Preparing Food
- Chandler Museum
Few things unite a culture more than food.
“We had to make everything from scratch. If we were going to make tamales, we would start with the corn. We had to fix the corn, grind it, grind the chile pods, make the chile, and then make the tamales. If we wanted corn tortillas we had to start with the dried corn because at the stores, there weren’t any Mexican products at all… I was eleven and my sister Carmen was about nine years old and we already knew how to make tortillas because my mother showed us how to cook.” -Esperanza Moncivaiz
Sometimes the anticipation of a favorite meal was more than we could bear.
“I remember my cousin because if I was making tortillas I didn’t want anybody eating them before dinner but he would grab one and eat it with butter.” -Anita Rosales
“I mean, in the restaurants you can get tamales any time- but homemade tamales were specially made on the 24th [of December], and you have them ready by 12 o'clock midnight.” -Frank Flores
What family recipes do you remember?