El Factor Maruja (The Mabel Factor)*

Cuando quiero probar una nueva receta siempre empiezo mi búsqueda en YouTube con la receta más tradicional que sea posible. A veces mi receta comienza y termina con la interpretación tradicional y a veces me atrevo a experimentar de ahí. Para encontrar lo que creo que es la forma más pura del plato miro videos de abuelas de Italia, España, Francia, Argelia, o donde sea.

When I’m out to try a new recipe I almost always begin my search on YouTube with a recipe that is as traditional as possible. Sometimes my recipe begins and ends with that traditional interpretation and sometimes I venture out from there. To find what I think is the purest form of the dish I am out to create I look for videos of grandmothers from Italy, Spain, France, Algeria, or wherever.

*Maruja in Spain is an old-fashioned sounding first name for a woman, sort of like Mabel or Gertrude now in modern English. Maruja is a humorous synonym for old woman.