turn products into food. The art of peeling, cutting, seasoning – the art of transformation. I am not a chef, nor a cook. I never studied gastronomy, but I think I share a similar passion than those who choose to dedicate their lives to the art of cooking. 

Everything I know, I learned from my mother. When I was a little girl, I would sit on the kitchen counter and watch her cook. “Pass me the onion,” “the salt,” she would say, and that was my first role as a kitchen helper. I watched how she combined ingredients, tasted them, and then added more – that’s how I learned the art of “sazon” (seasoning). Without ever taking a single measurement, I learned to cook with the senses; through smell, with the eyes, and with the sensation of textures. 

And it was like this that I discovered that cooking is also a language, and a medium to communicate all the feelings that pass through our body. Gastronomy is a language with which we can talk, love and even advocate. For me, cooking has become something much bigger than just a talent or a hobby – it has become a form of expression. 

My cooking has no school nor technique, everything I cook is an experiment. Through my cooking I challenge myself to invent new recipes with the ingredients I have at my disposal, based more on creativity than on planning. I get excited about challenging traditional recipes, altering them and adding my own touch. But more than anything, I’m obsessed with creating vegetarian recipes that leave a meat lover both satisfied and impressed – this is my daily challenge in the kitchen. And therefore through cooking, I make a political, environmental, social, and moral statement, demonstrating that it is not necessary to kill an animal for a meal to be memorable. 

Thank you mother, for sharing with me your “sazon”, your passion, and all your love through cooking. For teaching me that through food we can speak, transmit our personal essence and all the emotions we carry. 

Through food I speak, and I have a lot to say. 

Buen provecho,

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