I love Latin-style cuisine… it’s so versatile in its flavors- there’s everything from the refreshing and tropical to the earthy and spicy. Within Mexico alone, there’s a wide spectrum of flavors… from complex chocolatey moles to simple street tacos, the range of flavors and ingredients is vast.

I grew up spending much of my childhood in Mexico- my dad was fascinated with the culture and beauty of it. He was particularly enamored with small villages that hadn’t yet been “discovered” by travelers. In the early 70’s, he stumbled upon a teeny village called Sayulita. Sayulita is now showcased in magazines and smothering social media like crazy, but back then, it was a teeny town with no electricity or tourists whatsoever. I spent just about every school vacation I had there as a child- and consequently, fell in love with Mexican food… true, authentic Mexican food.I can remember the first time I realized that our “American” version of Mexican food wasn’t “real” Mexican… I was about 7 years old, sitting at Alas Blancas restaurant in the center of Sayulita, thrilled to scarf on some cheese enchiladas- my favorite as a kid. When they came though, they were dry, rolled up red things that look nothing like any enchilada I knew. I was perplexed. I dug in regardless, and gobbled up every bite ecstatically- they were the “real deal” enchis, as my dad would say.

My next stand-out memory with the “real deal” food was at this little woman Umparo’s house, again in Sayulita. Umparo was 90-something years old and reigned as best cook around, at least as far as my dad was concerned. Every time we were in Sayulita, we’d have our last day’s celebratory dinner at Umparo’s. But this was no fancy restaurant… in fact it was no restaurant at all- it was her modest, sweet little rustic home. Dirt floors, cement walls, and a table full of homemade non-pretentious food. She didn’t speak English, I hardly spoke Spanish… so the focus was left purely on the food. My first experience at Umparo’s taught me a lot about good “real” Mexican food. Nothing was the way restaurants “back at home” represented it- the chile rellenos were not smothered with cheese, the enchiladas were not saucy and melty, and there was not a single burrito in sight. I was awe-struck… it was all so deeply flavorful and delicious, but all so different from what I used to. I friggen loved it… every single bite of it. And that, my friends, is how I came to love Mexican food.

Traveling is a love of mine- exploring the cultures and cuisines of the world makes for a happy little me. When abroad, I sample as much food as I can- one can learn a lot about a place through what its people eat. Naturally, my experiences traveling come out in my cooking, so a lot of ethnic flare has snuck its way into my meals. My cooking is total fusion-style- I see elements of Spain, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and beyond in my food. Here are some of the tasty Latino-influenced goodies I dug up from the archives. ¡Salud!

* You can tell which recipes are older by the photo-quality… when I first created this blog, I had not more than an iPhone and Instagram. It shows. 😉 Use your imagination for some of those older recipes! (One of these days I plan on recreating each to rephoto them- can’t wait!)