I don’t know what all the fuss was about .Gourmet devotes their September issue entirely to Latino Food, and according to Editor Ruth Riechl, in her interview with the Reuters News Service, it didn’t sit well with some of her readers.

She says she got comments like, “This is disgusting. We never eat this kind of food,” and “Isn’t Gourmet a French word?”

Luckily for her, happily for me, others saw it differently: “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” and “This is the best issue you’ve ever done.”

In my eyes, it was cause for celebration. To have Latino cuisine covered in depth and with such appreciation – this is what my work is all about.

As a South American chef, I live to introduce more and more Toronto foodies to this cuisine. It’s great to have Gourmet Magazine bring it to such a huge audience.

Back in July, during my interview with Kevin Sylvester on CBC Radio, he pointed out that just 20 years ago, we finally had real Italian food in Toronto, not just pizza and spaghetti. Latino cuisine has to travel the same road. Only then will the public’s perception of Latino food move beyond tacos, burritos, nachos and empanadas.

Kevin also wanted to know if there was real Latino fare being cooked here in Toronto. Absolutely, and a lot of it is in the suburbs. As with those early Italian restaurants, there are often home cooks at the stove, and you can’t get more authentic than that.

My favourites downtown are Cosina de Doña Luz, Boulevard Café and Milagro.

Congratulations to Gourmet Magazine, and thanks to Maricel Presilla and her work as a chef, scholar, restaurateur, Cuban native and a leading authority on Latin American and Spanish culture and cuisine. In her Question and Answer profile, she talks about European and Latin-American geography and history, which plays an important part. She talks about how pan-Latino culture is evolving in North America. My favourite was her remark about how, when thinking about Latin cuisine, it’s important to look at culture, not country.

This makes a lot of sense to me. Otherwise, how else can I communicate to my clients how the contribution of 21 countries and some island nations can all come together to form this lovely cuisine.

On display…. Cactus leaves, tomatillos, Poblano, banana, caracol peppers and Serrano chillies

Any chance of a national Canadian magazine taking a similar look at Latino food and culture here?

Your in good Latino food,
Carlos