About Me

Born in Southern California to Salvadoran immigrant parents. A mother of three and wife to a Moroccan. 

My introduction to cooking began when I was very little. I remember watching my mom making food for us after rushing home from work. Growing up eating typical Salvadorean dishes such as Pupusas, carne encebollada, tamales, sopa de res and other recipes my mom made up along the way. Eventually my mom began cooking food to sell at her church. The money raised went to help with the church’s needs. Once I was older, I remember she started making tamales by the hundreds and sold them on the weekends in order to make ends meet. A core memory was my dad stirring the masa, my brother and I picking at the chicken she had just cooked and her cutting and cleaning the banana leaves in order to roll up the tamales. I honestly don’t know where she got the strength to do everything she did for our family, but it’s a drive that I have carried over to my role as a mother and wife. 

I got married very young. I was only 21 and my husband 22. Even though I had grown up watching my mom cook, I didn’t have a clue on how to manage a kitchen and merging my Salvadorean American culture with Moroccan culture was not easy at all. After I had my first born, I decided that I needed to learn how to cook. My husband bought me all sorts of cooking books, my mother in law sent me books from overseas and The Food Network became my bff. I watched the food network 24/7 aside from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse of course.  

I always thought of my mom as the queen of the kitchen and when she started asking me for cooking tips I was besides myself. The cooking queen asking ME for cooking tips and recipes? What had started as an admiration for my mom, had turned into a love for cooking and has now become my love language. 

I have so many stories to share about my mom, her cooking, cooking with my father in law in Morocco, where I have lived for the past 3 years. I am excited to share these stories with you and give you a little glimpse into being an American Salvadorean , married to a Moroccan and how I managed to merge our gastronomy.