91 European culinary canon. We value our techniques because we value our culture and our people. This translates to how we source and work with our ingredients. Of course our ingredients are hyper-local, seasonal, organic and so on. But much more important to us is that they are grown by farmers and producers who have good labor practices. We buy directly from our farmers and build lasting relationships with them. The ingredients we use are dictated by the season and the farmer. We don't want to strain the farmer and their lands with our demands, but rather cook what they are able to harvest. We adapt our respective family and cultural recipes to present dishes that exist at the crossroads of our cultures, but are still accountable to the land where we are cooking them and the farmers who are producing the ingredients. You can see this approach best in our focus on corn, an indigenous Mexican ingredient that has changed the world. Corn is going through a dangerous moment where there is so much focus on it as a trendy crop, but not on the farmers growing it. International markets are turning corn into an exploitable commodity crop, where multinational corporations are creating bubble economies manipulating and exploiting Mexican farmers to export their best heirloom corn to foreign markets, leaving very little for national consumption. This means that farmers lose out on eating the biodiversity of their own fields and that their cultures, which have traditionally been so closely tied to their corn crops, are being changed. Saqib Keval: It is useless to talk about sustainability, and being environmentally friendly, if we are not including practices that prioritize culture and the sustainability of the people working the land and producing the food. It is not enough to pay a just price for the corn crop, or any other ingredient, if consumers are not invested in the wellbeing of the farmers and their communities. Being sustainable and environmentally friendly is creating genuine relationships with the farmers, to ensure that they are able to protect their seeds, their culture and continue to have their cultural ingredients as a central part of their diets and communities. Mestizaje Rebelde Norma Listman: Mestizaje is a term unique to the Spanish language and the context of Mexico, but we can also use it as a framework to understand much of what happens to food cultures in the Global South. Mestizaje speaks of the blending of cultures over time. While mestizaje can happen during a horizontal exchange between people, it can sometimes occur as a result of colonization and occupation. We use the term because it does not hide the fucked up histories, but also acknowledges the resilience required to survive in these times. Mestizaje is how new cultures are created under shared circumstances, often as a survival strategy. Saqib Keval: Mestizaje rebelde is the rebellious nature that can exist in mestizaje. It's a term we use to say that it's not just about our cultures and people coming together, but also how we are supporting one another’s liberation movements and struggles for justice. It's a rebellious mix of people and culture. Saqib Keval: We never wanted to open a restaurant. We had each opened many restaurants for other people and, after so many years in the industry, we knew how broken and hopeless it can be. But we also saw the possibilities of what a restaurant can achieve in community. Norma had moved back home to Mexico City, and I would come and visit her often, and we’d cook together. We had been offered the opportunity to open a restaurant, and we reluctantly took it.
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