• Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen

latinopia.com

Latino arts, history and culture

  • Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen
You are here: Home / Blogs / MIRÁNDOLO BIEN with EDUARDO DÍAZ 6.23.13

MIRÁNDOLO BIEN with EDUARDO DÍAZ 6.23.13

June 22, 2013 by Breht Burri

THE “I” WORD.

The Arts and Industries Building is that grand one located just east of the iconic Smithsonian Castle, on the National Mall. It’s been shuttered for several years due to some structural, asbestos and other issues. Plans call for the building to reopen in 2014, under an agreement with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Smithsonian will return the building’s operation to resemble its last purpose, that of a showcase for U.S. science and technology. Accordingly, the building will be dedicated and operated with a singular focus on innovation.

Smithsonian Latino CneterI interested myself in the building’s renovation because the Smithsonian Latino Center has been looking for a gallery on the National Mall, dedicated space within which to more fully execute our central goal — that of showcasing the history, culture and scientific achievements of the U.S. Latino community. We looked at space at Arts and Industries, and commissioned some preliminary exhibition designs built around innovation in content and design. We decided against further pursuit of this strategy, not because Latinos do not have a history of innovation in technological, entrepreneurial, engineering, social and other realms, but because we have foundational stories to tell whose content require that we extend beyond the singular innovation theme dictating the building’s future use. We are pursuing other gallery options on the Mall.

Personally, this entire process has been very useful, as it has forced me to look at what I’ll call the Three “I”‘s — Ingenuity, Invention and Innovation — from a Latino optic. Each of these “I”‘s is complex and interrelated, which is why I’ve decided to take my time, and a few more blogs, to unpack and place them in a Latino context. I hope readers will bear with me on this exploration, and that what I have to offer will resonate and help see our communities’ contributions to this country in different ways.

When I arrived at the Smithsonian nearly five years ago, one of my earliest conversations was with Franklin Odo, a respected scholar and director of the then Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program. I was initially interested in exploring how Latino and Asian communities have interacted in the wide arc of U.S. history, a content area rich in surprise and possibility. Discussions continued with Konrad Ng, the new director of the renamed Asian Pacific American Center, also a brilliant scholar and visionary leader. With Smithsonian funding, we began to focus on convergence in the areas of immigration and migration, labor history, the public imaginary (including stereotypes), urban culture and culinary practices.

I recently met my eldest daughter’s college classmate for dinner. We settled on Fujimar, a noted Asian-Latino Fusion restaurant in D.C. I’m not necessarily bent toward fusion cuisine, but since our Asian-Latino initiative’s food component is all about fusion, I figured I’d better dive right into the subject. The first thing I dove into was some guacamole, about which the only fusion aspect I could detect was the black sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Mysteriously, Fujimar does not offer Mexican salsa — too mainstream Americana, I guess. I like sushi — a lot, especially Maguro (tuna). What I got looked and tasted like some kind of tuna hash, sitting on rice, with a thin strip of jalapeño on top — disappointing. I also ordered Arroz Chaufa, a mainstay in Peru’s Chifa cuisine, one developed by early Chinese immigrants to that South American country renowned for its phenomenal, diverse kitchens.

Chaufa RiceChifa derives from chir-fan, or chi-fan, a Mandarin phrase implying a decision of when to eat. Accordingly, it’s not difficult to see how native Peruvians and newly arrived Chinese immigrants settled on a word to describe the first Asian-Latino culinary fusions in history. There are several hallmark Chifa dishes, like the one I ordered, essentially fried rice with vegetables and choice of meat, or tofu. Probably the most popular Chifa dish is Lomo Saltado, a beef and potato stir-fry, building on two foundational Peruvian ingredients.

My recent culinary adventure reminded me of the age-old adage: “Necessity it is the mother of invention.” I’m imagining that while fried rice and stir-fry cooking techniques were nothing new for Chinese Peruvians, they had to figure out a way to hold to traditional tastes and cooking styles in order to survive and successfully engage the residents of their new nation. Happily, we are now the beneficiaries of this culturally negotiated culinary process and practice.

But, the question remains: Chifa and Arroz Chaufa — ingenious, inventive, or innovative? Is this cuisine, this dish one of the above, two of the above, all of the above or none the above? How and why does it matter as we explore the larger context of Asian-Latino and other confluences and cultural negotiations?

_________________________________________

Copyright 2013 by Eduardo Díaz.

Filed Under: Blogs, Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 2.20.21 “LESSONS FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION”

February 20, 2021 By Tia Tenopia

Lessons of the Great Depression: A Latino Perspective By Ricardo Romo, PhD A New York Times front page article on Sunday [Feb. 7, 2021] titled “As Jobs Dry Up, Renters Pack in and Fall Behind” got my attention. When talking about today’s job losses, poverty, homelessness, and hunger, many commentators often cite statistics from the […]

POLITICAL SALSA Y MÁS with SALOMON BALDENEGRO 02.14.21

February 14, 2021 By Tia Tenopia

Trumpism: A Death Cult… “The (Republican) party is his. It doesn’t belong to anybody else.” QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) Whom are you not allowed to criticize? Following the dynamics of the Trump Impeachment – not only the Impeachment itself but also the events that led to it – is at the same time […]

PENSAMIENTOS WITH ALFREDO SANTOS 02.07.21

February 6, 2021 By Tia Tenopia

Bienvenidos otra vez a La Voz Newspaper. Primeramente, we would like to call to your attention a number of our stories in this issue. First is the article on page 4 about what the University of California is doing to help farm workers. A lot of people say that farm workers are essential workers, but […]

BURUNDANGA BORICUA DEL ZOCOTROCO “CRISIS DE LA ESPERANZA PARTE IV”

January 31, 2021 By Tia Tenopia

Crisis de la Esperanza Parte IV Esperanza Política Si aceptamos que la inmovilidad en la condición política mas indigna imaginable por seis siglos y bajo dos naciones, se presenta como uno de esos asuntos al que no se le ha dado solución, pues hay desesperanza para llorar hasta la eternidad. Pero de la esperanza vive […]

More Posts from this Category

New On Latinopia

LATINOPIA WORD RANDY JURADO ERTLL “HOPE IN TIMES OF DARKNESS”

By Tia Tenopia on February 9, 2014

Randy Jurado Ertll is a Salvadoran American author and political activist. He and his family fled the civil war in El Salvador by coming to the United States. He grew up in violence-torn South Central Los Angeles in the 1980s but managed to avoid gang life through the intervention of the A Better Chance Scholarship […]

Category: LATINOPIA WORD, Literature

LATINOPIA MUSIC LOS FABULOCOS “UNA PURA Y DOS CON SAL”

By Tia Tenopia on January 4, 2015

Delta Groove Music recording artist Los FabuLocos is a Southern California band whose unique sound, “Cali-Mex,”is a fusion of blues, Americana and Chicano soul music. Band members include Jesús Cuevas, accordion and vocals; Rubén Guaderama, guitar,bajo sexto, tres and vocals; James Barrios, bass and vocals; Mike Molina, drums and Kid Ramos, guitar( not in this […]

Category: LATINOPIA MUSIC, Music

LATINOPIA ART SONIA ROMERO 2

By Tia Tenopia on October 20, 2013

Sonia Romero is a graphic artist,muralist and print maker. In this second profile on Sonia and her work, Latinopia explores Sonia’s public murals, in particular the “Urban Oasis” mural at the MacArthur Park Metro Station in Los Angeles, California.

Category: Art, LATINOPIA ART

© 2021 latinopia.com · Pin It - Genesis - WordPress · Admin