Latino Food Culture i Food Cultures in America Ken Albala, General Editor African American Food Culture William Frank Mitchell Asian American Food Culture Jane E. Dusselier Latino Food Culture Zilkia Janer Jewish American Food Culture Jonathan Deutsch and Rachel D. Saks Regional American Food Culture Lucy M. Long ii Latino Food Culture ZILKIA JANER Food Cultures in America Ken Albala, General Editor GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London iii Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Janer, Zilkia. Latino food culture / Zilkia Janer. p. cm. — (Food cultures in America) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978–0–313–34027–7 (alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978–0–313–34127–4 (set : alk. paper) 1. Cookery, Latin American. 2. Hispanic Americans—Food. 3. Hispanic Americans—Social life and customs. 4. Food habits— United States. I. Title. TX716.A1J36 2008 641.598—dc22 2007047969 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2008 by Zilkia Janer All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007047969 ISBN: 978–0–313–34027–7 (vol.) 978–0–313–34127–4 (set) First published in 2008 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The publisher has done its best to make sure the instructions and/or recipes in this book are correct. However, users should apply judgment and experience when preparing recipes, especially parents and teachers working with young people. The publisher accepts no responsibility for the outcome of any recipe included in this volume. iv To my father, for teaching me how to appreciate bacalao, yuca, yautía, and ñame. To my mother, for teaching me how to make sofrito. v vi Contents Series Foreword by Ken Albala ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii Chronology xvii 1. Historical Overview 1 2. Major Foods and Ingredients 25 3. Cooking 49 4. Meals 71 5. Eating Out 101 6. Special Occasions 119 7. Diet and Health 141 Glossary 147 Resource Guide 157 Bibliography 161 Index 165 vii viii Series Foreword If you think of iconic and quintessentially American foods, those with which we are most familiar, there are scarcely any truly native to North America. Our hot dogs are an adaptation of sausages from Frankfurt and Vienna; our hamburgers are another Germanic import reconfigured. Ketchup is an in- vention of Southeast Asia, although it is based on the tomato, which comes from South America. Pizza is a variant on a Neapolitan dish. Colas are de- rived from an African nut. Our beloved peanuts are a South American plant brought to Africa and from there to the U.S. South. Our french fries are an Andean tuber, cooked with a European technique. Even our quintessentially American apple pie is made from a fruit native to what is today Kazakhstan. When I poll my students about their favorite foods at the start of every food class I teach, inevitably included are tacos, bagels, sushi, pasta, fried chicken—most of which can be found easily at fast food outlets a few blocks from campus. In a word, American food culture is, and always has been pro- foundly globally oriented. This, of course, has been the direct result of immi- gration, from the time of earliest settlement by Spanish, English, French and Dutch, of slaves brought by force from Africa, and later by Germans, Italians, Eastern Europeans, including Jews, and Asians, up until now with the newest immigrants from Latin America and elsewhere. Although Americans have willingly adopted the foods of newcomers, we never became a “melting pot” for these various cultures. So-called ethnic cuisines naturally changed on foreign soil, adapting to new ingredients and popular taste—but at heart they remain clear and proud descendants of their respective countries. Their origins are also readily recognized by Americans; ix we are all perfectly familiar with the repertoire of Mexican, Chinese, and Italian restaurants, and increasingly now Thai, Japanese, and Salvadoran, to name a few. Eating out at such restaurants is a hallmark of mainstream American culture, and despite the spontaneous or contrived fusion of culi- nary styles, each retains its unique identity. This series is designed as an introduction to the major food cultures of the United States. Each volume delves deeply into the history and development of a distinct ethnic or regional cuisine. The volumes further explore these cuisines through their major ingredients, who is cooking and how at home, the structure of mealtime and daily rituals surrounding food, and the typical meals and how they are served, which can be dramatically different from popular versions. In addition, chapters cover eating out, holidays and special occasions, as well as the influence of religion, and the effect of the diet on health and nutrition. Recipes are interspersed throughout. Each volume of- fers valuable features including a timeline, glossary and index, making each a convenient reference work for research. The importance of this series for our understanding of ourselves is several- fold. Food is so central to how we define ourselves, so in a sense this series will not only recount how recipes and foodways serve as distinct remind- ers of ethnic identity, binding families and communities together through shared experiences, but it also describes who we have all become, since each food culture has become an indispensable part of our collective identity as Americans. Ken Albala General Editor x Series Foreword [...]... the important role of Latinos in the food system of the United States cannot be overestimated Most of the food consumed in this country is either grown, harvested, processed, cooked, or served by Latinos Whether as inheritors and creators of sophisticated cuisines, or as the workforce that sustains the food system from the fields to the table, Latinos are a vital force in the food culture of the United... States 2003 Latinos become the largest minority group in the United States Nuevo Latino chef Aaron Sánchez publishes La comida del barrio, a cookbook featuring the foods of Latino East Harlem, New York 2007 Gourmet magazine publishes a special collector’s issue, Latino Food: America’s Fastest Rising Cuisine,” recognizing the wide national and regional diversity of Latino cuisines Guatemalan fast -food chain... large street party that attracts more than 1 million people and features hundreds of Latino food kiosks Chronology xix 1980s South American immigration starts to grow, completing the representation of all Latin American countries in the development of Latino food culture 1990s Nuevo Latino, the upscale version of pan -Latino cuisine, grows in popularity as restaurants multiply 1994 The North American... Walter Mignolo enabled me to understand and explain Latino food culture in the broader context of Latina/o cultural politics I am grateful to my colleagues at Hofstra University for understanding that the study of food is a serious and necessary academic endeavor, and to my Latina/o students for sharing their knowledge and experience of Latino culinary culture This book was written in the Frederick Lewis... conquered frontier, normalize the commercial and aesthetic appropriation of Mexican culture. 18 12 Latino Food Culture Indeed, Mexicans and Mexican Americans have not been the main beneficiaries of the growing Mexican food industry, even though it depends on their labor and cultural expertise Mexican restaurants and food distribution companies that serve a Mexican and Mexican American clientele are... companies that originated in México, like snack foods producer Sabritas and tequila producer Casa Herradura, have been bought by bigger U.S companies Increasingly large supermarket chains like Fiesta Mart and even Wal-Mart are competing with neighborhood stores by focusing on Mexican and other Latino foods There is much more to Mexican American food culture than fast food and Southwestern cuisine The regional... economic and political power distinguishes Cubans from other Latinos Unlike Mexican, Puerto Rican, and other Latinos, they had enough resources to reproduce the whole range of their food culture from popular food to the most refined Between the 1960s and the 1980s Cubans transformed Miami Dade County of Florida into an ever-growing Little Havana Goya Foods opened a branch in Miami to better serve the Cuban... those in north México Food sellers served tamales, tortillas, chiles rellenos (stuffed chiles), huevos revueltos (scrambled eggs), lengua lampreada (beef tongue with salsa ranchera), pucheros (soups), and ollas (stews) The difference was that in San Antonio Mexican food was enjoyed not only by Mexicans but also by Anglo Americans, Europeans, and African Americans 10 Latino Food Culture Nineteenth-century... for unity to form one single transnational Latino community His call for solidarity is expressed in the language of food, a realm in which the creation of a transnational Latino culture is already apparent Tacos, pupusas, and arepas are only a few of the many delicious foods with which Latinos have enriched the cuisine of the United States Aside from the dishes that they have brought from their home... corporations The first fast -food chains to mass market Mexican American food were Taco Maker and Taco Bell in the 1960s Their version of the cuisine is so far removed from the way Mexican Latinos actually eat that the companies report that they constitute a negligible part of their clientele Newer Mexican fast -food chains like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Tijuana Flats are not Latino- owned either Even successful . Latino Food Culture i Food Cultures in America Ken Albala, General Editor African American Food Culture William Frank Mitchell Asian American Food Culture Jane. Dusselier Latino Food Culture Zilkia Janer Jewish American Food Culture Jonathan Deutsch and Rachel D. Saks Regional American Food Culture Lucy M. Long ii Latino