Your Reactions To The "Mexican Foods Aisle"

And a recipe for the 8th most-ordered food item in America.

Last week’s post about stumbling upon a “Mexican Foods and Canned Beans” aisle at my local Kroger hit a nerve, and many of you shared your feelings.

“Horrible and uneducated.” -Chef Dominique Crenn

“I am often disappointed in the categorization of “ethnic” foods in America’s supermarkets!” -Chef Elizabeth Falkner

“It’s food, let’s just stop categorizing it by ethnicity and just put it in an aisle that makes sense, and we will find it. I feel this just adds to the divisiveness and is an us and them situation.” -Michelle Breger

And some took it as an opportunity to showcase their bias and diminish the importance of revealing the racial micro-aggressions of everyday life.

“Stop making something out of nothing! The sign is helpful !” -Angela Earl

“WOW Monti, you are the last person I would think of as one of the snowflake woke. Besides, everything on that isle, Old El Paso, Hernandez, la Tiara, Taco Bell, Monterey are all Mexican products.” - Joseph Condon

“Mass shooting brings me ‘deep resentment.’ The horror of what black men go through fills me with ‘deep resentment’. You are a whiney a’d B.” - Beth Hodge

Let me be clear: mass shootings, racial profiling, and black oppression fill me with rage, not deep resentment. They bring me to tears. They push me to action, to donate, to protest. These events are not microaggressions. They are pure unadulterated racism. They are murder.

Labeling me “one of the snowflake woke,” is as completely off-mark as saying that Old El Paso, La Tiara, Taco Bell, and Monterey are Mexican. These are brands owned by American companies, creating products for Americans, in America.

Being offended by a Mexican Foods aisle isn’t the same as being offended by “any little thing” as the derogatory term “snowflake” implies. Historically speaking, Latin Food aisles were first found in the back of the store because racist supermarket managers didn’t want that “clientele” in a part of the store trafficked by white shoppers. Latinos are almost 20% of the US population. Isn’t it time we moved away from that kind of segregation?

Some people posed that the “Mexican foods” sign is helpful. If you are shopping for bread and tortillas, wouldn’t it be more helpful if you just had to go to the bread aisle instead of two aisles? If you are shopping for marinara and salsa, wouldn’t it be more helpful if you just had to go to the sauce aisle? How helpful is it when you can buy Mt. Olive brand pickled jalapeño slices in the condiments aisle, but have to trek to the Hispanic foods aisle to buy La Costeña brand pickled jalapeño slices?

My commentary on the “Mexican Foods” aisle was not presented as “the biggest problem in the world.” It was presented as what it is: a microaggression. Microaggressions are everyday slights, invalidations, and offensive behaviors that people of marginalized groups (like Latinos) experience with (usually) well-intentioned people who are (usually) unaware of their impact.

If we want to work towards a more inclusive society, then we need to identify the ways we are excluding large swaths of our population. Having an aisle that stocks products that are already a major part of the American culinary landscape, separate from all other products, is segregation.

It is also reinforcing stereotypes. Latinos eat much more than taco shells and beans. How would you feel if you saw an aisle labeled “Anglo foods” where you find almond milk, rice cakes, and Hamburger Helper?

Psychologists call microaggressions “death by a thousand cuts” because they take a real toll. They are exhausting. Most people that dole out microaggressions don’t realize what they are doing. They’re blind to their impact. Which is why it’s important to talk about it. If you want to change the big stuff, you have to confront the small stuff. You aren’t going to untie a huge knot with one pull of a thread. But it’s a good place to start.

And now for a recipe for empanadas, or as we call them in Puerto Rico, empanadillas. Empanadas are stuffed dough turnovers that have recently exploded in demand across the US, ranking as the 8th most-ordered food item on GrubHub's “State of the Plate.” Though they are ridiculously popular, you will need to hunt down empanada wrappers in the Hispanic foods freezer section, even though it’s just a frozen dough that should sit next to puff pastry. And you will need to look for the adobo and sazón in the Latin Foods aisle, even though they’re just spice blends that should be in the spice aisle.

Though you can stuff them with almost anything, the old-school big daddy of all empanadillas is the one stuffed with picadillo. It’s a sort of ground beef hash stewed in a tomato-sauce-based sofrito with olives and raisins. If you don’t make your own sofrito, you won’t find this jarred sauce in the condiments aisle. Look for it in the Mexican Foods aisle, even though it’s Puerto Rican.

If you’d like to learn how to make your empanada wrappers from scratch, I’ll be showing you my favorite recipe for empanada dough in this month’s free virtual cooking demo. I’ll also show you how to make sofrito and picadillo. It will be this Monday, the 27th, at 6 PM Central. Virtual demos are for paid subscribers, though if you’d like to attend and can’t afford a subscription, just write me and let me know. I’ll take care of you.

Buen provecho my friend!

XOXO -Monti

Empanadillas de Picadillo

You can prepare empanadas ahead of time and freeze them for up to two months. They make a quick and tasty snack or meal no matter what time of the day it is. You can make vegan picadillo by omitting the salt pork and by subbing the beef with your favorite plant-based alternative or (my favorite) a mix of chopped button, cremini, and portobello mushrooms. Sub the mozzarella with your fave vegan option, or omit it altogether.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 tablespoon salt pork, finely chopped

• 1 cup yellow onion, fine dice

• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced

• 1/2 cup green pepper, fine dice

• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, fine dice

• 1 teaspoon adobo with anatto and black pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon sazón

• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

• 1 lb ground beef (80/20)

• 1/2 cup sofrito

• 1/2 tablespoon capers, chopped

• 1/2 cup Manzanilla olives (the kind with pimento in them) chopped

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 1 tablespoon sherry

• 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar

• 3/4 cup tomato sauce

• Salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)

• Empanada wrappers  (large discs)

• 40 ounces of frying oil

• 1/4 cup water

Directions

STEP 1

Make the picadillo (the beef stuffing) for the empanadas. Place a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, brown the salt pork until the fat has rendered. Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook until the onions are transparent. Add the garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant.

STEP 2

Add the beef to the pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sazon. As the beef browns, break up big chunks with your spoon. When the beef has browned, add the sofrito, oregano, capers, green beans, olives, raisins, sherry, white vinegar, and tomato sauce. Continue to cook, occasionally stirring, for five minutes. Take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool.

STEP 3

Attach a deep-fry thermometer to a large heavy-bottomed pot and place the pot over medium-high heat. Fill the dutch oven with the frying oil and bring the oil to 375 degrees. Line a large plate or platter with several layers of paper towels.

STEP 4

While the oil comes up to temp, prepare the empanadas. Place a wrapper on your work surface. Add about 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture just left of the center of the wrapper. Top with 2 tablespoons of mozzarella cheese. Dip your finger in the water and trace it along the perimeter of the wrapper. Fold the right side over the filling and align the edges. Press a fork along the edges to crimp them together. Before the final crimp, gently press down on the empanada to force out any air bubbles.

STEP 5

When the oil has come to temp, fry the empanadas, four at a time, until golden brown. Let them cool on your paper towel-lined platter. Wrap any leftover, uncooked empanadas in wax paper, and store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze them for up to two months.