“Fire, water, earth, wind, and time. These were the [elements] that started to define me spiritually and pushed me to becoming the type of cook that I wanted to be.”

Antonio Eliaz López

Photo By/Courtesy of Antonio Eliaz López

A relationship with nature is what makes Antonio Eliaz López a "cocinero" (cook). He reflects upon this, claiming he became a cook only after developing a relationship with fire. For him, cooking is about fire, water, air, and earth. He underscores that the most important element in cooking is time – as in the time given to the process of cooking and time shared with those we eat with. Cooking is a gift of time. (01/18/2019)

"I believe we all have an ancestral voice guiding our cooking."

Videos

1) Searching for Land, Place, Home

2) The Spirit of a Cook

3) Ancestral Guidance: The Gift of Time

4) Reclaiming Ancestral Foods (photo gallery)

5) Antonio's Full Food Story (Audio)

Recipes

Nohpalli Fruit Salad

By: Antonio Eliaz Lopez
Type: Mexican
Serves: 4 People
 Cook Time: 25 minutes

Resources

Scholarly Reflection: “Aquí No Tiramos Nada: Antonio Eliaz Lopez and Histories of the Goodlife”

Scholarly Sources: Food, Environment, and Latinx.

Full Food Story (audio): UTEP's IOH Collection

"Food is a right, not a privilege."
“Jesus ate cheese!”