A theoretical and methodological foundation for In My Mother's Kitchen

"My project is an exploration of family history, cultural identity, the immigrant experience, and autobiography, presented in the form of a cookbook. This collection of recipes is centred on my mother, Margarita Quintana and the recipes acquired and developed during her life. I use the backdrop of the kitchen as a setting to connect the many stages of her life both in Chile and in Canada and also to explore how the kitchen connects my mother, my grandmother, and me. While Margarita's experience is unique, it helps provide much needed insight into the lives and processes of migrant women on a larger scale. Using this recipe book, I tell the story of Margarita Quintana, and how she fits into a larger cultural, political, and genealogical context. Margarita Quintana is a Chilean immigrant and a Canadian with a history of social and political activism. She is also a mother, a social worker, a university graduate, a host parent for international students and a psychotherapist in training. Her life is heavily shaped by her upbringing in a working class family in Chile, in a domestically abusive household, and as a surrogate caregiver to her four siblings. Margarita's experiences connect the stories of three generations of women in our family across two continents. My paper provides a methodological and theoretical framework for the project. In the first section, I explain my epistemology, methodology, and research methods. In the second section, I provide an extensive review of the literature surrounding food in relation to identity, culture, gender, and memory. These readings span across disciplinary boundaries including anthropology, Sociology, cultural studies, and gender studies"--From Introduction, pages 1-2.