In today’s throwaway culture household items don’t last very long. It’s hard to imagine that this pan is really more than 100 years old!

“This pan belonged to my grandmother who was born in 1888. My grandmother and mother were born in Bonaire and then went to live in the Fleur de Marie neighborhood here in Curaçao. When I was 3 years old we moved to the Kwartier neighborhood. My grandmother cooked in this pan, my mother as well, mainly funchi (Curaçaoan polenta) with beans and soup.”

“Whenever the funchi would burn in the pan we would scrape the funchi, pour beans on top and eat it. I don’t do that anymore. I have kept the pan in memory of my mother.”