Hispanic Heritage Month: here's how to experience culture through food
Aimee Blume
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Are you curious about all the deliciously authentic Latin restaurants popping up around Evansville?
While you may not personally know anyone from Mexico, Peru, or El Salvador, you can learn about the culture by visiting local restaurants – and this is the time to do it. Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15-Oct. 15, and there’s no better time to go in that taqueria and ask about the dishes – the restaurant staff will be thrilled to educate you.
Evansville:How newest to-go meal service prep business started with a happy accident
(For the curious, "Hispanic" refers specifically to those countries which have a history entwined with Spain and where Spanish is spoken. This excludes Brazil, a country which, while Latin, was colonized by Portugal and where the language is Portuguese.)
The month kicked off Wednesday with Grito de Independencia, a downtown ceremony featuring music, dance, and dishes from Grand Chef Carlos Garcia of Puebla, Mexico. It’s also nearly time for Fiesta Evansville, one of the largest local Latin Festivals, on Oct. 10.
To better understand how food is entwined with Hispanic culture, we spoke with Abraham Brown, who is one owner of La Campirana authentic Mexican Restaurant, a Diversity Advisory Board member at Henderson Community College, and president of Fiesta Evansville.
It’s worth noting that most of our authentic Latin restaurants have blossomed in the six years since Brown and his business partner Ezequiel Campos took a risk and opened a tiny La Campirana in the food court of Washington Square Mall, selling the classic snacks and refreshing fruit dishes commonly found in small-town central Mexico.
“We wanted to offer the real essence of our food,” Brown said. “Of course, we risked not being accepted, but we were opening peoples’ palates to the richness of our culture through the food.”
For Latinos, Brown explained, traditional dishes are intrinsic to who and what they are.
“We want people to look beyond the taste of food to the history of the ingredients and the cultural content that every dish brings to the table,” he said. “In the Latino community, these special dishes are what keeps traditional culture alive today.”
Restaurants:Inkas Charcoal Grill & Bar brings a taste of South America to Evansville's North Side
For example, he noted, most Latin American countries have a food system based on corn, which was originally cultivated in Mexico.
“If it’s tamales or tortillas, corn is the token taken from our ancestors,” Brown said. “Corn was treasured by the Aztecs and was a form of exchange, so using corn today and gathering to cook tamales and things is a way of keeping the culture alive and sharing it with new generations and other cultures.”
Similarly, potatoes and quinoa originated in mountains of Peru, and plantains, a starchy banana we are finally starting to see on local menus, are a staple in the Caribbean, Central America, southern Gulf states of Mexico and northern countries of South America.
“Food is the way we celebrate our culture the most,” Brown said. “At festivals we do the music, the arts and crafts, but for us food is the priority and the celebration. You know you’re celebrating something when you eat molé because it takes so long to prepare and you have to invest so much time and effort into it. Even when we have Dia de los Muertos, we have the Pan de Muertos ‘bread of the dead’ because food is part of the altar, because that’s how we remember people -- by what they liked to eat. It’s a center point for celebrating our culture.”
Most local Mexican restaurants now have some authentic dishes on the menu – we don’t have room to list them all, but when you’re at your favorite place during Hispanic Heritage Month, try a taco al pastor with pineapple-marinated pork; a thick torta sandwich with refried beans, avocado and chorizo sausage; or a glass of sweet, creamy rice-and-cinnamon horchata and see how you like it.
Below is a list of the most authentic Latin restaurants in the Tri-State. How many cultures can you sample before Oct. 15?
Mexican
Medina’s (Alondra Mexican Store) - 1035 Washington St., Henderson, Ky. facebook.com/medinas42420
La Campirana - 724 N. Burkhardt Rd. facebook.com/lacampiranaevansville
Panaderia San Miguel Mexican Bakery – 2004 Washington Ave. facebook.com/Panaderia-San-Miguel-534753260215391
Playa Azul Sinoalan seafood in Huntingburg – 1205 N. Main St., Huntingburg, Ind. facebook.com/Playa-Azul-Mariscos-Estilo-Sinaloa-102833865320683
Las Americas Store and Restaurant – 1016 S. Weinbach Ave.
facebook.com/pages/Las%20Americas%20Store%20And%20Restaurant/202975863060149/
El Paisano Store and Restaurant – 225 S. Green River Road. facebook.com/pages/El%20Paisano/195872014375574/
La Plaza (food truck) - facebook.com/laplazaevansville
Fuego’s Taqueria (food truck) - facebook.com/Fuegos-Taqueria-100300818838489
Taqueria Vargas (food truck) - facebook.com/TaqueriaVargasEvansville
Pan-Latin
Los Alfaro’s Restaurant, with food from Mexico, El Salvador, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.
1021 S. Weinbach Ave. facebook.com/LosAlfarosRestaurant
Peru
Gollita Peruvian Cuisine – 4313 E Morgan Ave. facebook.com/gollitaperuviancuisine
Inkas Charcoal Grill & Bar – 8401 N. Kentucky Ave. facebook.com/inkascharcoalgrill
El Salvador
Cinia’s Salvadorian Kitchen (food truck) - facebook.com/Cinias-Salvdorian-kitchen-111855244007002
Taqueria Y Pupuseria Miranda – 2008 Washington Ave. facebook.com/Mirandaevv
Upcoming Hispanic cultural events
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 6-9 p.m.
Old National Events Plaza, 715 Locust St.
Proclamation by Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, presentation of 2021 Ohtli Award, dinner and culinary demonstration by Chef Carlos Garcia, tequila sampling, music and dance, DJ. Attire is business casual. You must RSVP to attend at https://www.facebook.com/events/3032606270301217. Free event.
Sunday, October 10, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Wesselman Park, 551 N. Boeke Rd.
International performers, cultural exhibits, food booths from Mexico, Central and South America, music and family-friendly entertainment. Free to enter event.
Dia de los Muertos Celebration in Henderson
Saturday, Oct. 30, 4-7 p.m.
Central Park, Henderson, Ky. Between S. Main and Elm Streets on Washington St.
Face painting, crafts, a Mariachi band, performance by traditional dancers, children’s parade and a candlelight procession honoring loved ones who have passed on, food trucks, and a beer garden. Free event.
https://www.facebook.com/diadelosmuertoshenderson
Contact Aimee Blume at aimee.blume@courierpress.com