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Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to info@southernfoodways.org.

< Back to Oral History project: Southern Baking

< Back to Oral History project: Parish Epiphany: King Cake Bakers of South Louisiana

ORAL HISTORY

Norma Castillo

Norma’s International Grocery

Norma Castillo was born in La Lima, Honduras and grew up in the nearby city of Villanueva. In the early 1980s, she moved to the United States with her husband, Lorenzo, and young son, José. The family settled with relatives in New Orleans, where they welcomed another son, Mariano, and came to buy and operate a Cuban bakery in the Gentilly neighborhood. Norma learned how to bake and succeeded in sustaining the business.

A single mother raising two children, Norma worked various jobs to support her young family, but always held on to the recipes she had learned when she first arrived in New Orleans. Once her children were grown, she realized the dream of starting her own bakery in Kenner. With the support of faithful employees, her two sons, and a growing Latin American community, her business has expanded exponentially. Norma’s south Louisiana legacy is her highly popular guava and cream cheese king cake.

Date of interview:
2022-05-03

Interviewer:
Phillip Norman

Photographer:
Emily R. Williams

Download Transcript

“

"Me siento orgullosa de que tal vez yo ni exista, que alguien lo sigue haciendo, la king cake de guayaba. Sería muy bonita. Tal vez yo no lo voy a ver, pero mis nietos van a comentar, 'Lo es el king cake que mi abuela inventó.' ¿Verdad? Eso, si. Me gustaría que siguiera la tradición." - Norma Castillo

"I feel proud of that fact that one day maybe I don't even exist and someone might keep making it, the guava king cake. It would be beautiful. Maybe I won't be around to see it but my grandchildren will see it and they'll say, 'That's the king cake my grandmother invented.' Right? Yes. I would like that if the tradition continued." - Norma Castillo

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