KARLA COVA VILLA
DC: IN YOUR OWN WORDS, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE KARLA?
KC: I am a woman who decided, at a certain moment, to change canvases. I worked doing curation at a contemporary art museum, and over time I came to understand that where I expressed myself most honestly was in front of the fire. I am tapatía at heart, passionate about Mexico, and I deeply believe that the table is the most important place in a home. I like to learn, to share, and to cook for others. That, at its core, is who I am.
DC: YOU STUDIED ART HISTORY AND WORKED IN MUSEUMS BEFORE DEDICATING YOURSELF TO COOKING. AT WHAT MOMENT DID YOU REALIZE THAT YOUR TRUE CANVAS WASN'T ON A WALL, BUT ON A PLATE?
KC: It was a very natural process, there was no dramatic moment. I studied Cultural Management and did a master's degree in Art History, but in Jalisco I decided to teach cooking classes and that's when I really began to embrace the stove. Art taught me to look, to understand that everything has a composition, an intention, an emotion to transmit. One day I realized that on a plate lived exactly the same principles. The museum educated my eye; the kitchen freed my hands.
DC: CONTEMPORARY ART OFTEN BREAKS RULES. IN YOUR KITCHEN, WHERE YOU GUIDE YOURSELF MORE BY INTUITION THAN BY STRICT TECHNIQUE, WHAT IS THAT GASTRONOMIC "RULE" YOU MOST ENJOY BREAKING?
KC: The idea that a recipe is immovable. The most important thing for me when cooking is to connect with creativity and let the recipe adapt to you, based on the ingredients and products that are in season. If the market today offers you something better than what the recipe calls for, change it. That's not an error, it's judgment. Intuition isn't carelessness, it's a very honest way of cooking.
DC: YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF "MAXIMALIST WITH COLOR." HOW DO YOU TRANSLATE THE VISUAL AND TEXTILE RICHNESS OF MEXICO INTO THE AESTHETIC OF YOUR DISHES?
KC: Mexico taught me everything about the generosity of color. The markets, the embroidery, the celebrations, the moles, nothing is done halfway. Although I consider myself maximalist, colorful and very folkloric, I always include color in the tableware, the flowers, the tablecloths and the glassware. When I think about a dish, I also think about how it will look on the table. The eye eats before the mouth, and I learned that in museums and refined it in the kitchens of my country.
DC: YOU TITLED YOUR BOOK "CHULA, ESTÁS CABRÓN." BEYOND COOKING, HOW DO YOU APPLY THIS EMPOWERMENT MANTRA IN YOUR DAY TO DAY AND WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU SEEK TO GIVE TO THE WOMEN WHO READ YOU AND SEE YOU?
KC: That title was born from something very personal. From the days when I doubted, when I started from zero on another continent and didn't know if anyone would listen to me. I had to say it to myself. The message I seek to transmit is that with self-love, sense of humor and perseverance you can go very far. And also that vulnerability and strength don't contradict each other, they need each other. If my testimony or my experience can serve other women, I will be delighted to be of service to them.
DC: STARTING FROM ZERO IN MADRID FOR LOVE SOUNDS LIKE A MOVIE, BUT IT COMES WITH ENORMOUS CHALLENGES. WHAT WAS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF REINVENTING YOURSELF ON ANOTHER CONTINENT AND HOW DID COOKING HELP YOU PUT DOWN ROOTS THERE?
KC: The greatest challenge was time. Making friends, finding work, making yourself known can sound easy, but it isn't, especially when you've had a whole life somewhere else. Cooking was my language when I was still finding my place. A stew from my home, the smell of toasted chile, that reminded me of who I was when Madrid still felt foreign. I learned that you can be from two places at the same time, and that cooking is the most generous bridge that exists.
DC: MOTHERHOOD CAME TO YOU AT A MOMENT OF GREAT FULLNESS. IN WHAT WAY HAS YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS CHANGED NOW THAT YOU COOK AND SHARE YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR DAUGHTER?
KC: It has made me cook with more presence, if that's possible. Before I cooked to share with friends, with students, with the world. Now I also cook to build a memory. I arrived in Madrid newly married with the kitchen in full swing, and today it is a home together with my husband and my daughter Constantina. What she smells, tastes and sees in this kitchen is going to be part of who she is. That responsibility seems to me the most beautiful that exists. It hasn't taken away my creativity, it has refined it.
DC: SHARE WITH US A SECRET: A HOLE-IN-THE-WALL, MARKET OR STREET STALL IN MEXICO OR MADRID THAT IS A HIDDEN GEM THAT EVERY LOVER OF GOOD FOOD SHOULD VISIT.
KC: In Mexico, without a doubt: the restaurant Tlamanalli by Abigail Mendoza in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca. She is a cook, alchemist, researcher and preserver of Zapotec traditions. Sitting in her kitchen and letting her send you her moles has been one of the most beautiful experiences I've had. It's not a place that advertises itself. You have to go with time, with hunger and with desire for something real. That's what I always look for, places where food still has its own story.