Laura Solorio

I am third in a line of strong Yaqui women. My grandmother was from Baja California, from the town of Santa Rosalia. She came to the United States as a young woman, with her first child, escaping an abusive husband. She met my grandfather here in the U.S. He probably was also part Yaqui, coming from Todos Santos, Baja California. They had eight more children, including my mom. My dad's family probably had a Tarascan Indian heritage coming from the state of Michoacan, Mexico. After working in the fields as children and young adults, my parents married and settled in Hollister, California where they had 5 children.

Hollister is the earthquake capital of the world with several faults running through the town. Hollister had a population of about 8,000 people when I was growing up, so everyone knew everyone, or at least, everyone's family. My dad was Mayor when I was a teenager. We grew up holding respect for farm workers and the work they did. My mom took us to the cutting sheds as soon as we could hold a knife to cut apricots. We picked walnuts and prunes which we didn't like so much. My parents were no longer depending on farm work for a livelihood. I think they just wanted us to appreciate what hard work was. That resulted in all five children graduating from college and 3 of us going to graduate school.

After college, I worked for Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers Union. I worked in the laboratory in the Union sponsored clinics in Calexico, which is on the border with Mexico and in Coachella where citrus and dates are grown. After two years, I went back to school and entered the field of medicine.

I've always had an interest about where food comes from. My dad worked in a canning company for over 40 years and one can't help but appreciate food when it's growing all around you. We would take Sunday drives in the country as I listened to my parents comment about which crops or orchards had produce in season. My mom cooked home cooked meals everyday. We had home made tortillas, fresh chile, which you probably call salsa, and she was the first in her family to venture into more typical American fare such as turkey for Thanksgiving. We always made tamales for Christmas and on Easter she always made capirotada, a type of bread pudding. There was no, "Hamburger Helper," in our family.

I love to cook. I think it's difficult to eat locally if you don't cook. Most of my friends like to cook as well. I'm known for throwing parties with lots of food. My dream is to raise the corn used for masa for tamales and grind it myself. Mexican food is my favorite food. If you want to appreciate the richness of real Mexican food, watch the movie, "Like Water for Chocolate."

Adios!

Laura