A Latin America Thread

[donbosco]

Not overtly political, but as most know...everything is political in some way at some time.

How about Books, Culture, Art, Music, Travel, Language, History?????

"Ask an average person to name an Latin American woman artist, and they’ll most likely mention Frida Kahlo. There’s no disputing Kahlo’s place in the art-historical canon as a master of Surrealism and self-portraiture. But even she confronted hurdles on her journey into history books and popular consciousness—including the flagrant marginalization she faced as both a female and Latin American artist.

While Kahlo’s practice has mostly transcended sexist readings, many other Latin American women artists haven’t been as fortunate. “Throughout art history, the people who’ve had the power to write dominant narratives decided to exclude women and art made in Latin America,” curator Cecilia Fajardo-Hill told Artsy. “It’s a form of segregation, and it is unacceptable.”

11 Radical Latin American Women Artists You Should Know​

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-11-radical-latin-american-women-artists?fbclid=IwY2xjawKisYRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFxdWFNRWxnUTJKaUJuOTFQAR7foHryE8dOeD4oXapZcTv_qGDcP5hJ9KEhF4FIan3Q0I-wkrbgJxLWmrZwnw_aem_rXLRSBwCYQsBvt5QOgtWNA

 

[CRHeel94]

Latin American cuisines ranked:

1. Peruvian: plenty of diverse sub groups from the seafood to the cacmpechano and even a broad Asian influenced sub-group (chifa)
2. Mexican: so much more than tacos and chile, lots of regional varieties
3. Argentina: meat, pasta, empanadas and wine
4. Brasil: very distinct cuisine, don't always love some of their flavors

Hard to pin down a number 5. Probably one of the Caribbean (DR, PR, Cuban), though I'm partial to food from Nicaragua which is a nice mix of Caribbean (plenty of shredded meats and plantains) with Mexico (tortillas, beans and cheese abounds). Colombia could also be in the running.

 

[lawtig02]

Latin American cuisines ranked:

1. Peruvian: plenty of diverse sub groups from the seafood to the cacmpechano and even a broad Asian influenced sub-group (chifa)
2. Mexican: so much more than tacos and chile, lots of regional varieties
3. Argentina: meat, pasta, empanadas and wine
4. Brasil: very distinct cuisine, don't always love some of their flavors

Hard to pin down a number 5. Probably one of the Caribbean (DR, PR, Cuban), though I'm partial to food from Nicaragua which is a nice mix of Caribbean (plenty of shredded meats and plantains) with Mexico (tortillas, beans and cheese abounds). Colombia could also be in the running.

You're the expert but that's damn hard to argue with. Also matters where you get it. Cuban in Miami >>>>>>>>Cuban in Charlotte.

 

[superrific]

Latin American cuisines ranked:

1. Peruvian: plenty of diverse sub groups from the seafood to the cacmpechano and even a broad Asian influenced sub-group (chifa)
2. Mexican: so much more than tacos and chile, lots of regional varieties
3. Argentina: meat, pasta, empanadas and wine
4. Brasil: very distinct cuisine, don't always love some of their flavors

Hard to pin down a number 5. Probably one of the Caribbean (DR, PR, Cuban), though I'm partial to food from Nicaragua which is a nice mix of Caribbean (plenty of shredded meats and plantains) with Mexico (tortillas, beans and cheese abounds). Colombia could also be in the running.

Definitely on Peruvian. Aji Amarillo -- if it's good -- can be wonderful and really, who doesn't like ceviche? Well, I guess lots of people, but I love it.

Mexican: for sure. I make a dish with chicken, beans, corn, tomatillos, onion and peppers, spiced with cumin and oregano primarily. Good. Mole sauces can be great (though bad ones are very bad) but they are so much work.

Argentina: eh. Chimichurri is disappointing.

I agree with you about Brasil. There's something about the flavors that doesn't seem quite right. On the other hand, the churrascuria/rodizio is something else. It's the type of cuisine that could only be invented by a country with a landed gentry owning an incredible share of the country's wealth.

Does Jamaica count as "Latin American" if we're including Caribbean? Maybe the lack of a romance language means that it doesn't count, but Jamaican/Trinidadian cuisine can be really good -- or at least it was in Brooklyn.

 

[donbosco]

I've not been disappointed when dining on Colombian food.

Was backpacking through Argentina many years ago (around ‘92) and found myself in a little town called Santa Ana in Misiones Province for the night. To make a long and glorious story short, there I fell in with a bunch of school teachers who had apparently fled to the countryside a decade before to survive the Dirty War. They were fun people and invited me to an Asado - a cookout - where we drank copious amounts of wine and ate grilled beef and scallions smothered in chimichurri the likes of which I have never had since. I could have been there still had I not mustered the get up and go to hit the road the next day.

 

[TarSpiel]

 

[TarSpiel]

Best cup of coffee I've ever had was in Guatemala...it had a freshness that I'd never tasted before (or since).

Cool story, we were staying at the village of San Marcos on Lake Atitlan and there was a little restaurant there with a dirt floor and walls of corrugated metal, with these Japanese lanterns hanging from the roof. Not too small, but not big either. Had some good food there with my friend, but there was only one other couple in the restaurant there. Then a little entourage of Asians came in with musical instruments, and began tuning up. The main player was a woman violinist, and she was supported by a couple of the others...the music was just transcendent. Turns out she was first chair for the national Japanese philharmonic, and was taking a year off to teach music to kids in Guatemala. Just unreal.

Man, I wish I had traveled more down there when I was younger.

 

[donbosco]

Best cup of coffee I've ever had was in Guatemala...it had a freshness that I'd never tasted before (or since).

Cool story, we were staying at the village of San Marcos on Lake Atitlan and there was a little restaurant there with a dirt floor and walls of corrugated metal, with these Japanese lanterns hanging from the roof. Not too small, but not big either. Had some good food there with my friend, but there was only one other couple in the restaurant there. Then a little entourage of Asians came in with musical instruments, and began tuning up. The main player was a woman violinist, and she was supported by a couple of the others...the music was just transcendent. Turns out she was first chair for the national Japanese philharmonic, and was taking a year off to teach music to kids in Guatemala. Just unreal.

Man, I wish I had traveled more down there when I was younger.

Guatemala is my second home. I've been to San Marcos but not in a few years. I hope that I can get back at least for a week or so later this summer. My family has started making it a tradition to spend the week (at least) of Thanksgiving in Antigua.

 

[sringwal]

You're the expert but that's damn hard to argue with. Also matters where you get it. Cuban in Miami >>>>>>>>Cuban in Charlotte.

New York Cuban food is also up there.

 

[NYCBlueBlood]

Best cup of coffee I've ever had was in Guatemala...it had a freshness that I'd never tasted before (or since).

Cool story, we were staying at the village of San Marcos on Lake Atitlan and there was a little restaurant there with a dirt floor and walls of corrugated metal, with these Japanese lanterns hanging from the roof. Not too small, but not big either. Had some good food there with my friend, but there was only one other couple in the restaurant there. Then a little entourage of Asians came in with musical instruments, and began tuning up. The main player was a woman violinist, and she was supported by a couple of the others...the music was just transcendent. Turns out she was first chair for the national Japanese philharmonic, and was taking a year off to teach music to kids in Guatemala. Just unreal.

Man, I wish I had traveled more down there when I was younger.

First sentence of this is giving me Usual Suspects flashbacks...

 

[Heelsandeers]

4. Brasil: very distinct cuisine, don't always love some of their flavors

Realizing I’ve had very little Brazilian food and don't know too much about it

I've had a lot of Colombian, Venezuelan, Dominican, and Cuban food in comparison

Never thought about it before but Brazilian food seems underrepresented internationally for a country its size

 

[lawtig02]

Realizing I’ve had very little Brazilian food and don't know too much about it

I've had a lot of Colombian, Venezuelan, Dominican, and Cuban food in comparison

Never thought about it before but Brazilian food seems underrepresented internationally for a country its size

Brazil, in my limited experience, is kind of like the US, in that it has lots of good examples of cuisine from all over the world but not a ton that's truly unique. The great exception, of course, is churrasco, which, like Guinness, is much better in Brazil than in Brazilian steakhouses here. It's kind of like whether America's BBQ culture puts us on the global cuisine map. I'd say yes, but I can understand why people would think otherwise.

The one Brazilian food/drink item few people have heard of that's worth the mention is Guarana. So worth it if you can find it here.

 

[donbosco]

"Casta paintings used labels and visual details such as different skin tones, dress, occupations, and settings to distinguish ethnicity and to signal economic and class divisions. These images did not reflect reality so much as represent stereotypes arranged along a biased, hierarchical scale."

Smarthistory – Casta painting in the Spanish Americas

These challenging paintings visually separate Indigenous Americans from the Spanish elite; most were exported.

smarthistory.org

 

[CRHeel94]

Realizing I’ve had very little Brazilian food and don't know too much about it

I've had a lot of Colombian, Venezuelan, Dominican, and Cuban food in comparison

Never thought about it before but Brazilian food seems underrepresented internationally for a country its size

That's a very fair observation. Very insular, unlike say Argentinians who will set up a beef or empanada place wherever they go.

My wife had a lot of Brazilian peeps in her office so I got to taste some first rate Brasilian food (was also lucky to go to Rio for the Olympics back in 2016). The churrasquearía experience over there is first rate, but they have other great items (pan de queso and brigadeiros should be global phenomenons).

 

[CRHeel94]

You're the expert but that's damn hard to argue with. Also matters where you get it. Cuban in Miami >>>>>>>>Cuban in Charlotte.

That's a very good point, particularly when you're abroad.

Best Mexican food in the US is in San Diego and LA, though surprisingly Chicago has some really good stuff. Have never had great tacos on the eastern seaboard.

Cuban food in Miami rocks...better than in Cuba. Miami also has great Peruvian, Argentinan and Nicaraguan spots...as well as Venezuelan arepas and Colombian spots.

 

[CRHeel94]

Best cup of coffee I've ever had was in Guatemala...it had a freshness that I'd never tasted before (or since).

Cool story, we were staying at the village of San Marcos on Lake Atitlan and there was a little restaurant there with a dirt floor and walls of corrugated metal, with these Japanese lanterns hanging from the roof. Not too small, but not big either. Had some good food there with my friend, but there was only one other couple in the restaurant there. Then a little entourage of Asians came in with musical instruments, and began tuning up. The main player was a woman violinist, and she was supported by a couple of the others...the music was just transcendent. Turns out she was first chair for the national Japanese philharmonic, and was taking a year off to teach music to kids in Guatemala. Just unreal.

Man, I wish I had traveled more down there when I was younger.

The coffee in Guatemala is excellent.

 

[donbosco]

The coffee in Guatemala is excellent.

Guatemala certainly has excellent coffee...that said, there are a great many not-so-great cups to be had depending on where you are buying. Coffee in the market is pretty weak and over sweetened for example but that's the blend for the regular folk. Guatemalans are also very proud of a rather strange thing...they believe (erroneously) that instant coffee was invented there. It is ubiquitous just the same and if you're having a cup in a middle class home it is more likely to be instant than made any other way.

 

[CRHeel94]

Happens in Costa Rica. Plenty of bad cups of coffee. But in the last two decades quite the coffee culture has popped up. One of the local brands figure out that they were sitting on a gold mine of the tourism coming into the country; started selling high end coffee to tourists (and upper income ticos started trending that way as well). Now you see some great coffee shops and cafes. Ticos do not do instant coffee whatsoever (it is huge in Nicaragua though).

But I remember going to Guate back in the late 90s and having some great coffees in some hotels and restaurants.

 

[superrific]

Brazil, in my limited experience, is kind of like the US, in that it has lots of good examples of cuisine from all over the world but not a ton that's truly unique. The great exception, of course, is churrasco, which, like Guinness, is much better in Brazil than in Brazilian steakhouses here. It's kind of like whether America's BBQ culture puts us on the global cuisine map. I'd say yes, but I can understand why people would think otherwise.

The one Brazilian food/drink item few people have heard of that's worth the mention is Guarana. So worth it if you can find it here.

I've not been to Brazil but the Churrascuria on the West Side of Manhattan seemed pretty damned authentic when I went there a few times like 2 decades ago. For one thing, most of the clients were Brazilian. Second, they had a downstairs VIP special churrasco section, with at least a few hot women visible near the door at all times. Third, they had turned the coat closet into a walk-in breast implant clinic.

Authentic all around, I thought. And really good even if really decadent. When you first get seated, the roaming waiters take notice. They send over the guys with the turkey bacon or the sausages or what have you. I'm like, nah send the prime rib or ribeye guy over. That's what I came for.

 

[donbosco]

Happens in Costa Rica. Plenty of bad cups of coffee. But in the last two decades quite the coffee culture has popped up. One of the local brands figure out that they were sitting on a gold mine of the tourism coming into the country; started selling high end coffee to tourists (and upper income ticos started trending that way as well). Now you see some great coffee shops and cafes. Ticos do not do instant coffee whatsoever (it is huge in Nicaragua though).

But I remember going to Guate back in the late 90s and having some great coffees in some hotels and restaurants.

This is my favorite place to go in Zone One, Guatemala City. It is near the archives and just off the old Plaza de Armas. Good wifi, always several newspapers laying around, fine coffee cake, and very good cups of coffee.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g292006-d11875232-Reviews-Cafe_Leon_8va-Guatemala_City_Guatemala_Department.html