I moved from El Paso, Texas to Pensacola in 1993. The culture shock I experienced was real and even somewhat reciprocal in a sense as people were as curious about me as I was about my new environment. Finding food that I was familiar with was particularly difficult. Mexican food was always just food to me, but it is still considered a specialty — though it is becoming more common in the region.
I wanted to find out how people from other Latin American countries were adjusting these days.
In 1993, there were a couple of small Mexican restaurants in Pensacola, but I found their menus were limited and their ingredients were often strange. I remember feeling relieved to find some cheese enchiladas but disappointed that they tasted like they were made with chili sauce.
Though I have never been a great cook, I realized that if I wanted Mexican food, I was going to have to make it myself. My frustration grew as I learned that I couldn’t even find tortillas in local grocery stores. I mustered up the courage to ask the manager of my neighborhood grocery store if it were possible to carry some items I was becoming desperate for. He handed me a suggestion form, about the size of a post-it note. I wrote so many items on that tiny piece of paper, that I had to continue in the margins. A couple of years later, tortillas started to appear on shelves. The brand they carried would get brittle when they were heated up. I started adjusting to “American” food by then.
Culture shock can be humorous upon reflection, but it can be devastating when everything around you becomes a challenge. Food can be a comfort and a lifeline.
These days, a variety of Mexican, Central American, and South American restaurants can be found throughout the area, and there are more people from different countries that frequent them. So, I wondered what they thought about the food that is available, and how important is it to them to find it.
Rosa Benitez, from El Salvador, says she is familiar with foods from different countries and loves Peruvian food in particular.
“Living in the United States, one of the things I like is the diversity and we can share our traditional dishes,” she said. “Often, I don’t care for gourmet food because it is less authentic.”
Benitez added that when she wants something authentic Mexican food, she goes to the small shops. She says she hopes one day we’ll have a “good” pupusaria in Pensacola. She said the ones we have are good, but they still lack a “little something.”
As a liaison of sorts to the Latino community, I am often asked where to find the best tacos in town. While I cannot answer that fairly, one of the most popular taquerias in Pensacola is El Asador, also known as “the taco truck behind the gas station.”
The taqueria has grown to utilize three trailers in this space, three large and constantly occupied grills, and a small outdoor pergola-covered dining area with plastic folding tables and chairs.
Owner, Rive Garcia, said he has been asked many times by patrons to open an indoor restaurant, but he insists on creating authenticity in the food and the ambience.
“I tell them I want to maintain this original and typical concept of Mexico,” Garcia said. “Enjoying our food outdoors.”
Authenticity isn’t always the goal, however. Joe’s Caribe, for example, is branded as a Caribbean-inspired restaurant. This not only allows him to create healthier options that may stray from the traditional rules of Puerto Rican cuisine but also space to create his own new recipes and dishes in his own right.
The owners of Ceviche 805, Mauricio Lopez and Valeria Quiroz, said they plan to remain as authentic as possible. They say that Peruvian food is ideal because it is so diverse, with different kinds of meats, seafood, and vegetables.
“In Bolivia, we have a great variety of foods and they are delicious and different, but we don’t have access to some foods like seafood because we had a war and we are landlocked,” Mauricio said. “When I came to the United States is the first time that I had seafood.”
“There is seafood in Bolivia,” Valeria added, “but it is very expensive.”
When it came to creating the menu, Valeria said it was important to make everything authentic. Almost all of their products come from Peru. Her brother, Alexander, is a partner in the business and an experienced Peruvian food chef.
“For example, we use the huacatai, the yellow ahi, that is not processed,” she explained. “We do all the process of the ahi. We do all the processing of the rocoto, all of the salsas are fresh, made in-house.”
They said they are receiving calls from Peruvians drilling them with questions about their backgrounds and products, and so far they are getting very positive feedback.
“A family came in — they said that in their home, all of their food is Peruvian. And the lady told me, ‘I am very demanding.’ She even called us days before coming and asked me, ‘Who is your chef? Where are you from?’ Like a series of questions, until she came in and ate the lomo saltado, then she said, ‘No. Now I feel like I am at home. Like if I were there.’ She congratulated us,” Valeria said.
Familiar foods can conjure up memories and perhaps emotions that help through the difficult adjustments of change. While we were sampling different foods at this restaurant, my boyfriend, Alex, who is also from Peru, said the lomo saltado, a beef stir fry, reminded him of a night he went to work with his late father, a taxi driver. He said the lomo tasted as good as the one he had when they stopped to eat at a street vendor.
“It was so good,” he said, “I asked my dad to buy me another plate.” “My dad said, ‘Are you going to eat it all, son?’ I told him I would, and I did,” Alex said with a kind of boyish smile. It was obvious he was reliving a special memory of his father.
We use food in creating commemorations. Food can conjure up strong memories, good and bad. We need food daily for nourishment. For some, food is a lifeline to family, culture, and all they knew in a life they left behind thousands of miles away.