Cooking up the good life

Monica's colorful weavings made from old clothes

The first time I met Monica Hom, as I put out my hand to say hello, she said “eso es tan frio” and leaned over and kissed my cheek.  This was my first visit to the “bioferia”-the organic market in Mendoza.  Monica is a cooking instructor who sells various handmade goods at the market while promoting her classes.  I was drawn to her warm smile and glowing skin, her colorful clothing and her savory whole grain crackers immediately.

Each week when I visited the market, I would talk more with Monica about her philosophy, her cooking, her classes and students.  I gave her a copy of my cookbook and the following week she explained that she sat for hours with a dictionary pouring through the recipes AND the text.  She had many questions about everything from public health to wild rice.  I was impressed and flattered by her thorough interest not only in the recipes, but in understanding the philosophy behind them. Finally, we found a time that worked for me to attend one of her classes.

I rode with Monica and her son León to their house a half an hour West of Mendoza, in a river valley below the foothills of the Andes. “Rincon Suissa” was originally a Swiss colony, but has since become a collection of Argentinians who prefer to live closer to nature.  Monica’s house reminded me of cabins in Northern Minnesota.  A rustic stone and wood building nestled in a grove of pine trees and situated about 500 yards from the stunning desert canyon of the Mendoza river and just below the rust and green foothills of the Andes.

Before her students arrived, she prepared a quick lunch of pasta with sauce of her own preserved tomatoes, a side of roasted beets and simple salad from the market.  We also ate her hummus on her own whole wheat crostinis.  We discussed food, comparing what our kids eat, she described all the different ways Argentinians prepare potatoes, and I talked about the typical American breakfast.  It was very clear to me that we shared not only a love of food and cooking, but an understanding of the joy and the richness of preparing good, clean, whole food for ourselves and those we love.

The class I attended was the last in a series called “Cocinar con Conciencia” or Cooking with conscience.  Monica begins the course with whole grain breads and baking, continues with grains and vegetables, gluten, soy and other proetiens, seeds and dried fruits and concludes with alternative milks.  I was impressed with her breadth and depth of knowledge, her insights on creative ways to introduce family members to new and different foods, and her discussion of simple and creative ways to prepare tasty, healthy meals.  What really hit home with me was her comment that “cooking is a privilege” and we should feel honored to partake in it, and to have the opportunity to feed ourselves and others in this way.  It resonated so strongly with my own feelings about the importance of this act in our lives.

Finding the ‘bioferia’ (organic farmer’s market) has been both thrilling and surprising.  Thrilling because I can finally fulfill my desires for some of the same amenities I am lucky enough to have in my corner of the alternative food system in the US; and surprising because it is a small and very obscure segment of the culture of food here in Argentina.  While finding Spinach or Apples is as easy as a walk down the street, I have come to understand that the likelihood that any of the food I buy here is raised in a manner that is safe for the land, the people growing and harvesting it, or the consumers is virtually non-existent.

I am gaining more and more appreciation all the time of the hotbed of sustainability activism we live in, and also aware of the disparities and lack of understanding of these issues in much of the rest of the world.  Monica, in her small way, is finding a way to spread some awareness through the joy of cooking, and eating great food!