Chapter Text
Food is my love language. Always has been, always will be. There's something about making it, that warm feeling inside, the satisfaction, knowing that you've helped someone feel better with something you've shaped with your own two hands and brought to life.
Before I got my gift, I helped people.
When Pepa lost a tooth, before Mama could notice, I'd wrap the tooth in a tissue and fetch her a cup of warm milk to soothe her gums.
When Bruno had a bad headache, I'd take out some cookies from the jar on the counter, with Casita's assistance, and sit with him until he'd eaten and snuggled against me.
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Everyone in town seems to love my arepas. Imagine my delight, when I found how easy and quick it was to produce them to help others feel better.
There's 75 or so ways in which to prepare them, amazing, right? My favourite way to serve them is stuffed with cheese.
When Félix married into the family, he introduced me to a family favourite of his, arepa con huevo . This consists of a cooked arepa which has been split open, stuffed with a raw egg, and fried. When we tried it for the first time at breakfast, it went down a treat.
Bruno especially loves them, tearing off the rounded edges and dipping them in the yolk dregs on the plate.
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After Casita fell and our gifts came back, I didn't go back to mass producing arepas straight away. I do love making them, but it sometimes takes a lot out of me.
In the time I took to get back into the flow of things, I decided to experiment with my gift a bit, changing up some flavours and creating fusions.
Mirabel gets up at the same time as I do, and decided as part of her new routine she was going to help me prepare food from now on. Mama discouraged her from doing so after her gift ceremony, which upset both of us a great deal.
Thankfully, Mama has apologised for this and smiles whenever she comes to say good morning to us both, seeing us work together in the kitchen.
Mirabel always has a fresh arepa off the stove to give to her abeula as the first of the day, surprising her with a different flavour each time. She hasn't disliked a single one.
It's so sweet of Mirabel to help me out, and she won't take no for an answer, it really makes a huge difference and I don't feel so overworked and stressed.
Somehow, she has been able to enhance everyone's gifts, since it was her hand which brought the magic back to Casita.
Now, I just know which foods are everyone's favourites and will make them feel better the quickest. It's so useful to have that wealth of knowledge. Also, I am able to provide some healing for emotional pain too. It doesn't fix it entirely, but it certainly helps as a little boost in that direction.
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The family give suggestions for my menus, and are all willing taste testers for new recipes.
The villagers are enjoying the variety in what I have to offer on my food cart nowadays, some of which can be prepped the night before, enabling lie ins. Agustín certainly thinks of that as a positive change.
With new villagers coming through the pass in the mountains, they bring recipes with them, and the Encanto is more about giving and receiving on a whole rather than just receiving.
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Every Saturday, us Madrigals are invited to a different house in town to share in a meal, its wonderful to get a night off in addition to the new lunch and dinner routine in Casita.
Mirabel and I cook on Mondays, Tuesdays its Mama and Dolores, Wednesday Luisa joins me in the kitchen, Thursday Bruno and Félix, Friday I cook with Camilo, and Sunday is a joint effort between Pepa, Isabela, Agustín and Mirabel.
This Saturday, we were invited to the house of Osvaldo, who laid on a hearty spread of cured meats, cheeses, and all other kinds of food. He makes better empanadas than I do.
We were all waxing lyrical about his tres leche cake too.
And just to think we might never have discovered it, had we not mended our familial bonds and changed things up.