Voices in the Kitchen - Ch. 5 The Literary Kitchen

The fifth and final chapter of Voices in the Kitchen ties food to literature and how food has inspired and been used symbolically throughout the ages. Abarca compares her ideas to literature that uses food as exploration of the senses and ways with which we navigate relationships (symbolic interaction). Abarca references Latino/a writers who have used food as inspiration or even autoethnographically. Once again Abarca is elevating working class women who choose to express themselves through their cooking. Sazon challenges binary thinking, as these women cook without recipes, and use memory and their senses to create. These women are living examples that demonstrate how food and knowledge feed both the body and soul.

Abarca draws comparison between selected literature and the women’s agency. The kitchen provides a safe-haven of support through comadres and family. It is a feminist space where the women feel confident and body positive. They are not defined by “a man’s gaze” as their only worth. The women claim their bodies as their own. This is a retort against white feminists who denounce the kitchen as a place of patriarchal control.

The kitchen can be a magical place where the past connects with the present. The kitchen is a place where working class women can be lifted up! The theme throughout this study is not to dismiss working class women, as they are active agents of their own lives. It is the kitchen where these women find self-discovery and acceptance. These women are food scientist and the kitchen is their lab where they experiment not only with food, but with their hearts and society.