Every Friday, a group of fifty people over 65 years of age, residents of some of the most popular and traditional neighborhoods of Alicante, such as San Antón, the area around the Central Market, Carolinas, Pla, Campoamor or Altozano, meet to eat and cook.
“Lifelong” Alicante residents and people who come from very different corners of the planet, regulars at the El Pla community center and the Plaza América municipal senior center, share the dishes that they have inherited from their elders or have learned in their long life experiences . From this social activity, a recipe book is now born that collects both some of the flavors and smells most deeply rooted in local cuisines and others from the countries of origin of the diverse immigrant community that largely populates these streets.
If Laura Prudencia Alemañ shares her recipe for coca amb tonyina that she learned as a child “and it reminds me of my childhood,” María Luisa Munguía describes her rifeña chicken, a traditional dish from her native Morocco, “which I always carry in my heart and my kitchen.”
Hauler Pepe Izquierdo offers his sweet salad, “one of the many recipes I discovered traveling around the world with my truck”; and María Eva Varela leans towards the popular empanadas of Argentina, “an exquisite starter of our gastronomy that in each town has a special touch depending on the native product of the area.”
Andrés Colmenárez, “fled from Venezuela”, shares Pan de Jamón, a Christmas recipe; María Teresa Pérez Follana remembers with emotion her mother, from whom she learned the Olleta Alicantina, typical of the Vega Baja; or Galina Gaivoronskaia, who arrived from Ukraine, chooses a traditional beet gazpacho; and Gladys Elisa la Blanca, from Uruguay, proposes some Capelletis ravioli that evoke the strong Italian traditions of her “paisito de ella”.
In total, there are 37 recipes proposed by 41 people – some of them cook with lemon juice – that also bring aromas from Algeria, France, Italy… ‘The flavors of my life’ is the name of the recipe book, published by the Alicante City Council, which compiles the favorite recipes of older people who have participated in the ‘Enclave de barrio’ program, an initiative aimed at reducing the feeling of loneliness of older people.
The objective of this program is to weave support networks for the elderly, creating a meeting point with activities that include cooking, cognitive stimulation, visits to exhibitions, walks, physical activity or a reading club.
In addition, socialization between generations is promoted, thanks to the participation of a group of young people who are between 12 and 25 years old. As an example of this, one of the recipes in the book – the Berber yellow potatoes – is by Mohcine Hadj Said, one of the young people who collaborates.
The Councilor for Social Welfare, Begoña León, explains that “the weekly meetings have served for the participants to exchange recipes and meals, but also experiences. They have forged bonds of friendship that we are sure will be maintained beyond this program.” The publication of the recipe book, León concludes, “is a fair recognition of the knowledge and experiences that have been generously shared during these months and a reflection of the richness that multiculturalism brings.”