Cooking Mama

In this participatory performance,  I wanted to continue the idea of hierarchy and gain perspective from outside sca-members; I formed a performance found in the everyday. Cooking Mama is performed by myself and my mother, Editha. I invited her to guide me in making a basic Filippino dish with the obstacle of being blindfolded. My mom moves my body and guides my hands to complete the meal while being limited to verbal commands spoken in English. However, I added the ability for her to talk to me in her language, Tagalog. We prepared and cooked a simple shrimp dish that my mom cooked before she left for work so there would be something for me to eat when I came home from school. It was not a family favourite, but it is a comfort food. We leave the shrimp shell on it, making it a rewarded effort to peel the shell off and enjoy the shrimp coated in buttery garlic. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of shrimp 

• Butter

• Garlic

• Salt and Pepper

• Japanese Mirin (Sweet Cooking Wine)

My Cooking Mama draws inspiration from the Nintendo video game series in 2006, where players engage in mini-games that mimic real-life cooking actions, such as chopping vegetables, stirring ingredients, and flipping pancakes. The game guides players through the cooking process, providing step-by-step instructions and assessing their performance based on accuracy and timing. Successful completion of tasks advances the player through the recipe, and the game features a variety of dishes to master. Cooking Mama combines a lighthearted, cartoonish aesthetic with interactive, skill-based gameplay, making it an engaging and enjoyable experience. I found myself at a young age playing this game for hours, determined to make the Mama in the game proud, trying to get the three stars at every level. This participatory performance mirrors the game's teachings. My Cooking Mama embodies the game's valuable lessons of patience and control, creating a learning experience from a maternal figure.

As I am blindfolded, I rely on heightened senses and instructions from my mother to navigate me within the kitchen and equipment. The potential dangers, such as the risk of cuts or balancing the right amount of seasonings, add an element of suspense, emphasizing the vulnerability in the artistic process and the relationship itself as she is my actual mother with a real relationship. As ingredients are measured, chopped, and mixed, the shared experience gains a deeper understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Through this blindfolded culinary dance, the two bodies move as one, expressing parent and child working together to make a simple meal.

My aim for My Cooking Mama is to present the quality of relations based on generational hierarchy. Blindfolded, I placed my trust in my mother. This experience unveils a dynamic knowledge exchange, emphasizing the hierarchical transfer of culinary traditions. As the older generation assumes the role of the guide, I navigate an obstacle that is a team effort, creating a dish made with only my pair of hands. The hierarchy unfolds through cooking, where the hands of the past intricately mould the present, attempting a connection between generations. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of shrimp 

• Butter

• Garlic

• Salt and Pepper

• Japanese Mirin (Sweet Cooking Wine)