Ponciana Tostado Badia, 2016.
Our Lady of the Chilis is the patron saint of working parents and caregivers who are passionate about feeding their families with REAL FOOD! She is invoked against overly-complicated recipes, and “convenience” foods with no flavor or nutrients.
My son Dante, 16, who loves to cook!
Ponciana Badia knows first-hand how food can bring people together. The youngest of five children, her entire life has been centered around food and entertaining. Her father, Gabriel Tostado, was a chef at the famous American Continental restaurant in Long Beach, California. But all her favorite food memories are from summers spent at her Uncle Channo’s restaurant in Mexico. The spices and fresh, simple ingredients made a lasting impression on her style of cooking, as did her uncle’s philosophy: “Feed someone who’s hungry, and you’ll never go hungry yourself.”
Me and my husband Juan Carlos (aka “Charly”) around the time of our engagement in 1991.
Ponciana has earned her sainthood in a variety of ways. First, as the wife of twenty-five years to an Argentine farm boy who eats…A LOT. Second, as the mother to three “food snobs” who prefer her cooking to most restaurants. Third, as the aunt to eleven nieces and nephews, she has cooked for too many huge family celebrations to count. And lastly, as a show choir booster for Los Alamitos High School, where for five years she VOLUNTARILY oversaw endless fundraising dinners and competitions, feeding of thousands of performers and parents from across the country…with fellow volunteers who didn’t know a head of lettuce from a package of shredded cabbage!
On any night of the week it’s not surprising to find her cooking up a three-course meal in her high heels and full make-up after a long day of work. Teaching moms and dads to make simple delicious meals is her passion. Our Lady of the Chilis shows love through her food, and so can you!