Latin AmericanMigration
Argentine Pastry Names and the Anarchist Bakers
Bolas de fraile, vigilantes and cañoncitos are said to be jokes by anarchist bakers in 1888. The strike is documented. The joke itself is harder to prove.
6 min read
Latin American Stories
Every PlateTales food history story tagged Latin American, newest first.
7 stories · All stories
Latin AmericanColonialism
Sancocho in Panama: A National Soup With No Known Origin
Panama's chicken and ñame soup is called the national dish, yet its origin is still argued over. Here is what a 2019 documentary, the Canary Islands and the word itself suggest.
6 min read
West AfricanLatin AmericanColonialism
Fungee and Pepperpot: Antigua's National Dish Story
Fungee and pepperpot is the national dish of Antigua and Barbuda. Its African cousins are clear, its exact history is not, and here is what the sources support.
6 min read
Latin AmericanRitual Foods
Colada Morada History: Ecuador's Purple Drink for the Dead
Colada morada and guaguas de pan are Ecuador's food for November 2. Their story mixes Andean ancestor rites with a Spanish church calendar, and the usual dates do not hold up.
6 min read
Latin AmericanRitual Foods
Fiambre: What Guatemala Eats on the Day of the Dead
Fiambre is a cold Guatemalan salad of pickles, sausages and cheese, made for 1 November. Its origin is unrecorded, so here is what the evidence supports.
6 min read
MexicanInventionsLatin American
The History of Chocolate, From Ecuador to the Bar
Cacao was in use in Ecuador about 5,300 years ago. The chocolate bar is only from the 1840s on, and several tidy stories about Cortes and Aztec feasts do not hold up.
6 min read
Trade RoutesLatin American
The History of Vanilla, From Veracruz to Madagascar
Vanilla began with the Totonac of Veracruz and became a global crop in 1841, when a twelve-year-old enslaved boy on Réunion found a way to pollinate the orchid by hand.
6 min read
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