This is the English version of the post published on Con P de Párkinson. The original Spanish can be found here.
In my early years in New York, I ended up dining more than once at a Mexican restaurant near the office. It was a great place to meet up, the food was excellent and the margaritas, just amazing. In 2011, halfway through my stay in Europe, I got some terrible news: it was closing. They told me it was the same old story: an absurdly high increase of the rental price. What I did not know was that there was more to that story.
In September 2021, Parkinson's Life, a website of the European Parkinson's Disease Association (EPDA), published an article and a podcast interviewing Zarela Martínez, a Mexican chef living with Parkinson’s. I started reading the article and learned that she had had her own restaurant in New York, and then I thought “wait a minute! Zarela… Zarela… Zarela was the name of the restaurant we used to go to!”.
Thanks to our colleague Richelle Flanagan of the Women's Parkinson's Project, who had interviewed her, I got in touch with Zarela. I told her about our mission here in Con P de Párkinson and I suggested recording a program on Onda PK. It turns out that Zarela is not only a chef: she has written recipe books, hosted a TV show, gives talks on how to live well with Parkinson's and even has her own podcast with one of her sons, also a chef. She was delighted with the idea and you can listen to, and watch, the result on Onda PK (in Spanish).
We talked about a thousand things. Zarela was born in Agua Prieta (Mexico) in the state of Sonora. She spent the first years of her life in a family ranch and started writing her mom’s recipes from a very young age as she watched her mother cook. Her book Food from my Heart is the result of compiling all those recipes, and many more, along with stories about her life.
Another of Zarela's projects is to tell the world that it is possible to live well with Parkinson's, even if we have to make adjustments. She explained her kitchen “building blocks” project, that is, having certain things ready-made and close by that will make our lives easier. One of the examples she gave was pico de gallo, which calls for fresh tomatoes, onion, cilantro, chilis and garlic. It can be stored in the fridge, we can throw in some eggs and boom, we have some Mexican-style eggs, or with zucchini, corn, and cheese. In the Recetas section of Con P de Párkinson you will find Zarela’s recipes so you can give them a try and add a little spark to your everyday meals.
We hope you will try some of the recipes and, if you do, tell us about it. Do you use any tricks in the kitchen to make your life easier?
Notes:
If you speak Spanish, check out this episode of Onda PK podcast to understand the title of this blogpost.
Also, the book has not been translated into Spanish yet so, to any publishing house reading this post, let us know if you are interested in doing so!
Translation into English by Isabel Sáez Jiménez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)