I close my eyes and I can almost see my mother and my grandmother cooking a rich wakabaki (beef broth) beneath a shelter made of fresh carrizo reeds.
I can even smell the wonderful aroma that the carrizo gives off over the adobe stove. Wakabaki is a traditional dish of my beloved Yaqui Tribe; it is made with beef meat and bone, garlic, salt, onion, fresh cilantro, corn, chickpeas, green beans, cabbage, carrot, and zucchini. It is a truly nourishing delight — all the vegetables are very fresh, straight from the field to our table.
We serve it alongside large flour tortillas (tortillas sobaqueras or water tortillas), with a touch of heat from wild chiltepín chili. All of this is prepared on the stove with mesquite firewood, which gives it a wonderful flavor. To remember is to live again. I know that one day, God willing, I will return to my Yaqui homeland, to my Pótam, on the Río Yaqui, Sonora, in my beloved México — to sit with my whole family at those long tables, with their embroidered tablecloths, and share my favorite meal: wakabaki.
My grandmother left us before her time, but she is always in my heart. My grandmother Juana always told us to feel very proud of our Tribe, of our blood, and above all, to respect our traditions and customs.
Alma Beteme / Pótam, Sonora
