Chef Mark Mendez of Skokie’s Libertad restaurant said Latino cuisine deserves a spot among the world’s great culinary traditions. “This food is just as serious as anything that’s out there.” LatinoVoicesWTTW
The colors and flavors of Latino cuisine can be found all over Chicago now, but it hasn’t always been considered worthy of fine dining. Chef Mark Mendez of Skokie’ssaid Latino cuisine deserves a spot among the world’s great culinary traditions.
“This food is just as serious as anything that’s out there,” Mendez said. “So let’s talk about it and let’s cook it and let’s show people how serious we can be.”“When I grew up, my house was kind of like ‘I Love Lucy,’ which I don’t know if anyone knows what ‘I Love Lucy’ is anymore, but my father is Puerto Rican, and my mother was from downstate Illinois.
“My mom is a great cook, and she loved doing it. When I was a kid, I would pull on her skirt. I’d be like, ‘What are you doing? What are you making?’ And so the first thing she taught me how to make was tostones. And then learning from my father, who was fiercely proud of his heritage, he would take me to Humboldt Park and we’d go shopping for stuff so I could learn what yucca and platano were.”“There should be a spice level. It doesn’t have to be spicy. There should be something there.
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