The molozi trust

Set in one of Tucson s first tamal and tortilla factories The Molino is a hybrid memoir that reckons with one family s loss of home food and faith Weaving together history culture and Mexican food traditions Melani Martinez shares the story of her family s life and work in the heart of their downtown eatery El Rapido Opened by Martinez s great grandfather Aurelio Perez in 1933 El Rapido served tamales and burritos to residents and visitors to Tucson s historic Barrio Presidio for nearly seventy years For the family the factory that bound them together was known for the giant corn grinder churning behind the scenes the molino With clear eyes and warm humor Martinez documents the work required to prepare food for others and explores the heartbreaking aftermath of gentrification that forces the multigenerational family business to close its doors The Molino is also Martinez s personal story that of a young Tucsonense coming of age in the 1980s and 90s As a young woman she rejects the work in her father s popular kitchen but when the business closes her world shifts and the family disbands When she finds her way back home the tortiller a s iconic mural provides a gateway into history and ruin ancestry and sacrifice industrial myth and artistic incarnation revealing a sacred presence still alive in Tucson A must read for foodies history lovers and anyone searching for spiritual truth in the desert this is a story of belonging and transformation in the borderlands The Molino A MemoirI thoroughly enjoyed this skillfully told family story despite a bit of narrative fragmentation Martinez is an excellent storyteller and her family produces many stories for her to share The conflict caused between the family s food business at the Molino and the necessity to attain a certain body shape becomes a long running theme Of most interest is the Sleeping Man a stereotypical Mexican figure that appears in a mural outside the Molina causing consternation among many of Mexican heritage The reader learns that the design began as an imitation of Rodin s The Thinker thus the name El Pensamiento and it was to be a serious piece representing Mexican heritage However its creator was unable to control its use and it became a cartoonish symbol of the Mexican people projecting greed and laziness The poems scattered through the memoir are credited to el pensamiento as if he speaks silently reflecting upon the prose chapters that follow The Molino a Memoir bravely reflects upon the fully contained Mexican community in Tucson the influence of family both living in the flesh and living in family stories and the power of art to symbolize a demographic Melani Martinez An interesting memoir of growing up in a family restaurant with strong ties to the community Melani Martinez