Paella In javi’s Bedroom
December 2023
Javier Pareja, chef/actor/writer/etcccc form Sevilla based in BCN.
“I built a kitchen in my bedroom so I wouldn’t have to share the main kitchen with my four flatmates,” was something along the lines of what he said during our first conversation at a new friend’s birthday party my second month living in Barcelona. That was all I needed to hear to pique my curiosity. The audacity, the gumption, the wit, at defying the system that was in place (one kitchen for five people) to create what he needed to thrive (a space to make a mess and spend hours cooking, unbothered). I needed to see this for myself and thankfully Javi invited me over for a cooking/shooting day before I had to do it myself (I would have done it though, I swear).
There was no end goal for the session, no purpose for the final images, other than sheer curiosity and creative flow. The winter sun was spilling perfectly into the bedroom, hitting the “kitchen” at such a beautiful angle. The reflection of the building rooftops reflected on the window gave layers to play with. The desk was now subbing as a countertop, with ingredients and tools strewn about. I’m sure some flour got onto the bed a few feet away.
He cooked, I shot, we talked, we focused on the work, and it ebbed and flowed like this.
We ate the food he made on the balcony before I left to meet up with my grandparents who had just arrived from Iran for my Christmas holidays. I think it was the first paella I’d eaten since moving to Spain and I remember laughing because the saffron-infused tomato sauce reminded me of an Iranian pasta dish. Strange, funny, comforting.
This bedroom-kitchen no longer exists so these images feel that much more special to have captured this moment in time when gumption and gusto led the way (for Javi for building it and for me for showing up to document it).
