How I Met My Idols: Norma Listman and Saqib Keval
Norma Listman and Saqib Keval are the powerful couple I would like to emulate when I finally get married. Two chefs and complementary souls that match not only their clothing but their ideals, too. Recently featured on an episode in Season 7 of Chefs Table, Norma Listman and Saqib Keval are the chef-owners of popular Mexico City (CDMX) restaurants Masala y Maiz and Mari Gold. Their venture began as what they describe as a political food project turned restaurant and has received press and accolades following their bold initiatives and stands against injustice and corruption.
Saqib is the first generation of his family to be born in the United States, as his family is made up of Indian immigrants from Kenya. Norma grew up in Texcoco, a Mexican city right outside CDMX and they met in the Bay Area after Norma moved here to start a new life. Saqib has always worked in the restaurant industry and co-founded People's Kitchen Collective, working as an activist through food movements and political education. As an art and fashion pursuant, Norma worked on a project chronicling the last 12 hours when California was still Mexico and became interested in the power of food upon learning that General Vallejo invited the Americans in for a feast, knowing he couldn’t halt their progression.
After discussing how their cultures treat ingredients during a walk through the market, they started exploring their culinary history. They began learning about the natural and organic merging of cultures and culinary traditions through migration, slavery, and colonization and started as a dinner series. An opportunity to open a restaurant in CDMX came up for them, and they had to decide quickly on whether to seize it. Saqib had reservations but ultimately decided to change the restaurant narrative and his exploitative experiences from the restaurant industry from the inside with Norma.
Masala y Maiz seeks to educate and change the narrative in two key and distinct ways: creating delicious, decolonized food that explores the story of their personal lives (Jordan, 2024) and advocating for better restaurant conditions that do right by their workers. Their restaurant is a tool for environmental and social justice by advocating for changes through the industry, and they are open about the restaurant being an activist project first and foremost (Jordan, 2024).
Through opening the restaurant, they have faced a devastating earthquake, corrupt city officials and being shut down, and cooking in exile for months because they refused to pay bribes. However, their 'Donuts against Corruption' helped them triumph, and they were allowed to reopen after they cooked in friends' kitchens across the city, amplifying their message and voice against corruption and injustice. In their current venture, they are trying to decolonize food and the restaurant model (Pett, 2019). They reject the exploitive nature of the traditional brigade system and have created a restaurant that does right by its people first, including opening from 12-6 to allow worker safety during commutes, cross-training, and providing benefits and fixed schedules for quality of life.
I met both Norma and Saqib this year at the Culinary Institute of America's Worlds of Flavor Conference, and a fundamental lesson I learned from them is to deconstruct and identify the actual narrative and nature of the food and ingredients we are using. A very popular dish of theirs is Chef Norma's Camarones pa'pelar, a dish of jumbo shrimp filled with wild vanilla and Morita chile paste and grilled. When describing this dish, Saqib called into question 2 essential topics: the origins of vanilla and the patriarchal nature of the restaurant industry. We have come to think of vanilla as a 'white' Eurocentric, French ingredient used to flavor sweet applications. Yet, vanilla is indigenous to Mexico and used in various savory applications. Saqib received formal training in France but has always thought the food in Euro-centric dominant spaces was 'boring' and "blind to global influences and stories that shape food future" (Mudaliar, 2024).
Furthermore, this very popular dish is one of Norma's creations, yet Saqib constantly gets praise and credit from parties on the outside looking in. This deconstruction and exploration of indigenous roots and ingredients is well overdue, and the industry is in a great place to start exploring the origins of more essential ingredients.
Speaking engagements, media appearances, and cooking events are just one way Norma and Saqib are amplifying their message, but simple changes in the restaurant operations are also key components. In addition to the enhancements in their daily operations mentioned above, they also use the language of their menu to promote their concept of mestizaje, their new term for 'fusion,' a Latin American term to describe the blending of racial and cultural norms. For the blending of their specific cultures, one may find descriptions on their menu containing words from Spanish, Hindi, Swahili, and Kenyan languages. Keval says, "Language is Power," and it is important to use the proper names of ingredients to provide a time and place for the dish (Pett, 2019).
Overall, I was pleased to meet Norma and Saqib and learn more about their work. As industry leaders, they are steering the conversation in the right direction, and the press and accolades they have received in recent years are well deserved. Not only do they have great ideals and philosophies concerning changes in the restaurant industry, but they also show what's possible within their own operations and create amazingly delicious food in the process!
References:
Jordan, E. (2024, March 27). Turning the Restaurant Masala y Maíz in Mexico City into an Activism Project. Whitewall. https://whitewall.art/lifestyle/turning-the-restaurant-masala-y-maiz-into-an-activism-project/
Masala y Maiz. (n.d.). Masala Y Maiz. https://www.masalaymaiz.com/
Mudaliar, S. (2024, November 27). The activist chef: How Saqib Keval is using food as a tool for social change. https://meaww.com. https://meaww.com/the-activist-chef-how-saqib-keval-is-using-food-as-a-tool-for-social-change
Pett, S. (2019, December 6). It’s not fusion, it’s mestizaje. Saveur. https://www.saveur.com/story/travel/masala-maiz-restaurant-mexico-city/
