Food

There is an update on this story as someone else came up with the idea in 1999 - here is more info - (Update on the Dichos story) The fortune cookie goes Mexican - Sid Martinez and his Takitos with ‘dichos’ from San Antonio

DON’T be surprised if, someday soon, following a meal at a Mexican restaurant, the server brings what looks like a taco-shaped fortune cookie with your check. Crack open the cinnamon-scented wafer and you’ll find a slip of paper printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other with a Mexican saying, or dicho. Example: La lengua del mal amigo, más corta que un cuchillo. (The tongue of a bad friend cuts more than a knife.)

Dichos, as the cookies are called, have been appearing at restaurants — Mexican and others — in southern Arizona in a haphazard pattern in which word-of-mouth has far outpaced formal distribution. Raul and Marina Montaño, the Douglas, Ariz., couple who came up with the idea after a Chinese meal in March 2007, have been fielding calls for their product since they opened for business just over four months ago.”*

or 21 years I’ve watched this lovely little cocktail coyly circle the bar hoping to be noticed. When you marry a Brazilian, the potent lime and sugarcane cocktail automatically becomes the house drink. But it’s only in the last year or two that the caipirinha has been showing up on local bar menus.

A kissing cousin of the Cuban mojito, the caipirinha (kai-PEE-reen-yuh) is considered the national drink of Brazil. Loosely translated, it means “peasant’s drink,” “little man from the country” or “yokel.” I’d been drinking them for so long I had to stop and think out loud: “So what’s the exact translation for caipirinha?””*

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hispanics are the largest minority within the culinary workforce with more than half — 54 percent — working as cooks and food preparers. Yet, less than 20 percent hold executive chef positions. To help support and develop new talent in the professional culinary sector, McNeil Nutritionals, LLC — worldwide marketer of SPLENDA(R) Sweeteners — today announced the opening of a call for entries for the fourth annual Chef Splendido Contest, a national search dedicated to showcasing aspiring Hispanic and bi-lingual (English/Spanish speaking) culinary talent.

The Chef Splendido contest recognizes up and coming Hispanic and
bi-lingual (English/Spanish speaking) talent with a passion for healthy, Latino cuisine. In addition, the contest yields reduced calorie alternatives with less sugar to traditional Latino dishes that do not sacrifice taste, especially given the high Hispanic incidence of obesity and diabetes. A new partnership with The Spanish Speaking Chef’s Association of America, an organization whose goal is to support young Latinos interested in pursing careers in culinary arts, will broaden the talent search and encourage current and recent culinary graduates to participate in the contest.

“The Hispanic community is key to the make-up of the culinary workforce, yet the majority of roles fall within the service-oriented sector due to barriers - such as language and education,” said Chef Rafael Palomino, Executive Chef and founder of The Spanish Speaking Chef’s Association of America. “With the large number of Hispanic talent in the industry, it is important to encourage and support aspiring chefs to participate in programs like Chef Splendido that help them further their careers while learning how to create reduced calorie options with less sugar for traditional Latino cuisine.”

To enter, participants create a Latino-inspired dessert using SPLENDA(R) Sweeteners and compete for an opportunity to win $5,000 in cash. In addition, the winner receives a mentorship opportunity with a nationally recognized Hispanic chef associated with the Spanish-Speaking Chefs Association. Contest rules, regulations and deadlines available at www.SplendaEnEspanol.com . “*

Those who believe the Dominican Republic serves typical Caribbean cuisine, guess again. With a plethora of fresh seafood, fruits, vegetables, and meats, the Dominican Republic blends culinary styles from Latin America, Spain, and France. As a result, the dishes are an amazing blend of flavors, mild spices, and varying textures.

Unlike the chain stores in many countries, the Dominican Republic prides itself on selling fresh ingredients from their local markets. Typical foods are sweet potatoes, goat meat, pig meat, fresh saltwater fish, shellfish, mangoes, papayas, plantains, cassava melon, coconuts, citrus fruits, tomatoes, and passion fruit. Given the abundance of high quality foods, it is not surprising that locally prepared dishes are delightful treats.”*

With inventions like parmesan snow, chilled sauces that “boil” with dry ice and green olives made of “spherified” juice, Spain’s avant-garde chefs have created an international buzz for a national cuisine that was long considered an also-ran. Gazpacho and paella were just no match for the specialties of French and Italian cuisine.

But dozens of restaurants around the country now rate a star from the revered Michelin guide. (Six currently hold its top honor: three stars.) Spanish chefs grace the pages of international gastronomic magazines, and some food critics believe they have replaced their French counterparts at the vanguard of culinary innovation.”*

No doubt there once existed a truly Mexican style of beer, brewed in a tradition that, through centuries of trial and error, fine-tuned indigenous ingredients and local conditions into perfect harmony.

Unfortunately, we’ll never taste it.

Each and every invading force, from the Spanish conquistadors to Maximilian, apparently decided they could do better than what the locals were pouring. And perhaps as a result, we’ve been left with a grafting of someone else’s beer preference onto climate, soil and water conditions that never quite suited it.”*

When the folks behind Tomandote say the bottled tea is “como tú abuela lo hacía,” they’re not kidding.

The most popular tea — which features a lemongrass flavor with a touch of cane sugar — reminds founder Frank Ruvalcaba of the tea his grandmother used to make.

Apparently, it’s striking nostalgic notes with others and gaining new tea fans. The company’s three flavors of bottled tea — which people can drink hot or cold — are selling off shelves and making their way into more stores throughout California and Washington.”*

Claudia Avalos and her family might soon become vegetarians — but not exactly by choice.

The genesis of their dietary dilemma can be traced to an unlikely place: Postville, Iowa. In this northeastern Iowa town, federal immigration authorities raided and jailed nearly 400 undocumented workers two weeks ago at Agriprocessors Inc., the nation’s largest kosher meat and poultry plant.

The plant quickly reopened to slower production, and the subsequent trickledown impact was felt immediately throughout the country. Consumers and businesses, Jews and non-Jews alike, including those in Houston, now worry about a shortage of kosher meat and rising prices. The raid, hailed by officials as the largest in U.S. history, was, to some, another example of the dependence of the U.S. labor force on undocumented workers.”*

Learning to cook tortillas with Erika Molina, you sink your hands into a richly textured dough. But you also plunge your heart into a lesson that’s equal parts culinary and cultural discovery.

At a class at Olympia’s Bayview School of Cooking, 25-year-old Molina, who lives in Winlock, south of Chehalis, shows students a length of fabric featuring cut-outs and colorful embroidery.

“They are tortilla warmers. My mom makes these,” she says, explaining how Mexican cooks store hot-off-the-griddle tortillas in the lengths of cloth to keep them warm for serving.”*

These recipes are from Donna Deane, test kitchen director of the Los Angeles Times. Mexican panela cheese is available at Hispanic markets and well-stocked supermarkets.”*

For the most part, Taqueria del Sol has avoided culinary and cultural abominations. (Even their saltine cracker-coated chicken, a sometimes special, has honest roots in the South’s community cookbook tradition, wherein broccoli and squash casseroles alike gain crunch by way of crumbled Ritz crackers.)

Instead, Taqueria del Sol — which now has a catering operation and will soon open a fourth location 70 miles up the road in Athens — has, in this day of Minutemen patrols and razor-wire fencing along the Rio Grande, accomplished something miraculous, a border straddle.

Taqueria del Sol is Southern: They serve hacked pork barbecue, topped with coleslaw. And it’s Mexican: That barbecue comes tucked in a flour tortilla, and the slaw is chocked with jalapeno.”*

The Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is presenting the LATINO FOOD FEST & MENUDO COOK-OFF on Sunday, June 1, 2008. The Menudo pots will be boiling, la salsa, chili, and family secrets will be poured into the Menudo and a winner will be selected by specially selected group of judges who will proclaim the best tasting Menudo of the event.”*

Latin-inspired dishes have grown in popularity across the country and Central Florida, as more and more diners discover tasty meals featuring delicacies such as black beans, yellow rice, yuca, sweet plantains and grilled chicken.

At least one new south Lake restaurant is following the trend. Since Pollo Tropical opened in April at 2625 E. State Road 50, general manager Angel Cortes said he has noticed a steady flow of non-Hispanic guests.

“Eighty percent of our customers are Anglo [non-Hispanic] people,” he said. “And 20 percent are Hispanic.”"*

Food Network and FoodNetwork.com, established almost two years ago, executives hope to capture Latino food aficionados’ interest with a television program that began airing in the summer of 2007; and an online Latin Cooking Series, featuring videos, recipes and tips from Food Network hosts Ingrid Hoffmann and Bobby Flay.

Website promoters promise visitors will be able learn how to use zesty native ingredients to create recipes for dishes such as Colombian Chicken Soup, Brazilian Feijoada, Argentine Stuffed Flank Steak, Cumin Pork-Potato Filled Tamales and Enchilada Lasagna; and desserts like Chocolate Cornpone with Hot Mexican Chocolate Sauce or Banana Quesadillas. They can also explore the site’s glossary of ingredients and terms commonly found in Latin cooking, suggestions for ingredients Hispanic cuisine fans should keep in their pantry to add a Latin flair to their meals.”*

So did you know this? If you didn’t, perhaps you could send it to someone you know to help spread the knowledge and please tell them about HispanicTips.

View more “Did You Know?” facts in our “Did You Know?” section

Summer days are here and Goya Foods has created fresh and light recipes to complement and spice up backyard barbecues and picnics, and to keep you cool while sipping around the pool.

Summer barbecues are just the occasion to prepare and serve up Goya’s cool summer recipes. With healthy eating on everyone’s mind, how about a tasty and authentic Mexican Nopalitos Salad. For a seafood dish that will tickle your taste buds, a Ceviche in Spicy Red Sauce is served cool, is light and there is no “cooking.” And what can be smoother than a Mango Smoothie that is so super easy to make, you can turn it into a fun activity for the kids while cooling them down.

“Goya’s summer recipes will keep you cool this summer,” said Fernando Desa, Goya Executive Chef and Product Development Manager. “These dishes are authentic and easy to make with Goya products which we make sure are the best- tasting and of the highest quality ingredients for our consumers.” The Latin American food leader, Goya Foods, has developed products for health-conscious consumers, such as low-sodium beans and low-sodium seasonings. These offerings complement Goya’s premier, heart-healthy Olive Oil that the company has offered as one of its staples since its inception in 1936 and which has been rated as “best overall” by a leading consumer publication. Goya also offers diabetic-friendly products that include: Organic Beans, Low-sodium Beans, Adobo Light, Olive Oil, and Sazon Natural y Completo (no salt added). For more information about Goya Foods and more recipes, visit: www.goya.com .

Ensalada Mexicana de Nopalitos Goya

(C)Goya Foods

This tangy salad is made from the tender, cooked, and marinated paddles of the Nopal cactus. Tossed with onions, citrus juice and cilantro, this Mexican favorite is a unique summer entree or a tasty side dish to any meal.

Ingredients
1 jar (30 oz.) Goya Nopalitos
1 tsp. Goya Adobo with Pepper or to taste
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro or parsley
2 Goya Serrano Peppers, diced
2 tbsp. Goya Red Vinegar
4 tbsp. Goya Lemon Juice
1 tbsp. Goya Salsita Habanera
1/4 lb. white cheese, crumbled

Directions
1. Place the Nopalitos in a large bowl. Season with Adobo.

2. Add onion, tomatoes, cilantro or parsley, serrano peppers, vinegar, lemon, and salsita habanera. Mix well and serve topped with cheese.

Serves 2-4

Ceviche in Spicy Red Sauce
(C)Goya Foods

“Cooking” with the acidity of lime juice is a delicious, low-calorie method of preparing fresh fish, that has been around since ancient times. This tomato-based version originated in Acapulco and is very popular along the Pacific Coast. Serve up this tasty starter in a pretty sundae glass or on soda crackers.

Ingredients
1 lb. very fresh, boneless red snapper or other white lean-fleshed fish,
cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. Goya Olive Oil
2 cloves peeled garlic, cut in half
1/2 cup finely diced white onion Goya Adobo with Pepper, to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped, fresh cilantro
1 can (8 oz.) Goya Spanish-Style Tomato Sauce
2 tbsp. Goya Botanita Hot Sauce with Lime Juice
1 packet Sazon Goya with Cilantro and Tomato
1/2 cup Goya Pitted Manzanilla Spanish Olives, chopped

Note: For extra “zing” add a finely diced Jalapeno along with the diced onions.

Directions

1. Place fish in shallow glass dish. Add lime juice, cover with plastic wrap and marinate for 2 hours at room temperature or until opaque. (The fish will not “cook” as quickly if refrigerated.) Stir occasionally.

2. In small skillet heat oil on medium, add garlic, and slightly flatten with fork, saute for 3 minutes. Let oil cool, and discard garlic.

3. Pour off excess lime juice from fish. Stir in onion and season with Adobo. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Just before serving, add cilantro, Tomato Sauce, Botanita, Sazon, Olives, garlic-oil and mix well. Serve cold with soda crackers.

Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Mango Smoothie
(C)Goya Foods

To complement any summer menu, the Mango Smoothie offers pure pleasure — sweet, tropical, refreshing, and frothy.

Ingredients
1 can (12 oz.) Goya Mango Nectar
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
3 ice cubes

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in blender container.
2. Cover and blend on high until smooth. Drink it up cool.

Variations

Use other flavors of Goya Nectars in place of mango to add variety. Substitute low fat ice cream or frozen yogurt for the ice cream.”

Marco Antonio Rosales learned to cook the way many immigrant men do: from a cell phone. Soon after arriving in the Washington area five years ago, the young construction worker found himself on the horn to a mountain town in western Guatemala, burning up calling-card minutes in pursuit of domestic skills he never learned at home.

“I would ask my mother or my wife: How do you cook this soup? How do you prepare the beans?” Rosales said.

The women were amused and delighted to impart some advice remotely, Rosales said, maybe all the more so because it shattered the norms of their machismo society. “In my country, a man would never go into the kitchen and a woman would never go into the field. Here, I was forced to learn.””*

The food is so ubiquitous that the national lunchtime staple of rice, beans and meat is known as the Dominican flag. Some Dominican families hang decorated rice balls on their Christmas trees, and the grain shows up in appetizers, main dishes and desserts, among them the sweet, clove-scented rice pudding known as arroz con leche.

That may explain why Agripina Peralta, a manager at Jaya Restaurant on Audubon Avenue in Washington Heights, lowered her voice slightly when she admitted that the restaurant had begun thinning the beds of rice beneath its goat stews and roast chickens.

“We have diminished the portions a little,” Ms. Peralta said the other day, holding up a thumb and forefinger close together. “A little.””*

SEATED at the counter at Taqueria Mexico here, you can see a woman making tortillas through the open kitchen door. With quick, confident movements, she volleys the dough between her palms before smacking it onto the press. It’s a spirited rhythm: Slap, slap, slap, bam!

Ardent authenticity distinguishes this little East End place (just five tables and three red stools at a tiny counter) in the local landscape of Latin cuisine. But Taqueria Mexico is not alone: Latin American restaurateurs are turning out traditional cuisine in no-frills spots across Long Island.”*

Have you ever wondered why so many women crowned Miss Universe are from Latin American countries? Dr. Manny Alvarez, the senior medical correspondent on Fox News, said, “The women look that way because they eat the seven Latin power foods.”

Alvarez, the author of “The Hot Latin Diet,” said there is a fast track to that bombshell body.

“This diet helps women stay slim and sexy and maintain their natural curves,” Alvarez said.

The book is geared to women, and the recipes are designed by Hispanic female chefs, and promotes fewer carbs, flavors and color of food (no white), along with the balance of exercise. The bottom line is keeping a good-looking body while having fun in the kitchen.”*

Pastel de Tres Leches. Just mention those four words to those who have tasted the traditional “cake of three milks,” and they often become both gaga and wary — as if it were an intoxicating drug they had to quit but are unable to forget.

At its most basic, Tres Leches is just a big, luscious sponge. Once you bake the dense cake, you soak it in a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and cream.

Some cooks top it with whipped cream. Others shellac it with shiny meringue. It seems as innocent as a wedding cake!”*

Houston is one of two Texas markets being tested for Tyson Food Inc.’s new product line aimed at the Hispanic market.

Tyson Al gusto!, which means “Tyson To Your Liking,” is a line of specially-cut and flavored products designed to make it easier for consumers to prepare traditional Latin dishes at home. Six fresh chicken items are currently being tested in Houston and Dallas.”*

The magic number at Machu Picchu Charcoal Chicken & Grill is 24. That’s how many hours their rotisserie chicken soaks in a secret brew before it’s slid onto a spit and roasted over hot coals to a succulent, smoky-to-the-bone perfection.

Twenty-four is also about the number of seconds that it takes to walk to Rosy and Hugo Cerna’s other restaurant, also dubbed Machu Picchu. Why open a second Peruvian restaurant a tamale’s throw from the first?

“Because we really wanted to serve pollos a la brasa,” says Rosy Cerna about their charcoal chicken. “It’s a national dish in Peru, but you never serve it at a restaurant where you have all the other Peruvian dishes like we have at Machu Picchu. Pollos a la brasa has to have a restaurant of its own.”*

25 Union Square, Somerville. 617-623-7972.
Hours Mon-Thu, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Make a variation on classic chile verde by using tomatillos in a sauce for a fluffy omelet made with panela cheese (a fresh Mexican cheese that softens to rich creaminess when heated).”*