Table Of ContentL a
W e
A r e
C o c i n a
RECIPES IN PURSUIT OF
THE AMERICAN DREAM
BY CALEB ZIGAS AND LETICIA LANDA
FOREWORD BY ISABEL ALLENDE
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERIC WOLFINGER
RECIPE DEVELOPMENT BY YEWANDE KOMOLAFE
This book is dedicated to all of those who
have passed through our kitchen and to all
of those who will. You are all the inspiration
any of us need.
Text copyright © 2019 by La Cocina. Anson Mills is a registered trademark of Glenn Roberts DBA
Anson Mills; Betty Crocker is a registered trademark of General
Foreword copyright © 2019 Isabel Allende. Mills Marketing, Inc.; Bojangles’ is a registered trademark of
Bojangles’ International, LLC; Borders is a registered trademark of
Borders Properties, Inc.; Burning Man is a registered trademark of
Photographs copyright © 2019 by Eric Wolfinger,
Burning Man Project Non-Profit Corporation; Burrito Express is a
Sarah Peet (pages 206–7), and Leticia Landa (page 277). registered trademark of Burrito Express, Inc.; CNN is a registered
trademark of Cable News Network, Inc.; Compass Records is a
Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Jackie Ho (pages 20–21), registered trademark of Compass Records Group, Inc.; Craigslist is
a registered trademark of Craigslist, Inc.; Dodge Caravan is a reg-
Sophie Morro (page 67), Samantha Novak (page 87),
istered trademark of FCA US LLC; Gatorade is a registered trade-
and Monica Martinez (page 121). mark of Stokely-Van Camp, Inc.; Girbaud is a registered trademark
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75
10
MARIA CASTILLO
FOREWORD
41 Botanas Felicitas
GUISELL HARITH
12 Pepitas Callejeras 76
OSORIO
INTRODUCTION
Sabores del Sur
79
20
Empanadas de Pollo 43
DILSA LUGO
LA COCINA AT A Alfajores 46
Los Cilantros
GLANCE
Sopes 81
49
22 Esquites 85
DIONNE KNOX
LA COCINA:
THE KITCHEN Zella’s Soulful Kitchen
87
Cream Biscuits 51
KOJI KANEMATSU
24 Breakfast Sausage 52
MENU IDEAS Strawberry-Hibiscus Jam 55 Onigilly
Onigiri 88
Miso Nasu 88
57
Spicy Shrimp 88
27
KELLY ZUBAL Sha-ke 90
VERONICA
Inticing Creations
SALAZAR
Espresso Chocolate 93
El Huarache Loco Ganache Cake 59
ELVIA BUENDIA
Baked Butter Mochi 63
Caldo de Gallina 30
La Luna Cupcakes
Ensalada Doña Luz 33
Pastelitos Tres Leches 94
65
35 ISABEL CAUDILLO
MARIA DEL 97
El Buen Comer
CARMEN FLORES ALICIA VILLANUEVA
Mole Verde con Puerco 69
Estrellita’s Snacks Albóndigas 70 Alicia’s Tamales
Sopa de Fideo 73 Los Mayas
Pupusas 36
Curtido 36 Tamal de Frijol 100
107
167
LA COCINA’S KIOSK
CHARLES FARRIER
Peas of Mind:
135 Crumble & Whisk
Forbidden Rice Krispy
GUADALUPE (LUPE)
Squares 110 New York–Style
NeoCocoa: GUERRERO Cheesecake 168
Rose Petal Bark 110
El Pipila
Kika’s Treats:
Pão de Mel 111 Comida de Pobreza 137 171
Clairesquares: Nopales Guisados 138 STEPHANIE FIELDS
Apple Crumble 111 Pozole Verde 141
Love & Hummus: Sugarfoot
Crispy Chickpeas 112
Bourbon Buttermilk
Sal de Vida:
Quesadilla de 143 Grits Pie 173
Flor de Jamaica 113 BINITA PRADHAN Cheese Grits 175
Sajen: Jamu 113
Bini’s Kitchen
Momos 146 177
115 Golveda Ko Achar 148 SHANI JONES
Kwati 150
GABRIELA GUERRERO
Peaches Patties
Delicioso Crêperie Beef Patties 179
Crepa de Cordero 153 Jerk Chicken 182
en Adobo 117 MARIKO GRADY
Aedan Fermented Foods
185
121 Miso 155 NITE YUN
Miso Shiru 157
MONICA MARTINEZ
Jardinière’s Miso Nyum Bai
Don Bugito Compound Butter and Bai Sach Chrouk 191
Miso Vinaigrette 158
Kuy Teav Phnom Penh 192
Bi-Rite Market’s Steamed
Neorm Sach Moan 195
Manila Clams with Miso 159
123
FERNAY MCPHERSON
197
161
Minnie Bell’s REEM ASSIL
Soul Movement HEENA PATEL
Reem’s
Mac and Cheese 129 Besharam
Rosemary Fried Chicken 131 Fattoush 199
Haldar Puri 163
Sfeeha 200
Batata Nu Shaak 165
Muhammara 203
237
AISAN HOSS AND
207
MEHDI PARNIA 267
SAN FRANCISCO
ROSA MARTINEZ
STREET FOOD Oyna Natural Foods
FESTIVAL Kuku Sabzi 239 Origen
Kashke Bademjan 240
Chilito de Puerco 273
Endless Summer Sweets 208 Frijol Molido con
D’Maize 208 Cholitas de Masa 274
Hella Vegan Eats 209 243
ROSIE ORTIZ
276
Mission Boricua
211
ABOUT THESE
TINA STEVENS
RECIPES
A Girl Named Pinky 245
True Carrot Cake with HANG TRUONG 278
Cream Cheese Frosting 212 MASTER RECIPES
Noodle Girl
Phở Bò 247 Masa Dough Two Ways 278
215 Cá Kho Tô 250 Tortillas 279
˙
NAFY FLATLEY Chicken Stock 279
Teranga 253
Teranga Bissap 217 ALMA RODRIGUEZ 280
Mafè 219 ABOUT THE
Mixiote
CONTRIBUTORS
Mixiote de Carne 255
221
281
GUADALUPE MORENO
259 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mi Morena
AILEEN SUZARA
Tinga de Pollo 224 282
Sariwa
RECIPE INDEX BY
Binakol na Manok 261
COUNTRY
227 Lumpiang Gulay 262
Ensaladang Talong 265
LAMEES DAHBOUR
283
Mama Lamees INDEX
Maqluba 231
Samak Mashwe Bilforn 234
La Cocina is a nonprofit business
incubator dedicated to supporting*
talented, working-class food
entrepreneurs, primarily immigrant
women and women of color, in
building successful food businesses
in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Our vision is that everyone will
be able to make a living doing
what they love to do.
* We do this by providing access to an affordable commercial kitchen,
business consulting through a network of industry volunteers and
mentors, sales opportunities, and connections to capital.
VERONICA SALAZAR MARIA DEL CARMEN FLORES GUISELL HARITH OSORIO
27 35 41
DIONNE KNOX KELLY ZUBAL ISABEL CAUDILLO MARIA CASTILLO DILSA
49 57 65 75
LUGO KOJI KANEMATSU ELVIA BUENDIA ALICIA VILLANUEVA GABRIELA
79 87 93 97
GUERRERO MONICA MARTINEZ FERNAY MCPHERSON GUADALUPE (LUPE)
115 121 123
GUERRERO BINITA PRADHAN MARIKO GRADY HEENA PATEL CHARLES
135 143 153 161
FARRIER STEPHANIE FIELDS SHANI JONES NITE YUN REEM ASSIL
167 171 177 185 197
TINA STEVENS NAFY FLATLEY GUADALUPE MORENO LAMEES DAHBOUR
211 215 221 227
AISAN HOSS AND MEHDI PARNIA ROSIE ORTIZ HANG TRUONG ALMA
237 243 245
RODRIGUEZ AILEEN SUZARA ROSA MARTINEZ
253 259 267
We Are La Cocina
FOREWORD
by Isabel Allende
Traditions and dreams . . . Food is a vital part of our lives. In most countries,
and certainly in Latin America, the kitchen, or
these are what being an
any place where food is prepared, is the soul
immigrant is all about. I have of the home. My mother died recently—she was
97 years young—and left me a precious legacy:
lived in the United States for
her recipes and her lifetime love of and curiosity
about food. She taught me to use cookbooks
more than 30 years without
as inspiration only; a true cook trusts her or
losing my culture, language, his intuition, innovates, improvises, and can
devise a meal with whatever is available in the
sense of family, or Chilean
moment. This is certainly true of most women
customs. This has allowed me who feed their families with scarce resources.
to adapt easily; I am richer After my daughter Paula died, when I needed
to pull myself out of darkness and despair, my
because I am bicultural.
mother came up with the idea of writing about
People like me, who bring the opposite of mourning: the joy of life. And
that’s how my book Aphrodite: A Memoir of
traditions and dreams
the Senses came to be. It’s about food and love,
from afar, contribute to the gluttony and lust—the only deadly sins that are
worth the trouble.
strength and resilience of
Maybe this explains why I love La Cocina and
this extraordinary place that
the We Are La Cocina cookbook, which contains
the distilled wisdom and experience of this
is America. And traditions
extraordinary enterprise. I have been connected
and dreams are exactly to La Cocina since its incubation, when Caleb
Zigas came to my foundation in 2004 to tell us
what La Cocina harvests,
about a crazy project the community had envi-
transforms, and offers to the sioned: an industrial kitchen to empower low-
income women of color, especially immigrants
community at large.
and refugees, to cook and market their products
so that they can become financially independent.
Although Caleb looked like a kid—he still does—
I saw immediately the potential in the idea
10
