Júlia Bonjoch: After a while of drinking wine I start to sneeze

The actress and singer Júlia Bonjoch (Cardedeu, 1994) speaks with the ARA while walking through the fields of her father's village. Until October 18, Bonjoch plays Blanca in La truita (Teatre Poliorama), a play where food brings family conflicts to the table.

At home, did wine play a leading role?

— It has always presided over the table: a good red wine, a white... In fact, my brother Francesc studied cooking and has a very good predisposition for wine.

And you, when did you start to get interested in it?

— Relatively recently. One day, at a dinner, some friends had us taste a Pago de Carraovejas, and we said: "Now we understand everything". Wine changes the flavor of things, it intensifies it.

But…

— I have a sulfite allergy! After a while of drinking wine, I start sneezing very hard, as if I had suddenly caught a cold. I drink it very sparingly, and if I notice my nose starting to itch, I take an antihistamine to finish the dinner with dignity. I am making an appeal: if there is any wine expert who wants to help me, please get in touch!

Does it only happen to you with wine?

— Also with bread and cheese. In the end, all of that is fermentation. It is as if I had to keep tasting.

So, a taste…

— I'm really looking forward to making one. The thing is that my partner doesn't eat cheese, so I have to find some friends willing to put up with me sneezing [laughs].

What attracts you to this world?

— I find it very grounded, it establishes a very strong bond. My maternal grandmother was a farmer; she had a piece of land that we called the Vineyard. Now there are no vineyards left, there are olive and almond trees, but there is a bond with all of that.

Do you remember having done the grape harvest at some point?

— Now that I think about it, I do remember treading grapes when I was little. I think it was with my cousin Joan, whose father is a farmer. I remember the sensation of the grapes under my feet: pleasant, curious, not at all unpleasant.

And is there anything you find unpleasant about this world?

— Seeing how many cultivated fields disappear because they are putting solar panels there. I find it a guillotine for the ecosystem. You affect the fauna and the flora, and on top of that, it is ugly. I remember seeing, as a child, the evolution of the colors of the earth: green in the spring, golden in the summer –because of the wheat fields–, brown in the autumn, snowy in the winter. Now there are panels that do not mark anything: the passage of time does not pass through them. It is going from green to gray, and we already have enough gray in the cities.

Food is a source of conflict in La truita. Is it in your family?

— At our Christmas dinners –where there are almost thirty of us– there is everything: vegans, vegetarians, people allergic to dairy, to citrus, to stone fruits... And the food has never caused drama: our aunt and uncle make a menu for everyone without making a big deal out of it.

So, in the work, would you say that food is the issue itself or is it an excuse?

— I think there are many pending issues left unsaid in that family, and food ends up being the excuse to bring them up. But of course, when someone brings an omelet to eat instead of the beef stew you cooked with all your love, or when the mother cooks veal for someone who is a vegetarian… the disagreements pile up.

Would you use a meal to announce something important?

— Why not? But only if it were good news! If it were a catastrophe…

How would you advertise it?

— I think I would keep it to myself and throw a party with friends. There would be a toast to life, without announcing why.

What does sharing a table represent to you?

— Celebrating, sharing, toasting. I try to do it always: the chestnut party with friends, a lunch that we call with any excuse that comes to mind. Life hurts enough on its own; what we must do is celebrate it whenever possible.