Maral
Born: Azerbaijan, 1958
Mother tongue: Persian
Grandchildren: Olivia, Megan, Adrianna
They call her: Baba Maral
I’m from a family where every member of my family knows how to cook the entire animal from head to tail. It’s so important not to waste when it comes to food. We’re from the mountains in Azerbaijan. It’s so beautiful there that you can hear the voice of the river as you sleep. Mostly we grew our own vegetables and had cows, sheep, chickens. It’s so different now, though – it’s become a ski resort and a place for tourists.
I collect all my tea from Azerbaijan when I go home for four months in the summer. When I was a little girl, my mum would take us into the forest and mountains and she would show us which herbs to pick so we could forage ourselves for all of our teas. I now bring so much back with me from Azerbaijan. I don’t even know the name of some of the herbs I bring back with me. It’s so important to have the ingredients I know and love from my home.
When I was in Azerbaijan I worked as a midwife, and then a nurse in Siberia, then I became a dermatologist. I married and had two children, but my husband left me for a young Russian student. That’s when I took my two young daughters and moved to America to start from zero at the age of 41. I did any job available – cleaning peoples’ apartments. Anything. Then I finished college here.
My husband came back after 20 years to ask for forgiveness. I told him, ‘I forgive you, but I don’t need you.’ The truth is I never loved him and I think that’s what pushed him away. I don’t know how I lived with him for 14 years, to be honest.
If you’re not scared and have a goal inside you, you can do anything, anywhere. You just need to go straight on and never look back. I didn’t speak a single word of English when I came here. I never had any idea that I would be living in Brooklyn in New York City and that I would need to speak English. I learned within five months, though. I had a technique, which was to speak to everyone.
When I took the train I would speak to the person next to me and ask them, ‘Speak English with me?’ I would say, ‘Please you tell me if I say wrong,’ and they would, so that is how I learned. From Washington Heights for an hour and a half to my home, I would talk to everyone. Can you believe? I had the same conversation a hundred times. If you want to talk, you have to talk with people. You’re not supposed to be shy. If you want to learn a language it is no use doing the book thing.
I’m fast; I always want to learn. I attended college along with my daughter and studied biochemistry. I just don’t stop, ever. I’m always moving and doing things. You told me ‘cook one recipe’ today and I’m making six dishes. It’s just something in me. I like to keep busy.
I love to cook. I always have guests over to share my dinner table with. My mother and father always had people over too. If you came to my father’s house, we would have a huge table for 40 people. The men would prepare the sheep for the slaughter and the women would be cooking.
