Maria's story

Maria & her Mom, Donna, 2025

When I was young my mom, Donna, would make a chicken, ham broccoli casserole drowning in bechamel cheese sauce for my birthday. It was my favorite dish. I made sure it made the Gentle Gourmet menu and we named the dish after her. Thanks to the help of Chef Andy Clark and Chef Aaron Hemmans, they helped me create a deconstructed version of that dish.

In 2022 my mom suffered a stroke and lost the use of her entire right side - including the ability to swallow. Of course the hospital food wasn't fit for someone who needed nutrition to recover, so I stayed in Florida and cooked nutritious pureed meals for her. 

One afternoon, as she was eating the creamed spinach with avocado, and I was chatting with my stepdad, when suddenly my mom spoke clearly, “Wow, Maria, that’s good. How did you make that?" That was the moment that Gentle Gourmet was born. The color returned to her face, she was speaking, and I felt a glimmer of hope.

If you're struggling with chewing or swallowing, known as dysphagia, or have other conditions that stop you from being able to eat normally, Gentle Gourmet is for you. 

Brain food is nutrient dense food that aids in cellular repair with particular benefits to the brain. A stroke often fries parts of the brain like lightning hitting a tree. My mom's old brain pathways were irreparable and she needed to create new pathways quickly,  the sooner she could get her brain to create new pathways the sooner she could get her right side to work - the added difficulty was that she also has Parkinson's. 

The level of nutrition at the facility should've been fresh fruit like apples, fennel, blueberries, watermelon, fresh veggies high in complex carbs and vitamins like cauliflower and artichoke, sweat potatoes, avocado high in healthy fats, dairy, meat and fish protein for her muscles. Instead the menu left a lot to be desired, and her choice was always mashed potatoes, the occasional bite of low fat, full sugar yogurt.

She was not hungry - she was scared, confused, and her right side had stopped working. She actually did not want to eat at all.

My first reaction to her meal choices was to find smooth food products at the store, in the freezer section - but zero options outside of soup - which was too thin for swallowing or consisted of pasta or chicken that might cause her to choke. Then I looked into caterers - I couldn't find anyone who made smooth food. And it was Florida - how had no one come up with this in the land of retirement and the 'aging in place' populace? 

So I alerted my Cookology & MCAI staff, that I was going to stay for a lot longer than expected, and cooked my mother lunch and dinner each day until she left rehab. It wasn't easy - it sucked - and I like to cook! - there are too many restrictions on stroke patients and I was terrified. I remember shopping at Publix and meeting a woman who's husband couldn't swallow, she was struggling to make meals each day. We both had a good cry together in the dairy section in the back of Publix because we were so frustrated. 

Our ingredients are heavy and full of calories - mostly because we want the first three bites to count for something. We try to use as many organic ingredients as we can get our hands on.  All dishes are Chef created & Chef made daily in Arlington, VA,  pureed smooth, following the IDDSS 4 guidelines that hospitals follow. We try to use as many high end, name brand ingredients that we can find through our distributors like US Foods and Freshpoint for produce and dairy. We are committed to making two bites count in calories, protein, vegetables and fiber. 

Maria is also the owner of Cookology Recreational Culinary School & Metropolitan Culinary Arts Institute.