All human beings have to eat, to feed ourselves, to survive, and yes, some of us also do it for mere pleasure. In fact, in today’s society, professional chefs have not only found a place of privilege and admiration, but even rock-n-roll kind of fame, which might make one think that the home kitchen has also earned a special place in the family. However, if we look under the microscope, it does not seem to be the norm.
If we look at the World’s greatest chefs, we can see many of the very famous ones, such as the English Gordon Ramsey, the Spanish Ferran Adriá or even the American Julia Child, who is constantly referred to as “the woman who presented French gastronomy to her compatriots” enjoy admiration and in some cases, one could even think they are idolized by their colleagues as well. In Mexico, a little over a decade ago, names such as Enrique Olvera began to resonate, as he dared to reinterpret traditional cuisine and modernize it enough to receive international accolades.
Anniversaries, holidays, birthdays, and celebrations of all kinds are a good excuse to look for a reservation if not possible in one at the dining room of any of these ‘kitchen cracks’, somewhere better suited to each person’s budget. Just see how impossible it is to get a table for Christmas parties or Valentine’s Day in many of the big cities.
And it is no secret that COVID19 made us all put these gatherings on pause for God knows how long, and that with every truce the viral waves of contagion we get, we all go out like headless chicken to the first restaurant we can. And here is where things might come a bit confusing because, even when this same situation has made us all return to our cocoons and for months we have had to feed ourselves and not go out and het it, homemade food cannot find once more that special place it had when we were young. Remember the days when the family Sunday meal took place at the grandparents’ house. We didn’t feel forced, we would rather look forward to seeing what our Nana or Auntie prepared, the wine they would serve with the taco feast or the huge paella platter. We all brought something Mom had made and proudly shared it with the family. But the mothers of my generation seem to no longer be like that. Or maybe there are just a few of them out there.
Now, I wasn’t like that either. Cooking was a weekend recreational activity. From Monday to Friday, we had a quick breakfast at home, lunch was provided by the cafeteria service of the company where we worked, and for dinner there were options that included takeout, going out to a restaurant or making a sandwich or a couple quesadillas to eat quickly in front of the TV. And life went on like this week after week. Over time and after my interest in changing professions to become a cook, the dishes I serve have become more and more homemade. Everything I cook now is from scratch and from whole ingredients mainly sourced from agricultural sources. I try not to use ultra processed products that my grandmother would not have had in her cupboard, much less in her refrigerator.
I went back to work and it seemed that the menus at home would obviously suffer. Therefore, I decided to cook on Sundays and carry on without sacrificing the quality of our dishes; much less the opportunity to continue the adventure of trying new flavors and recipes that now, due to work, I would be able to prepare.
Friends and acquaintances everywhere think that although it is a luxury to eat homemade, for them it is not worth taking the time -because you have to look for it. One has always something else to spend time on. Others think that I surely do because of my work rather than for my interest in good cooking or the gastronomic hedonism I have spread my family with. Few are those who really understand it around me. On the contrary, most only want to obtain the finished product, saying they are willing to pay for the preparations.
I find that this situation is experienced by many who, like me, also work in some area of the culinary arts or whose families enjoy good food and in the desire to share such interest with others others, they also share their know-how and even build businesses upon that know-how. Like them, I also share what I have learned, I have small gatherings with friends who have become family, hoping their families enjoy that incomparable homey flavor which have built our life stories, and thus, perhaps, one day, they’ll also miss it and try to serve these week-end meals with their loved ones wherever they decide to set their roots.
Spanish