If you're like me, well, you appreciate a good story. It's one of the reasons I visit my Grandma Delia at her home in Seattle. Everything leads to a great story when I sit down with her. My only regret is that I haven't recorded our conversations. Until now.
On Sunday we spent the afternoon around the kitchen table chatting and procrastinating on the Peruvian dishes she had agreed to teach me. They included two of my favorites: Arroz al Horno (literally means Rice from the Oven) and Mom's Chicken — a dish my grandma invented in the 50s when she first arrived from Peru. Sure, we had no less than 10 hungry guests arriving two hours but there is always time for a story.
Actually, her story of the day had nothing to do with the rice or chicken but more of her role as an Ama de Casa — housewife or homemaker. In her day, she was allowed to plan the family meals but not allowed to save or manage her own hard-earned money as a seamstress. That was the husband's job. Typical you may say but a little strange for my grandma — a woman who at an early age started her own sewing business to support her mother and younger cousin. She may have been born in a different time but she grew up with responsibilities many people don't have to take on until they have their own spouse and children.
So when my grandma finally moved to Seattle to join my grandfather they maintained the same rules when it came to money. He would give her a daily allowance and she would use that to buy everything she needed for the house and kids. That lasted until the 70s when my grandma says she finally saw "the light" and opened her own bank account. However, before that happened, she managed to secretly save a quarter from her 85 cent an hour job as a seamstress. To do this she'd sew the coins into her apron from work. When she had four quarters, she would go to the bank and exchange them for a dollar. When she had 10 one dollar bills she would exchange them for a ten. Then she'd have a friend help her wire the money to her mother in Peru. She did that for years. I think it's amazing and a vivid sign of the times.
To be fair, my grandfather was an amazing, hardworking person as well. I'm sure if he was still with us, well, he'd feel awful about these strange things my grandma had to do to have her own money. And let's get real, back then, having choices was a luxury if you weren't the husband. Society was watching. That's why women like my grandma — who were self-sufficient before they were married — had to be patient and wait for the right time to speak up. Today my grandma is the most assertive and outgoing woman I know.
So, yeah, it's really easy to react to this story with, "I can't believe that! OMG, your poor grandmother! I would die!" (which actually was my kneejerk response). Now, I just feel fortunate that I am able to learn these dishes and listen to these Ama de Casa tips not because it's expected of me but because I need to eat and I'm pretty sure Mexico City doesn't have a Whole Foods hot food bar.
OK, back to the Peruvian dishes...
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