The object I chose to trace is a wooden mortar pilon from Puerto Rico that was my great-great-grandmother’s, Felicidad Rodriguez Baez. Pilons are handmade traditional kitchen item in Puerto Rico. It is used for a variety of purposes but it is most commonly used to mash garlic into powder.  Garlic is extremely popular in traditional Puerto Rican cooking and they use the pilon to prepare garlic for meal preparation by smashing it, turning it into a paste like substance. Many people use this kitchen tool to make mofongo which is a traditional Puerto Rico dish that is made up of green plantains and chicharrón (crunchy pork skin). While I have never had mofongo, my dad tells me it is a savory dish with a subtle sweet flavor from the plantains. 

My great-great-grandmother, Felicidad Rodriguez Baez, bought this item in her youth from a craftsman Merchant at the market in Dorado, a beach near my great-great-grandmother’s house. She had many pilons at her house but this one, in particular, caught her eye because of the artistic markings.  This pilon, in particular, she used throughout her life and prepared many meals with it. When my great-grandmother, Carmen Baez was engaged, Felicidad gave it to her as a gift to start her new life with her husband, my great-grandfather Ignacio Cruz. Same as her mother, she used this very pilon to make these same traditional dishes.  

My great-great-grandmother, Felicidad Rodriguez Baez, and her husband Modesto Baez wanted to move to America for a better opportunity. While Carmen stayed in Puerto Rico her daughter, my grandmother, Sandra Coffey moved with her grandparents when she was twenty years old. Her mother, Carmen,  gave her the gift of the pilon to bring with her to America.

My grandmother, Sandra, and her grandparents moved to America and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. Even though my grandmother, Sandra, visited her mother frequently, she was homesick for her mother’s cooking in America. Cooking, for my grandmother, was a bridge between her Puerto Rican culture and American cuisine. As she learned to make American dishes she would always incorporate a Spanish twist. For example, she would make meatballs but use the pilon to grind her fresh herbs into seasonings. After my grandmother was married she had my dad, Greg Benlien. He tells me that he has so many memories of his mom and him talking in the kitchen as she would make dinner with the pilon. My dad was always very close with his mom, Sandra, so when he turned ten years old he started to express an interest in cooking. My grandma was so thrilled that she would spend every Sunday cooking with my dad and teaching him traditional meals she learned from her mother back in Puerto Rico. 

When my dad was eighteen years old,  he was working at CPI and there was a call from the New York office with a problem. The caller on the other line was my mom, Regina Bruno. As they fixed the problem that should have only taken five minutes to fix, they sat on the phone for hours talking. My parents had a long-distance friendship but a year later my dad came to visit my mom in New York. They began to date and four years later they got engaged. When my dad was packing up and leaving St. Louis, my grandmother gave him the pilon to bring with him to New York. After my parents got married a year later they had me. Ever since I could remember this pilon was an active kitchen tool in my house. When I was just four years old I learned how to mash garlic with it just like my great-great-grandmother did. Today, the pilon sits by my oven and I try to invent new ways to use the pilon in new dishes I come up with. I hope I can pass this important family heirloom to my children one day and tell them the story of this pilon.

Work Cited

Benlien, Gregory. Interview. 2023

Coffey, Sandra. Interview. 2023