The “About Me” section is not only about me. I pay homage here to all the people that have influenced my life in the past, family and friends, and those who still do in the present; where would any of us be without the help, advice and example of others wiser, more patient and knowledgeable? Without their care, assistance and sometimes tough love, we would all be clueless and helpless.
I think fondly of all the generations of Mexicans and people of other nationalities that are gone but that somehow live through me now, those forerunners that chopped chile jalapeño the exact way I do, stirred the salsa with that funny twist of the wrist and those who found immeasurable pleasure in food because I carry around their chromosomic legacy; I owe, without the shadow of a doubt, 90% of my genes to the latter group, those who won Tacos al Pastor eating competitions while donning groin cloths, those finding delight in tapa after tapa, washed down with Rioja wine while fearing their corsets would explode and those who gobbled kibbeh and tabulleh at light-speed-before the simoom hit and left the food ready to deep fry. I once read we carry a DNA baggage from fourteen generations back. I owe a debt of gratitude to all those faces now obscured by death, lost in time but not forgotten by my palate. I wish I could go back and meet them, if only to share, recipes, experiences and musings on life over a meal preferably prepared by them, as I am certain that everything tasted much better in the past.
We all must go the way of all flesh. Some of us are blessed by knowing our grandparents; a few get the chance to share a portion of time with their great-grandparents. We learn so much from them without even realizing it and by the time we have some kind of awareness and a semblance of appreciation for them they are already gone.
Tempus fugit. Time flies.
However, and in spite of all the culinary proclivities I might have inherited from my ancestors, I credit my Mom as the greatest influence in my love for cooking (and in everything else, for that matter). Gracias mamá, POR TODO! Va por ti!
My Past
My name is Yazzy. I was born in Mexico, D.F., now officially known as Mexico City, where, after attending a private all-girl school from Kindergarden to High School, I went to college to study Public Accounting. To tell you the truth I was not as interested on cooking back then as I was on eating. My all-consuming passions at the time were reading and writing. I was not very fond of Accounting; it’s a noble career just not my cup of hot Mexican chocolate. A few years after college, I lived in the UK for 6 months. That experience was an eye-opener in every sense. For the first time I met people whose idiosyncracies were so different to those of Mexicans; not better, not worse, just different; people are people wherever you go. Also, I learned Mexican cuisine is universally celebrated.
Living in the UK helped me improve my command of English and I later turned my love of the language into a profitable one-woman-orchestra translation business.
Around that time the Good Lord in Heaven graciously bestowed upon me my biggest earthly blessing, my support when I am weak and the one who never fails to believe in me even when doubts take a dark hold of my heart: my husband (whom I will be lovingly but sassily referring to as “The Gringo“, Prince of Wise-Crack and Count of Best-Ever Comebacks). My man is loyal to a fault and such a good person that he is often taken advantage of; to balance things out and make him almost, but not quite, perfect he has such a wide and witty retort repertoire that he should have pursued a career as a lawyer or, at the very least, as a professional internet troll.Although he is an American Citizen, we met in Mexico City, where we married and lived for six years. I am sorry to say that El Gringo never really became proficient at Cervantes’ language, but he knows, for sure, all the bad words.
He, however, will not get away with it unscathed and will have to atone for all his sins of word by trying every single one of the dishes we make here, until his tongue either becomes tame or seared by high-octane tides of wonderful chile pepper.
But I digress. We later moved to Tijuana, where I started my paperwork to become a permanent resident of the US. While living there I was adopted as a true family member by one of my best friends “Jo”.
The rest of the family here is our Menagerie, indisputably led by Cicero,
master of eloquent barking and rabbit-chasing pundit; Zoltan (“Why So Serious?”), serial napper and hedonist “meower” extraordinaire, and Blakey, a feline boasting the strongest backbone and the bravest heart, because not only did he stand up to Cicero when the latter threw down the gauntlet but he actively pursued a friendship with him, to such an extent that the bed you see him lying on in the picture belongs to Cicero. Now they are besties and Blakey keeps Cicero and I company when we go for walks, even when it’s snowing heavily. I would not trade this entourage for the world.
My Present
Flash-forward to this day and you will find us living on the Frontier, in one of the US top-five coldest states. The environs of these GPS coordinates, just a stone-throw away from Canada, couldn’t be more different to those of Mexico City’s in every way. Or colder. That is why I will sometimes refer to my thereabouts as the “tundra” or the”permafrost”. When I first got here, on November 2013, I was smitten with the austere beauty of the rolling hills, the vast expanse of the prairies, the canopies of snow that beautified every portion of the landscape. It is an unrequited love though, as life is hard and the environment hostile in the winter; deadly if you’re not careful but still my favorite season.
During the summer it gets extremely and unbelievably hot, humid and mosquito-plagued (by the way they love Mexican food, namely Yours Truly), while the whole area becomes one humongous morass during the spring thaw. I often say, inaccurately but humorously, that we have four seasons here: perma-snowy, moving-sand puddly, simoom windy and cough-cough dusty. Whatever the climactic whims of this spot of planet Earth might be, it has captured my heart and imagination. It has much to teach me, especially in the way of appreciating everything I have.
I have devoted a lot of time, since I moved here, to learn as much as I can about growth and long-term investment. Studying Accounting has made things much easier when it comes to assess the financial state of the different companies although this endeavor is not for the faint of heart. There are no shortcuts or hocus pocus; if you invest at all it must only be after a thorough study of hard facts and data. The NYSE is a habitat that has proven itself, ad nausea, much more hostile than any tundra. I have been able, however, to reap some modest gains.
My parents have stayed behind in Mexico; I visit as often as I can. I miss my country, my family and friends, and Mexican food badly.
That, and the fact that I not only channel my creativity through cooking but I also use it as a means to reminisce of cherished moments shared with others, now departed, in their kitchens are the main reasons behind my starting this blog. I am not an expert, I am not a chef; I am only a woman who loves to cook, but mostly loves to eat and may I humbly add that most of my dishes have had reviews running the gamut from very good to rave (but being completely honest there have also been very dark chapters in my kitchen history while cooking, or should I say perpetrating, like every other cook, some disastrous dishes; but hey, whoever is without charring, salting at Dead Sea levels and/or under-cooking cast the first pan!) So, no decent real Mexican food around? No problem! In the quintessential spirit of the Frontier if it is not available right here right now, you go ahead and make your own, baby.
My Future
Only God knows where this new adventure will lead me. I have been given a unique opportunity of putting two of my biggest passions to work: cooking and writing; I have no intention of wasting it. If I have a self-portrait in my mind right now it is that of a woman enormously enriched, not only in regards to cooking but also by her interactions with other human beings on the internet. I see myself better, wiser, kinder, (but hopefully not fat after all that cooking, trying and testing) someone with more creases and wrinkles because I have laughed much but also because I have worked hard to give you the very best. My wish is that you will find this blog useful, amusing, a place where you can learn and where you can also feel free to share and teach.
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