Natcho Cheese

During the opening credits, while upbeat Latin music plays we are transported to a garden, where two hands pick fresh vegetables and drops them into a clean white apron. In the kitchen, these same two hands cut, dice and cook the medley of vegetables. We see a close up of a wedding ring and we are introduced to Martin Naranjo, who is lovingly preparing an intricate dinner for his daughters. At dinner time, as his daughters prepare to sit around the dinner table his first words are “English or Spanish, one or the other” and as conversation continues around the dinner table he once again states “cut the Spanglish”. From this first encounter with Martin, we glimpse his discomfort when his daughters combine his old language with his new one.

During dinner, his daughter Carmen announces that she has bought an apartment and will be moving out. Martin is visibly upset that his daughter made such a monumental decision without consulting him or asking for his advice. During the argument he receives a call from his friend Gomez asking him for help at the restaurant and Martin agrees to go help him, which shows us how important his friends are to him.

Martin shows his compassionate side when he arrives at the restaurant and encourages his friend Gomez not to fire the workers who ruined the dinner order. Instead, Martin improvises a dish and gets everyone to work together to save the dinner party. At the nights end, while Martin sits with his friend Gomez drinking tequila, he finally softens up and confides to his friend that he secretly wishes his daughters would include him in their plans or at least ask for his advice. Martin, it seems, has a fear of change, which is further illustrated by the fact that his wife passed away over 15 years ago and he still wears his wedding ring. Martin’s frustration with life is made even more apparent when we discover that ironically, he cannot taste or smell. In an attempt to console Martin, Gomez compares him to Beethoven.

Aside from being the family’s chef, Martin has also taken on the role of homemaker. This is apparent when we see Martin ironing Carmen’s shirts, pulling laundry out of the washing machines and the girls’ complaining that he mixed up their underwear again. When Martin is not busy cooking or taking care of his family, Martin jogs and keeps himself in good shape. Martin is gracious with Yolanda’s over imposing mother Hortencia and worries about April by secretly making her school lunches. His caring nature is further apparent at the funeral of Gomez as he worries out loud as to the futures of the men that worked for Gomez and himself.

During the Climax dinner scene we witness how much Martin has changed, by making his speech in Spanglish, announcing the sale of the house and asking Yolanda for her hand in marriage. Martin’s final acceptance of the inevitable change begins to improve his life as we see when he accepts Carmen’s desire to follow in his footsteps and her food brings back his ability to taste and smell.