A feast for the senses
Street Food: Latin America makes you want to travel again and see what the world has to offer. A visual celebration of Latin American food and culture, a feast for the senses, a reminder of the great things to do when when we can travel and eat at restaurants again once this pandemic has passed.
Lima, Buenos Aires, Oaxaca City and Salvador are just a few of these exciting and full of life cities that explode on your screen.
Moqueca, Potato Tortillas, Pizza de Molde and Ceviche are all these dishes that are traditionally made by locals that make your mouth water as you watch them presented. Peppers, fresh fish, ground corn, onions, chilis, cilantro and dende (red palm oil) all feature in these delicious recipes as the locals go over their history and how they become such a part of local culture.
Created by David Gelb and Brian McGinn this is a show that presents the stories of local vendors that live in these various towns. It presents their journey on how the people ended up making these delicious meals, often including the back story. Some people dropping out of university others taking on a family business and others simply out of luck and trying to make ends meet and taking up cooking. All incredibly fascinating but also genuine, real and heart warming.
Salvador, a gorgeous town on the water, the architecture heavily influenced by the Portuguese. But the cooking is heavily based on the African roots of the slaves that were brought over centuries ago. The food is jammed packed with flavor, but understanding the history of the food and culture makes you curious to visit the town just to try the Moqueca, fish stew.
But the standout for me is the story behind the amazing individuals who cook these dishes.
Suzana de Almeida Sapueria, from Salvador, a gorgeous lady who started cooking for local builders, unfortunately she never got paid for her work, but started a small restaurant, in her home, to support her family. The success of her cooking grew and is a local hang out and people from around the world come to Salvador to try her cooking, which is still served from her home.
There is something about a series that makes you curious about these cities but also makes you crave the food. After watching this entire series there were thoughts about the history and culture of food in Lima, Oaxaca and Salvador and these amazing dishes just made you hungry to try them all.
As this pandemic continues instead of this “new” normal getting to you, enjoy the experiences of Latin American food by watching the colorful and very uplifting travel and food series, Street Food: Latin America on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2mA-oNhKEI