|
Cooking Up a Satisfying
Tale
My mother claims that
she couldn’t make it to
the doctor to give birth
to me at a hospital so
she had to give birth to
me on the kitchen table
with a midwife at my
aunt’s house in Mexico.
She loved to mention
this because she found
it ironic that I was
born on a kitchen table
and yet did everything I
could to avoid being in
the kitchen to help her
cook. My mother kicked
me out of the kitchen
when I was twelve
because I once stirred
the rice on the pan with
attitude and disdain.
I was upset that I was
expected to learn how to
cook and heat tortillas
for my father and my
brothers who were
treated like they were
superior because they
were men. I always
fought with my mother
over this injustice in
the kitchen and she
would just tell me “Ni
modo.” When she finally
got fed up with me and
kicked me out she told
me, “If you are not
going to do it with love,
then don’t do it at all.”
After that I swore to
stay out of the kitchen
forever and marry a man
who would love me for me
and not for my domestic
abilities or cooking
skills.
When I met my husband
Emmanuel I loved the
fact that he was French
because I am such a
Francophile. I also
loved that on our second
date he cooked for me
and was trying so hard
to impress me with his
cooking skills. |
 |
 I
made it clear to him
that if we got married I
would not be his maid or
ever cook for him and he
married me anyway. Since
we opposed the war and
“W” getting re-elected
we decided to move to
France to start a new
life. While in Paris I
gave birth to my second
son and I quickly got
bored and had to do
something besides stay
home and write.
When I first told my
husband that I wanted to
go to cooking school, I
had to prepare him with,
“I have an idea I want
to propose to you, but I
don’t want you to laugh.”
He looked at me not sure
where I was going with
that, but he kind of
guessed it might cost a
lot of money. “How much
is this going to cost
me?” He asked
immediately. “Wait.
Listen to my proposal. I
want to go to cooking
school. I want to write
a novel inspired by my
experience in cooking
school…” He was not
convinced. So I had to
make the deal more juicy,
“If you pay for cooking
school I’ll cook dinner
every night… Well almost
every night.” My husband
smiled and loved the
idea.
I went to Le Cordon Bleu
cooking school in Paris
and at times especially
when the weather was hot
I wondered why I would
subject myself through
the torture of cooking
for 12 hours. Ay! When I
eventually completed my
courses and got my
diploma in Cuisine and
was called “Chef” I was
proud of myself because
now if my mother and my
sisters were to tease me
about not cooking for my
husband I could tell
them, “I know how to
cook, I just choose not
to.”
My cooking school
experiences and my life
in Paris were the
inspiration for Hungry
Woman in Paris. I wanted
to take Latinas to Paris
so they could experience
a delicious and erotic
journey to self-discovery
with my protagonist
Canela. I also wanted to
explore my relationship
with food and the many
hungers Latinas and all
women have. Isn’t it
time to nurture
ourselves, feed our
bodies and our soul, and
fulfill all our desires
and fantasies? Our lives
must be the main course;
life is delicious when
it is.
Josefina Lopez is best
known for authoring the
play and coauthoring the
Film Real Women Have
Curves. It is one of
many literary works she
has created since she
began her writing career
at 17. She is also a
poet, performer,
designer, lecturer.
By Josefina Lopez
|
