[Editor's note: The bad pun in the title is NOT Jake's doing, it's the editor's. ;) Sorry, Jake!]
Street Food: Latin America
While everybody has to eat, food media has been dominated for a long time by big names. The figure of the celebrity chef is often a white man at a time when what we eat is increasingly global. Netflix’s Street Food: Latin America may not represent anything revolutionary in style, but the people interviewed (and all the tantalising food shots) represent these six cities in a more rounded way than the obsession with chefs and Michelin stars allows for.
"The thing that sets SF:LA apart from other shows is the emphasis on the stories of the cooks themselves rather than the history of the development of any specific dish."
The thing that sets SF:LA apart from other shows is the emphasis on the stories of the cooks themselves rather than the history of the development of any specific dish. Many of the featured vendors began their stands as a means of survival and the food which sells is that which appeals to locals. While street food is gaining recognition from elite establishments- one of the chefs from the previous season in Asia was awarded a Michelin star- the Lima portrayed through Al Toke Pez, a small restaurant serving Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) cuisine, seems much closer to the daily life of limeños. You aren’t going to pay an arm and a leg to eat at one of the most expensive restaurants in Peru. The series Chef’s Table tells fascinating stories of top chefs like Virgilio Martínez Véliz who has travelled the length and breadth of Peru to find obscure ingredients on the tops of mountains; as much as fish and chips speak to the British, stands selling anticuchos and picarones are much closer to the hearts of the general population.
Diversity also shines in this series. The Afro-Brazilian culture of Salvador is highly celebrated and going beyond the food itself, into the legacy not only of slavery but the many individual African cultures than captives brought with them. One of the most surprising things for me was the beauty of palm oil (dendê in Portuguese) which many dishes of West and Central African origin are cooked in. Two of the most enigmatic characters are paceña Doña Emi and oaxaqueña Doña Vale, two women who fought for greater independence in setting up their own businesses. For those who aren’t aware of the cholitas please stop and take in the beautiful hats, blouses, skirts and blankets which make up the tradition dress than defines the chola identity, a product of mestizaje or ethnical and cultural mixing between indigenous people of the altiplano and Spanish colonists. While the term chola has often been used in a derogatory way, Doña Emi and the many other women highlighted in the episode show a reclamation of tradition and a refusal to accept their oppression, fighting literally in the case of the lucha libre de cholitas. I was thrilled to see my homemade tortillas looked vaguely like the beautiful blue corn memelas Doña Vale made to support herself and her daughter having been displaced from her family home after a fire, destroying everything her and her family had. These stories of struggle or lucha (the good fight) are both more interesting and inspiring than your average cooking show.
"a reclamation of tradition and a refusal to accept their oppression"
Displacement is a common theme across those interviewed, and the episode on Bogotá showed how violence had led women from the distinct regions of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts into contact with paisa and bogotana women. The ability of Street Food to tell nuanced stories about places is a huge asset when you want to learn more about a country from the perspective of those that live there. You move past the lens of the tourist as all those interviewed are from whatever beautifully shot city they are in and most are speaking Spanish or Portuguese. Pato’s porteño accent has stuck in my mind for days since hearing her talk about her tortilla (read tortisha) de papas stuffed with either cheese and ham or vegetables. Some elements of the episode on Buenos Aires I disagreed with- the emphasis on Argentina as distinctly European is something which erases the Charrúa community which originally inhabited the area and the black community which the tango comes from. Despite this, the episode and the series are a celebration of the diversity of Latin America and its varied past.
Chef Pato Rodriguez (left)
For anyone learning Spanish (or Portuguese) this would be a great introduction to the cultural background of the six countries represented. The series is only 6 episodes long and I am hoping for a second one, but each 30-40-minute episode is short enough for you to watch one and think you might as well watch the next one. While we are mostly stuck at home you can spend half an hour somewhere colourful with your mouth watering and stomach rumbling, doughnuts and empanadas just a screen away.
