|
March 20, 2004
A Culture with
Rhythm and Good Food
By Domingo Ivan
Casañas/HispanicVista.com
I have been a proud
United States Citizen for over 30 years
now. I still remember when I
arrived from Cuba with my family. To
this date people will ask me how I got my
blue eyes, and fair skin. This
people are Hispanics as well as Anglos.
I am also given hot sauce to put on my
food, because some people think that
Hispanics means Mexican. I bring
this up because our History classes are
not doing a good enough job on the
difference of cultures when it comes to
Latin America. However, we
will tackle that topic in the future.
Today I want to focus on the Latin Rhythm
and good food that we bring to America.
There are many
facets to our Latino culture and is not
limited to Latino food, salsa dancing and
entertainment. Our music and
dancing of merengue, bachata, cumbia,
samba and salsa are what make us move,
but we also need to express our Hispanic
culture through art, writing, education,
health, Latino food, close knit families,
just to name a few.
The Latin way of
life has an awful lot to offer.
Our music and food are either hot or
spicy. The way we can dance brings
out the African roots in our music and
movements. We need to be proud for
our culture, customs, music and food.
Yes, they are rich in color, life, sounds
and taste. Many have a mixture of
three races: Spanish, Indian and African,
whose blood flow through our veins,
giving us life, culture and identity.
Hispanic foods share
one common bond….Spices! Order
any dish in a Mexican, Cuban or Caribbean
restaurant and chances are you will need
a constant supply of water, wine or soda
to keep up with the meal. Latin
America countries use spices, such as
oregano, garlic, onions, bay leaves,
Cumin, chile, pepper
and salt to flavor the fine dish that is
being cooked.
In any Hispanic
household, dinner is definitely a family
affair, filled with good food, drink, and
family conversation. So check out a
local Latin restaurant when you have a
chance.
Being born in Cuba I
am not used to hot spicy foods. One
my favorite Cuban dish is rice with black
beans, with a juicy steak, chicken, or
pork for the meat entrée. We also
eat plantains (the big bananas that you
see in the stores). The green
plantains are fried and the ripe
plantains are also fried but have a sweet
taste to them. Puerto Ricans
also eat white rice with red beans and
roast pork that is one of my favorite
dishes also when I visit Puerto Rico.
My friends from Argentina make a great
fruit salad with frozen yogurt. The
people from Chile are known to make an
excellent Seafood stew. The
Colombians can make a great mango delight
gelatin. The people of Costa Rica
make a delicious hearts of palm salad.
The Dominican Republic is known for their
turkey stew. Ecuador families make
a mixed salad in vinaigrette that is
tasty, as well as a red pepper and
garbanzo bean salad. When visiting
a restaurant from El Salvador you need to
order Pupusas. In Guatemala you can
taste a delicious cucumber soup. In
Mexico you can enjoy Mexican rice with a
well-seasoned fish or many of the entries
that we already enjoy at the so many
Mexican restaurants in the area. The
Nicaraguan people are known for their
chicken tamales. And in Paraguay
you can enjoy their winter squash soup.
In Peru potatoes a la Huancaina
melt in your mouth. The Arepas in
Venezuela are on the made from flour,
salt and white cheese.
Each
Spanish-speaking country has its own
culture, our dancing, our food, even the
way we say certain words in Spanish, but
what does not change is that our culture
is rich in language, customs, foods,
architecture, music and the visual arts.
______________________________________________________
Domingo Ivan
Casañas, a contributing columnist to
HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com),
is a Cuban born columnist for the Ledger
Dispatch newspaper which is the East
Contra Costa edition of the Contra Costa
Times in California. Email address: LatinoAchievers@aol.com
or write to: P.O. Box 8427, Pittsburg, CA
94565
|
