friday loving: this poem “making tortillas”

Making Tortillas by Alicia Gaspar de Alba

for Liliana, “la Argentina”

My body remembers

what it means to love slowly,

what it means to start

from scratch;

to soak the maiz,

scatter bonedust in the limewater,

and let the seeds soften

overnight.

.

Sunrise is the best time

for grinding masa,

cornmeal rolling out

on the metate like a flannel sheet.

Smell of wet corn, lard, fresh

morning love and the light

sound of clapping.

.

Pressed between the palms,

clap-clap

thin yellow moons –

clap-clap

still moist, heavy still

from last night’s soaking

clap-clap

slowly start finding their shape

clap-clap.

.

My body remembers

the feel of the griddle,

beads of grease sizzling

under the skin, a cry gathering

like an air bubble in the belly

of the unleavened cake. smell

of baked tortillas all over the house,

all over the hands still

hot from clapping, cooking.

Tortilleras, we are called,

grinders of maiz, makers, bakers,

slow lovers of women.

The secret is starting from scratch.

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valia and mo write about cooking. (part 2 of “there’s something about cooking”)

so yesterday i wrote about cooking and how amazing it can be. and then 2 beloveds wrote back such beautiful, whole comments that i want to share them here as today’s post. read for today, valia’s and mo’s takes on cooking:

Valia wrote: I love cooking, I also love to eat, but cooking for me is the best part. It is like being a bit of an alchemist combining colors and flavors. Cooking has also a bit to do with painting, with using colors, usually when the colors of the ingredients look good together before cooking, they will also taste good. And using spices, mixing spices; it is like sprinkling magic powders to the cauldron.

Cooking for me is a way of meditation, of leaving all that bothers me outside of the kitchen and I can concetrate on the touch , smell and flavors. Cooking is an action of love, for me and for my beloveds, nurturing our bodies and our souls. I love discovering new recipes, through the whole world there are such rich cooking traditions!!. All ingredients that come from the earth are noble, from a bean to an artichoke, each a treasure.

I also love what cooking means, usually traditions passed from woman to woman.

And talking about films about food, two I also loved: Tampopo, a japanese film about the search for the perfect noodle soup; and Babette´s feast, how good food nurtures the soul.

Mo wrote: I am so happy that you have written about cooking. It is soooooo therapeutic. I remember a point in my life in the recent past where things seemed to be going in all directions but the right one. I took a hermitage retreat where i could cook. I decided to only make Kenyan food which i missed being that i hadn’t been home for a while. So there i am in early spring looking out of the kitchen window at a horse paddock as i make mukimo, ngwacis, nduma and chapati.

As i reflected on all the love that had gone into getting this food to my table and the source of it all; The tears within me slowly dried up, a smile and a song found their way to my lips and best of all i reconnected with Him/Her who is the source of all being.

I love the art and soul goes into making good food. I remember with great love my mum who introduced me to joys of cooking, i enjoy watching people with hearty appetites eating one of my creations, knowing that at times i shall never be able to recreate that dish exactly.

M, we need to get together and cook up a storm soonest. I already see a real stir-fry with atleast 10 veggies, two good salads and this sourcream apple pie that is to die for.

Love you!

—————————-

this is all for today beloveds. may you be blessed and touched and healed and overwhelmed by the joy in cooking; the beauty of words and the communion in friendship!

love, love, m

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there’s something about cooking…

yesterday, i got home with a mission to cook everything! there’s just something so healing…therapeutic about cooking. i’m not sure what it is – maybe it is the “goal and results oriented-ness” of it. maybe it is the ingredients and how yummy they all smell. (who hasn’t felt closer to the earth from touching a cucumber or green pepper?!) maybe it’s the possibility of mixing all these various things and making one beautiful thing. don’t know what exactly it is but there’s something about cooking.

and i’m not the only one who knows this. the movie julie and julia is entirely based on food. chocolate. like water for chocolate. maya angelou’s book the welcome table which merges her writing and stories with wholesome recipes. reality tv programmes based around food and cooking and becoming “king” or “queen” of it. cooking as art. cooking as the thing around which families gather. there’s something about cooking.

or the joy that i feel when i have especially my parents over and how it makes me want to set out a banquet! i insist to my sister, “we must have more than one meat option!” and how even in the bible God promises in that psalm that is currently my absolute favourite “i’ll set a banquet before you”. even God’s making us feasts! anyway, back to yesterday and cooking everything.

especially, i wanted to make cookies. chocolate chip ones to be specific. and no, it didn’t seem like an issue that i didn’t have chocolate, let alone chocolate chips in the house, i was just intent to bake them! it’s been years since i baked. there is one year when i baked almost everyday – not because i worked at a bakery – which i didn’t. it was my way of processing something i think. with each successful cake or experimental cookie, something healed inside. but that’s a story for another day! :- ) so i  kinda used to be quite the baker but  i couldn’t remember how that’s really done.

so using a trusty recipe i’d printed off of a foodie site i like (raising foodies), i set to baking. and all through, i am not at all sure what will come out – i don’t even know what texture i need to be going for! but still i mix and stir and add and bake. and i love it. i discover that one can build that coveted “upper body strength” from this stirring and stirring and stirring some more! then i get to kneading and pressing down. at this point, i realise that i am not even making cookies! don’t cookies get dropped onto the baking sheet? i adjust the outcome to biscuits. so now i’m making biscuits.

i get them in the oven, not sure how they’ll come out at all but my aim is that they be cooked – whatever they are. i’m peeping through the glass door of the oven, curious what’s happening in there. they rise abit. tick. that’s good. they begin to brown. that’s another good. they hold their shape kinda. that’s excellent. they smell so sweet. super excellent. long story short, they come out, brown and looking sweet and so sugary, i can see the sugar crumbs peeping out the top of each – kinda like i sprinkled sugar on them! already, i am worried for SweePea’s teeth!

i am so pleased and i’m still not done. i am cooking everything, remember? i cut up a piece of a rather big pumpkin and i put it on the stove to boil. i remove spinach from the fridge. in between all this, i make a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich for SweePea and her sitter. a healthy one with super red and sweet tomato, with kinda strong but good cheese. it all feels so healthy. then i experiment with sprinkling a touch of mint on it just to get more colour and that doesn’t work at all. take it from me: don’t put mint on a grilled cheese sandwich! :- ) makes it taste odd. but we eat. SweePea eats. her sitter KV eats. it’s okay.

at this point my energy is spent and i am hapi with my work. the cookies which are now biscuits taste uncannily like some biscuits i usually crave from a coffee shop where they serve them with cappucino. i’m so psyched that i’ve discovered how “they” do it. the pumpkin gets ready in that brilliant orange. the spinach is done with hints of red tomato hanging out inside. i’m so pleased. i take SweePea to take her bath.

there’s honestly something about cooking! what about you beloveds? do you cook? and if so, what does it do for you, other than feed a hungry tummy? do share!

love, love, m

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