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Maria Gudino-Cuahonte

Prof. Stack

Literate Activity Report

11 September 2022

Literate Activity in the Kitchen

Literacy is something that we perform whether we are conscious about it or not.

Sometimes we may not even realize how much the act of being literate helps us in our

day-to-day lives. Whether it is doing our schoolwork, reading, playing video games, or, more

obscurely, driving, participating in sports, and cooking. Literacy is what allows us to

communicate. It is the way we interact with the world via reading, writing, speaking, etc., but

also being literate in a subject helps us to better perform it. From these definitions, I have

decided to observe the literacy one can find in the kitchen. In Andrea Fishman’s article,

“Becoming Literate: A Lesson from the Amish”, she shares how literacy is important in Eli’s

life. How the reading and writing he was surrounded by “allowed him to further affiliate and

identify himself with and within his social group”(Fishman, 15). This was basically saying that

what he did and didn't learn affected how he approached different situations. When cooking, you

mainly cook in the manner that you learned how to. In Madeline Halvey’s case study of the

literacy found in dance, she shows how literacy, though not associated with the act, can be found

in ballet. She writes how “reading and writing are not often associated with this type of physical

movement”(Halvey, 28). Like dancing, cooking may sometimes be forgotten as an activity that

can require reading and writing. The purpose of this report is to observe how literacy comes into

play while my mom, the subject, is cooking.

Methodology
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In this report, I studied my mom to see what sort of literate activities she engaged in

while she cooked. Though I have observed my mom, as well as joined her, while she cooks

before, I realized that cooking is one of these many activities where literacy plays a major part.

This realization came from learning what literacy activities are, how much we actually use

literacy everyday, and having to think of an activity for this report. For my research, I

specifically observed my mom on September 5th and September 10th in my home’s kitchen. On

the 5th my observations were from 11 to 12 pm, and on the 10th were from 7 to 8 pm. She

wanted to cook some food that I could take with me when I drove back up to my dorm, which

provided a perfect opportunity. To collect data, I used my phone’s notepad and wrote down

everything she was doing. I also asked questions about each dish, how she likes to cook best, and

her history with cooking. I wanted to be able to observe more than what I was watching.

Results

The rhetorical situation I observed was cooking. Specifically my mom’s cooking on the

morning of September 5th and the evening of September 10th in my kitchen. Through these

observations I came to realize that there were different pieces and types of communication. For

example, the recipe books, the tips she shared, as well as any stories behind each dish. The

author would have to be my mom. Since she was communicating everything to me, the audience,

about what she was doing, and I listened to everything she had to say. This was all so I could

start to learn how to cook actual dishes that aren't instant ramen. The other purpose was for me to

have a better understanding, so I could better construct this report.

I observed my mom as she cooked 3 different recipes, and the way she approached each

one was completely different. For the first one she cooked a graten de atun, a deep dish pasta

with tuna and cheese. For this recipe she measured all the ingredients because she likes to make
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sure everything comes out great. She follows the recipe and as she proceeds she would turn to

me to explain certain terminology, and share her tips. The second dish was my breakfast for the

day, and this one was cooked without a recipe. While she cooked I asked her questions on how

she started cooking, and learned about the dishes she cooks. For the third meal it was my parents

dinner, and she used a recipe but from a different cookbook. She continued to show me her steps

on how to cook it, and the way she changes the recipe to her liking. She wanted me to watch and

learn from her. To take these tips and tricks with me to college. To even share my cooking with

my friends.

The first literacy I observed was the recipes my mom used while cooking. She takes her

recipes from several different sources. Cookbooks, family, and even Tik Tok. When it comes to

trying new things she is all for it, and cooking lets her do so. For the recipes I observed, she took

everything from two different cookbooks. One of them is the oldest cookbook she has. They are

recipes from a famous Venezuelan chef, and my mom had seen her family use his cookbooks

ever since she was a child. The one she uses now was gifted to her as a wedding gift from my

grandparents, and she really cherishes it. The second cookbook she used is from a famous fitness

influencer Sascha Barboza, a.k.a Sascha Fitness. My mom has followed Sascha on social media

for a really long time, and enjoys having healthier options for all types of foods. So this

cookbook is perfect for that. My mom will usually follow the recipes the first time she cooks

something, but for most foods she will just cook from memory. Which leads me to my next

literacy.

Another literacy I observed was my mom’s literacy in the kitchen. Not her reading and

writing as one definition states, but the full understanding of the subject that allows her to

perform it better. My mom has been cooking for years, and she learned most of her skills from
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her nana. Her nana used to allow my mom and her siblings to watch her cook, but they could

only watch, not touch the food. By watching how her nana cooked it influenced how she cooks

today. My mom will mostly cook without measuring the ingredients, and her reasoning is

because she has cooked for so long. This shows a deep understanding of cooking. She will

change recipes to better fit her liking, and that is not something that just anyone will attempt

when cooking because it is very easy for your food to taste sour. It’s her experience and literacy

in cooking that allow her to do this, and produce such delicious meals.

Discussion

When I started my observations I was a little skeptical of how it would turn out. Though I

knew that there is literacy involved in cooking, I didn't think I would really see the basic

literacies I thought of when observing my mom. I did see her read recipes, but I realized another

literacy while writing this report. As I’ve mentioned before, because of my mom's many years of

cooking she is quite literate on the subject. She experiments with recipes and cooks without

measuring because of this experience. It surprised me how something I have seen my mom do

countless times, an activity I have done myself, included so much literacy. From doing these

observations and writing this report, it has made me think about all the literacies I use everyday

consciously and subconsciously. From now on I will be more observant of those literacies that

help me through the day, and be more open minded of where they can be found.

The realizations I had are reminiscent of what Fishman and Halvey spoke about in their

articles. Fishman observed how Eli was taught literacy, and the way he saw it presented in his

community affected how he viewed and performed it. “Eli’s experience as a Fisher had taught

him that reading comes in many forms…and they all count”(Fishman,15). What Eli learned and

what he was taught showed him what abilities counted in his world. By valuing them he could
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succeed in his community. By observing my mom, I became aware of how much the way she

was taught how to cook influenced her. She values the literacies she was taught in the kitchen by

her nana, and exemplifies them in her cooking today. My observations correlate to Halvey’s

research because of how cooking is not an activity greatly associated with literacy. Through her

research she came to see that the literacy she observed, “exemplifies [Newkirk’s] idea that these

simple forms of literacy are used in multiple genres and situations”(Halvey, 34). Many literacies

can be found while cooking, and they may differ from chef to chef, but they are always in use.
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Works Cited

Fishman, Andrea. “Becoming Literate: A Lesson from the Amish.” UCF Writes A Handbook for

Writing at the University of Central Florida, edited by, Matthew Bryan, Nathan Holic,

Lissa Mansfield, Adele Richardson, Nichole Stack, Jacob Stewart, and Kevin Roozen,

Fountainhead Press, 2017, pp. 8 - 17.

Halvey, Madeline. “Simple Forms of Dance and Movement Literacy.” The Journal of the First -

Year Writing Program at the University of Central Florida, vol. 6, no. 1, 2015, pp. 28 - 36.
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Observations

September 5th at 11:11 am - 11:45 am

- takes out recipe for gratén de pasta con atún
- reads ingredients and goes to the fridge to get ingredients
- goes to drawer to get pasta has to change what type of pasta to use
- heats water and adds the salt
- says for this recipe she likes to measure everything to make sure
- cut the onions
- talked about who the dish reminds her of
- adds butter to separate pot
- explains one of the cooking terms in the recipe
- cleans workspace as she cooks
- pours ¾ cups of milk
- and pours in there salt and pepper
- saying it’s easier to mix in with the milk so she doesn’t have to mix it later
- shows the onions and says that they shouldn’t be too hot
- shows me how the onions should look and adds a teaspoon of flour
- makes me smell the onion to show how the smell changes
- then she pours the milk
- says that you have to constantly mix because the flour will make the milk thicken and
you want a soft crème not play-doh
- likes to put more tuna than it needs because she likes the taste
- says that the pasta should not be broken in half but she does it so it fits in the pot
- mixes both pots at the same time
- starts to heat the oven
- continuously showing me how the cream should look like
- pasta water starts to jump in the pot
- puts in a cube of ice which calms the water
- takes the cream of heat
- drains water and puts water in the pasta
- goes back to recipe
- continues to stir and adds more butter
- she comments how she doesn’t measure things sometimes because she’s been cooking for
so long
- she adds the tuna
- adds the cream into the pasta
- adds the parmesan cheese to the pot
- takes out two tippers
- one is for my parents the other is for me to take with me to college
- she pours the pasta into the tuppers
- puts parmesan cheese on top as well as small pieces of butter
- put both into oven and left it for 30 minutes
at 11:30 am - 11:45 am
- starts to make my breakfast
- cooking it from memory because she doesn’t like to use the recipe for it
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- puts pre cooked flour into a bowl

- makes tiny balls and then flattens them out and pushes up the edges
- makes three of them
- then puts them in corn oil to fry
- flips the sopes until they are golden brown
- puts paper towels on a plate to absorb the oil for when she takes the sopes out
- everything else was already cooked and made from our mexican meal on saturday
- puts meat in microwave with a paper towel onto so that the grease doesn’t start sprinkling
everywhere
- puts the meat on top of the sopes
- pico de gallo on top of the meat
- cuts the avocado straight in the shell and scoops it out to be on top of the pico de gallo
- mexican cream on top of that
- then lastly cheese
cooked the graten for the first time sometime after i was born
as we talk she cleans the kitchen
found the recipe from a cookbook of a famous Venezuelan chef
that since she was a little girl she always had those cookbooks
so when she got married my grandparents each gave her one
she says that every recipe she’s made from those books always come out delicious
her nana taught her how to make the sopes
and my mom's grandma from mexico taught her nana how to make them
she learned how to cook from looking not touching
her method of cooking come from her nana
11:48 am
- puts almonds in a large cup
- and then puts water
- she tells me she has to leave it overnight and then tomorrow she will blend it and then
strain it
- this is for her homemade almond milk
September 10 7:10 pm-8:00 pm
- Through FaceTime will cook tuna burgers
- Opens tuna cans to remove tun burgers
- Like them because they are very versatile food
- Takes out cutting board and mixing bowl
- Using sascha fitness cookbook
- Likes the recipes because they are fast and easy to make
- Recipes don’t say how to cook them so she cooks them how she thinks they should be
cooked
- Preheats oven to 350
- Puts tuna in bowl and starts cutting onion
- Does recipes the first time as they should be made then changes them to her liking as she
cooks them
- Cuts leeks and says that they are very full of dirt and you have to cut them down the
middle and then wash them to remove dirt
- Adds green onions as well
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- Everything has to be cut into small pieces so no flavor is too overpowering

- Uses to egg whites to make everything stick together
- Has to be mixed by hand and then can start to form patties
- Likes to make them because they are very fresh and like she said you can eat them with
whatever you want
- Always put some avocado oil on top so they can get crunchy
- Time wise she eyeballs how long to cook them for (estimates 20 mins is the best time)
- Takes patties out of the oven
- Lets them cool
- Puts them in tupperwares and in the fridge for future use
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Reflection

When completing this report I didn’t face many challenges, but my biggest one was

finding the time to observe. In between working and schoolwork it was hard to find the time to

be able to sit down and observe my mom while she cooked. Especially since she cooks later on

in the evening when I am usually doing my schoolwork. The first time it was by chance that she

was cooking earlier in the day, and for the others I set time aside to observe her. My favorite part

would have to be learning more about how she cooks, and why she does it. Though I have been

present while she has cooked before, I never took notice of her process. My least favorite part

was the beginning. When I realized that I would need to observe someone for this report, I was

not sure I would be able to find a literate activity that I could observe by the due date. Picking a

topic was difficult, but I am glad I chose this one. This project allowed me to better understand

how literacy is entangled in absolutely everything we do, and that it allows us to succeed.