Culinary Connection and Care: an interconnected reflection

By Aen Xmas
November 11, 2025
A portrait of six photos connected by background photo of at sunset of a beach and palm trees in El Salvador, Playa El Tunco — a triangle formation of six cascading photos from the left side of the portrait, with three rows of pictures. One photo in the first row, two photos in the second row, three photos in the third row. The first photo in the first row contains two blue mixed salad bowls atop a black electric stove. The salads in the bowls contain croutons in the left bowl and dried edamame beans in the other with a medley of mixed spring salad, dressings, and chicken. In the next row, the first photo is a shared meal between two hometown friends. Coffee cups are at the edges of the light blue table and two brown paper plates sit across reach other, holding a typical Chilaquiles made of avocado, eggs and tortilla chips garnished with herbs and spices in one and banana toast with light syrup in the other. The second photo of the row is that of a pink longsleeve holding a sheet of aluminum foil to hold a spiced a elote, corn cobbed on a stick, with several doused sauces and spices. The person is standing across a street vendor’s blue shopping cart carrying several syrups and sauce containers. The third row of photos is a morning breakfast snack of refried Salvadoran red beans in a white bowl with freshly fried and thick tortillas crisps, thick and full of house made flour. The second photo in the third row contains ingredients for a typical stew with half a head of cabbage, four carrot sticks and five yellow potatoes, all atop a grey cutting board and a watermelon towel on the electric black stove. The ingredients are all in front an empty light blue pot. The final photo in the third row is of a white plate holding a stew of potatoes, chicken doused in achiote (anatto) and spices, bay leaves. There is soup and rice in the stew. The top right corner of the portrait is adorned and popped by a bright colorful map of El Salvador with different colors (red, orange, green, mauve, purple, and yellow) for the various city districts of El Salvador. There are little houses, trees, birds, and wild animals drawn in some of the county lines next to the names of the cities.
“I can’t wait to go back home again: a meal shared between friends” is the honoring of the moments we go in and out of our home. All these meals are recipes of home — Los Angeles, where I grew up, and El Salvador, my home country, which I’d never visited before, but still somehow know. Small things like the recipes, our accents, the way we order our meals, and the meals we make for one another represent that. The map is an artistic heirloom you can see in all Salvadoran homes, full of brightness and hope. 
A portrait of seven photos connected by the same background photo of Playa El Tunco, El Salvador during sunset of the waves and the sand. The seven pictures are laid on top of this photo of the beach in a cascasing formation now on the right side of the portrait. There are three rows, one picture in the first row, three in the second, and three in the final row. The first row is a variety of books, written by queer authors. It is on the top right and the only picture in the row. The first picture from right to left is of a blue wall with the poster and post it across a timeline for a just information research project. The middle picture of the second row is of a blue plate with a Hawaiian bun and spinach seeping out of the sandwich with one spinach leaf on top of the bun. The final left most picture of the second row is of a slice of watermelon held by three brown fingers. There is Tajín on the vibrant red part of the watermelon. There is a striped carpet on the floor. The final row of pictures from left to right begins with an evening photo in the desert of Nevada, illuminated by the vibrant green lights of a swing ride at a carnival. People of all ages awaiting in line of the barricades to write to ride. The middle photo of the third row, celebrates an anniversary, two lovers sit across each other. The viewer faces a brown person, the loves’ folded arms on the table, wearing bright beaded bracelets and a rainbow colored tee across the table. Water and cutlery accompanies the platter. A dish shares dessert with four lemon cookies, wedge-shaped and paired along a big strawberry on a fancy piece of paper. There is brown adornment on the plate. The final photo in the portrait is of a metallic pan, with nine roasted peppers. The peppers are filled with plant-based ground meat and cheese, oils and oven stains on the pan. There are two rows of peppers, the four in the first row are yellow. The next row is red, orange, red, orange, red peppers lying in the metallic pan.
“a new leaf: the work” is the work necessary to never reject who you are, despite all you learn, process, and navigate to find identity and healing from oppressive cycles of governance. It is the fruits of our labor, our stories, our wisdom, that bring us to the new ideas, new texts, foods, recipes, and remind us of a world we’ve always known. The cross chain represents an ancestor who always has and always will be with me. 
A scan of a hand-drawn spiral notebook with three birds in the corners, two in the style of Fernando Llort, Estilo Palmeño, naif/Native bright colors. A third bird, a grey dove sits in an olive branch. They are surrounded by fishnet and olive tree patterns, similar to that of a keffiyeh. The word QUEER, with a bright orange and yellow flower in the middle of the letters. SALVIS with Blue and White stripes to resemble the Salvadoran national colors. FOR A with the keffiyeh black and white pattern of fishnets and mapping. FREE is solid, in all green. PALESTINE solid and in all red. There is a white heart with a black outline in the bottom left corner.
Queer Salvies is representative of the similar stories of youth resistance, a determination for freedom through similar styles of traditional Salvadoran art and Palestinian flowers. The similarities I saw on Palestinian flower jars reminded me of the traditional Salvadoran art pieces by Fernando Llort. To the unspoken, the queer siblings, the desparecidos (the ones who have been lost), this is for you.