Tag: Food

SPAM Wants you to Give Taco Night a Kick in the Maracas

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SpamJalapeno1

There is nothing more satisfying than lying down on your sofa with People en español a good piece of literature and come face to face with the improbable: A two-page commercial for SPAM jalapeño, featuring an enlarged photo of what SPAM thinks is Mexican food.

The ad -which takes a full-page plus a one-third vertical in the April 2014 issue of People en español, includes everything you’d come to expect from made-believe Mexican food advertisements in the U.S., namely a jalapeño, a lime, a couple of plastic cactai and -what else?- a photo of Sir Can-A-Lot proudly shaking a pair of maracas.

What’s more puzzling to me, though is: Why is this ad in English and… do they really think my people would go for it?

SpamJalapeno2

Looking to Reverse Soup Slump, Campbell’s Turns to Hispanics

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NachoFiestaCheese
What other delicious recipes might Campbell’s be cooking for my people?

If you thought Fiesta Nacho Cheese, Kick-It-Up a Nacho or Mexican-style chicken tortilla  soups were enough to satisfy the demanding palate of my people (i.e. Hispanics,) think again. The venerable Campbell Soup Company, hoping to reverse a “soup slump,” is ready to accelerate its Hispanic-themed and Hispanic-targeted canned soups and other so-called food products.

But don’t think that throwing in some queso and tortillas will be enough to attract more U.S. Hispanics. According to this article in Food Business News, the company “has added dual-language packaging for some of its products,” presumably in a similar way they’ve done with the “French” language.

Somehow Campbell thinks "Fiesta de légumes" is Spanish for "Fiesta Vegetable."
Somehow Campbell’s thinks “Fiesta de légumes” is French for “Fiesta Vegetable.” [Oh, but is Fiesta Vegetable English or Spanish?]
Alas, there was no mention in such article about how “Fiesta Vegetable” became Fiesta de légumes in “French” but I guess that’s material for a future post.

Yummy!

This Argentinian ‘Chef’ Will Teach you How NOT to Make Tacos

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botanaArgentinian “chef” Maru Botana this week came under fire by my people (i.e. The Mexicans) after she attempted to do something Argentinians should never, ever, do: prepare Mexican food.

“Botana,” which is Spanish for “snack” and thus very likely not her real name, took to national television in Argentina to demonstrate how to prepare “real Mexican tacos,” which was nothing but a bizarre concoction of eggplant, green peas, chicken, cherry tomatoes and hard boiled eggs wrapped up in something she thinks is a home-made tortilla.

The offending recipe reaches its peak when Ms. Botana decides to place the tortilla maker actually on the burner, quickly transitioning her endeavor from a cooking parody to just plain disaster.

tortillera

Below is a small taste of the debacle. For the complete mess tutorial of how NOT to make tacos, go here:

How do you Say ‘Appetizers’ in Cuban Spanish?

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Based on my most recent trip to the island  -where I spent a couple of weeks doing absolutely nothing language research-  I realized Cubans are increasingly translating their restaurant menus, street signs and monument guides to cater to an ever-growing tourist industry.

One thing I couldn’t be 100% sure, though, is what the ‘Cuban’ word for appetizer was. While a paladar in Havana offered me a very limited variety of “incomings,” including 20 pieces of olives…

Incoming

… Melaíto, a snack bar in Pinar del Río promised a more extended list of “entrances,” including “boilet greens” and “French Fried.”

entrances

Either way, I’m not happy to report that everything pretty much sucked. Cuba is gorgeous and its people are simply the best. Its food… well, that’s another story.

Photos: Laura Martínez, Cuba 2013

Forget Corn Flakes. Cargill Knows What We Really Want for Breakfast

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Only a few days ago, we learned that Hispanics were nuts for a touch of honey in our food, but now, Cargill has come forward to give the marketing world a lesson on what our real Latino palates are all about.

Per a June 30th press release, the company has launched a new line of pork products, which are “based on extensive consumer research to match and exceed the needs and expectations of multicultural customers such as Hispanics and African Americans.”

“The new Rumba pork products include ears, hocks, jowls, kidneys, neckbones, split front feet, stomach, tails, fatback skins, hearts and livers.”

Because, you know, there is nothing like a good pair of split front feet to begin our day!

Make-Believe ‘Latin’ Food Can -and Will- Kill You

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quesadillaburgersYou can only thank the Center for Science in the Public Interest for its latest advisory against certain “meals” that will most likely kill you or, at least, leave your arteries as congested as the Periférico on a rainy Friday afternoon (or pretty much at any time, any day, rain or shine…)

Among the center’s worst of the worst dishes included in its 2009 Xtreme Eating Award you will find:

  • Little bacon-cheeseburgers tucked inside quesadillas [whatever those are]
  • The Applebee’s Quesadilla burger (a mini-bacon cheeseburger inside a quesadilla), consisting of two flour tortillas, two kinds of meat, two kinds of cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce and ranch dressing sauce… served with fries, mind you.
  • Chili’s Big Mouth Bites: four mini-bacon cheeseburgers served with fries, onion strings and jalapeño ranch dipping sauce

I have no idea why I don’t recall eating any of the above disgusting delicious meals while growing up in a real Latin American household. But I am proud to follow a rigorous diet based on authentic American-made Mexican food and other U.S.-made delicacies.

Yummy!