A Tortilla Is Like Life: Food and Culture in the San Luis Valley of Colorado (review)

A Tortilla Is Like Life contains a preface, ten chapters, a conclusion, four appendixes, notes, a glossary of Spanish terms, bibliography, and a final index. The preface describes the community of Antonito in Conejos County (New Mexico), the period of interviews (1996–2006), and research methodology.

Chapter 1 discusses Antonito as the author’s research site, its history, the community’s self identification (90% Hispanic), and the methodology: tape-recorded interviews of nineteen women (from 32 to 94 years old), field notes, photos, places, and events. Counihan explains her experience in Antonito where she lived for ten years, her relationship with the women, and her socioeconomically elevated position in the town as an educated woman with excellent pay. She describes the purpose of the book to be collecting women’s voices in order to create a cultural mosaic that depicts these women and how they relate to food, their town, and their people. Counihan believes that her food-centered methodology emulates the testimonio, and she credits works done by other scholars.

Chapter 2 presents terminology used by women to define themselves: Mexican, Spanish, Indian, Anglo, Mexican roots, etc. Counihan points out that within one family, two or more terms might be used, which for Counihan leads to a dilemma of identification and of political, cultural, economic, and ethnic status. She also addresses language knowledge, concluding that while those born before 1950 were bilingual, those born after the 1980s knew little or no Spanish. She asserts that today there is little Spanish in the community. Her subjects explain this situation, noting that, although it was the language of the outsiders (Anglos), English was mandatory in school. Teddy Madrid explains the open oppression against Spanish speakers, the opposition of Mexicans to a monolingual world, and the demand for equal freedom of speech. Ramona Valdez points out the loss of opportunities for not being bilingual, the effect of classroom structure on Mexicans who were placed in lower tracks or special classes, and the discrimination at different places for being Mexican. Counihan concludes that a common term to identify Hispanic women may be necessary, but readers may disagree since Mexican culture itself is not homogeneous.

Chapter 3 presents the historical background of land grants, San Antonito’s founding history, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and Mexican-owned land lost to appropriation by outsiders, government sales, and others. Certain narratives reveal the levels of personal connection to the land in the community: land ownership and its effect in local history and water rights.

Through Asuncionita Mondragón’s performance in chapter 4, one visualizes the tradition of planting and diet based on local production. Asuncionita describes the entire process, from planting to harvesting, while Bernadette Vigil illustrates the method of making a good, homemade-style green and red chili. The negotiation of domestic and paid jobs and gender identity is the focus of chapter 5. According to Counihan, women have resisted lower salaries and, in some cases, marriage. Helen Ruybal’s life exemplifies how matrimony at a particular age or marriage at all may not be for everyone. For Helen, marriage imposes undesired responsibilities and lack of freedom. Teddy Madrid highlights labor and gender in a family of six females and one male. This situation and others have led to women taking over chores traditionally performed by men, which challenges gender stereotypes.

Chapter 6 captures women’s first attempts at cooking, as well as how food can define women’s social roles and status. While Helen appreciates the work other women do for her and her children, she views her sister as “. . . just a house keeper, and she had six children” (118). She clearly discredits cooking and, as readers, we sense a feeling of superiority when she emphasizes how much more money she earns in comparison to others. However, women like Janice DeHerrera view cooking as part...