When starting this
project, our group reflected upon flavors that evoked memories of cultural
celebrations, family meals, and convivencia diaria. The variety of flavors that
we settled upon parallels the diversity of our group members. Specifically, our
Mexican, Salvadoran, American and Indian roots inspired us. Despite the
cultural differences of our group, we bonded over the importance of food in our
families. Food has provided a way to learn and spend time together—in other words,
a space of convivencia.
Food
and food preparation also intrinsically tie into the creation of culture. When
one smells the aroma of a meal being prepared, an immediate identification
process occurs in which one begins to associate certain events with particular
dishes. As these different events multiply, one’s identity emerges.
Yet,
not only does food preparation allow us to develop strong bonds with our family
and to ourselves, cooking a meal from scratch becomes a way to connect with
what we eat. We acknowledge the labor and sacrifice that went into producing
food, and this acknowledgement also humbles us and fills our souls with
gratitude.
We
decided Agua de Avena would be our contributing dish to our decolonized
potluck. Providing a fresh, healthy beverage perfectly complements the food
contributions of other groups. Food is life: it feeds the body, and perhaps
even the soul. Hence, it is crucial to care about what one ingests.
The conviviencia that
emerges from cooking together reminds us of the powerful relationship between
people and food. This is more than a food project; this collective experience
creates consciousness, as it is our responsibility to decolonize our
diets in order to live for an authentic, good, and healthy life. Below are recipes that we have recorded upon considering decolonizing our diets. We hope that you will test and enjoy them!