Air Date: Week of October 19, 2018

Paloma cooking with her mother, Marcia Fontes. (Photo: Courtesy of Paloma Beltran)

Traditional family recipes can go back through the generations, and that can present challenges when members of the newest generation go vegan. Ratatouille can be one answer, as writer and UMass Boston student Paloma Beltran tells us.

Transcript

CURWOOD: More and more young people today are choosing to eat less meat as a way to take better care of the planet and themselves. But college student Paloma Beltran says it’s not always easy.

BELTRAN: My name is Paloma Beltran, I’m from Mexicali Baja California and I’m a student in Boston, Massachusetts.

One of my favorite things about visiting my family is my mom’s cooking.
My mom, to me, is an undiscovered celebrity masterchef. Her name is Marcia, and she is definitely the cook of the house. It’s amazing how everything she makes comes out tasting so good, like from a five star restaurant. I have always praised her culinary skills, I’m like her number one fan.

So when I went vegan it was a much harder job for her. I stopped eating a lot of her food because it contains dairy or animal products. She uses this seasoning called norswisa, which is made up of ground chicken – it basically contains the waddle, the beak, the legs… It’s a very common seasoning in Mexico.

So I was a little bit hesitant to continue eating her food, even though she claimed it was 100% vegan -- but I still did. Until one day – I caught her in the act. She was sprinkling some norswisa into a veggie broth. After that, I completely stopped eating her food, for months. And she was heartbroken.

It took her a while to try and incorporate vegan ingredients. I really didn’t expect her to, but she wanted to; which was very sweet of her. We started working together on vegan recipes -- things we could share. One of our favorite dishes is ratatouille. It’s very simple to make. It basically consists of eggplant, cebolla, tomates, tomato paste, vegan butter, ajo, and fresh parsley. You’d start off with a Pyrex and at the bottom you’d put vegan butter, onions, and salt and pepper. Then you’d soak slices of the berenjena in water, that way it softens up.

Once the eggplant is softened you can start making layers: of berenjena, tomato, onions, tomato paste, and seasoning. You’d continue making layers up to the top of the dish. Once you got to the top you’d sprinkle some fresh perejil, and then pop it into the oven, around 350 degrees. You’d leave it there until it’s softened up, and everything harmonizes. And that’s our favorite dish.

[MUSIC: Ten Years Gone (Jimmy Page and Robert Plant) Performed by The Hazelrigg Brothers on Songs we Like 2017 http://hazelriggbrothers.com/wp/]

CURWOOD: Next time on Living on Earth, the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as clean drinking water grows more scarce.

BROMBERG: It's a ticking time bomb. Should pandemic disease break out in Gaza people will start moving to the fences. And they won't be moving with stones or with rockets they'll be moving with empty buckets desperately calling out for clean water.

CURWOOD: The water crisis in Gaza next time on Living on Earth.