Jesus and Mary Academy, first year, Front and Frowning;
Though I was born and raised in Mexico, El Paso was my second home and the birthplace of my career. My mother had home-schooled my sisters and me using the Calvert School System, a teaching method used by missionaries, as long as she could. There were no schools within miles of the ranch, the place that I loved more than anyone or anything, so I was sent, out of necessity, to boarding school to learn English. I was seven years old and will never forget the feeling of utter desolation, aching loneliness and sense of betrayal that filled me when my parents walked away and left me with a nun in the dark vestibule of Jesus and Mary Academy in El Paso, Texas.It was one of those places you see in horror films with turrets and shuttered windows. It smelled of incense, burning wax, and the dank sweat on the black habits that the sisters wore with starched collars as they shuffled down dark hallways on creaky wooden floors, rosaries swinging. I did not go in gently. I kicked and screamed that I wanted to be a horse so I could be back at the ranch and generally made life miserable for myself and anyone else who would let me.
At the ranch- Not the photo I wanted but this will do for now
After three years, my English was deemed to be good enough to transfer to Loretto Academy, the same school my mother had attended, and graduated from as valedictorian in 1935. That was a little more fun and the social life in Juarez was wonderful. We had tardeadas, tea dances with live orchestras and chaperones every Saturday and Sunday and made my debut with many childhood friends and Joanne Wardy at the Juarez Country Club. I never figured out why she was there with all the Mexicans, but I do remember, her brother Amen, who sold designer clothes and tiny muffins from his store set in a mansion, kneeling and pulling the slip down of her crystal and pearl encrusted dress. It was a good time but after graduation 1966, I was sent to schools in Guadalajara so that I would not lose my culture. That turned out to be a brilliant move on my parents’ part.
The debut
I eventually moved back to El Paso, worked at a finance company, then as a social worker at the Department of Welfare then (now Human Resources) where I met my husband, Adolfo Sanchez, a widower with three children. It was not a happy marriage but it did give me two wonderful stepchildren, and my twin sons, celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez, and my lawyer son Rodrigo Sanchez. The two extra children put a tremendous strain on our finances. I had to figure out a way of making extra money so I started baking cookies for our friends and family. My sister Aida was married to a very wealthy man who loved to entertain and I was soon helping her make the meals and getting paid. That was the start of my catering career.
The wedding dress. Keep in mind that this was Juarez, Chihuahua, in 1975. A week before the ceremony, my mother-in-law asked me casually:”Zarela, are you getting married in white?” I responded:”No, it’s ivory.” Then she asked, in a somewhat scandalized tone: With veil and crown?” And I said: “No, with a turban.” This wedding outfit was definitely not the norm but it was cool. Simple with a 6 foot train. I still have it.
Still 2 months to go and look at me. The boys were born prematurely but healthy on February 12, 1976
Realizing that I had a natural talent for cooking and that I could make good money, my mother offered to give me my inheritance in life and send me to classes to learn the business. She somehow found a caterer in Beverly Hills willing to give me a week-long private course on how to set up and run a catering company. I took the plunge and rented a small but fully equipped kitchen near my home and work, hired my little sister Clarissa and her nanny Socorro and we set to work.
If she could handle a horse like this, imagine what she could do at work. I’ll try to find a larger version of this very amazing photograph.
Once I had a storefront, I could advertise and we landed a contract to provide breakfast for 600 employees at an assembly plant. This meant getting up at 3:00 AM five days a week though I hadn’t gotten to sleep before midnight after taking the produce orders from my accounts and calling them in. We’d cook and shred dozens of chickens (it was years before I could stand the smell of chicken broth), make several kinds of breakfast burritos and drive to the plant, set up and serve. I would then go on to my regular job. Needless to say, I was always exhausted. It was not a money-making proposition so it was a relief when the contract ended and I could concentrate on my regular catering business.
Clarissa was a godsend. Someone once asked her what she did for me and she answered “everything Zarela hates to do.” She went to the bank, did the shopping and took care of the myriad details involved in every catering job from ordering the rentals to organizing the staff. This freed me to continue working as a social worker, a job that not only provided some measure of financial security but that I truly enjoyed. Still my schedule was killing and when I started making enough money, I quit my job to dedicate myself to what had become my passion, the business of food which has served me well.
The last picture taken of my Mami and me.
I take this opportunity to thank all customers who let me learn while I did their summer fiestas, Christmas parties, Bar Mitzvahs, ladies’ lunches and even political events. If it were not for your patience and trust , I would not be where I am. If you get a chnce come to my presentation on Monday, March 24th, at 5:00 a UTEP.
( See brochure below.)
