front of the house
A Craving, a Bug, and a Journey TALIN MARKET: MAKING OUR LITTLE CORNER OF THE WORLD A WHOLE LOT BIGGER By Allison Muss · Photos by Stephanie Cameron
Director of Operations Victor Limary at Talin Market in Albuquerque.
The Land of Enchantment’s natural beauty and picturesque landscapes were not what inspired the Limary family to open an international grocery store in New Mexico. Instead, it was the absence of authentic Asian fare in the New Mexican food culture and their craving for it. Shortly after the fall of South Vietnam, the Limarys immigrated to Albuquerque from Laos via a federal refugee resettlement program. The program brought about three thou6
edible Santa Fe | EARLY SUMMER 2015
sand Vietnamese to New Mexico—a place with natural beauty and picturesque landscapes but largely absent of authentic Asian fare. Transplants who craved the flavors of their homeland, the Limarys (and many other immigrant families from Southeast Asia) tried to embrace the southwestern food scene, but yearned for the unique flavors of home. Local ingredients were poor substitutes in traditional Asian fare—carrots became a failed alternative for green papaya, for exam-
ple, in the popular som tum pbooh, a Thai green papaya salad with salted crab. So, the Limarys would drive their small VW Beetle thirteen hours to Los Angeles to amass the Southeast Asian foods they couldn’t find in New Mexico—curry, fish sauce…and green papaya. This long trek enabled them to take a virtual trip back to Laos, as the fond memories of home were reflected in every bite of their home-cooked meals. Subsequent trips became more frequent as other immigrant