Grind
American cuisine has finally made its presence felt
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ith the abundance of flavours and ingredients making their way north from Central and South America, local Latin restaurateurs and chefs are contributing to the rise of the cuisine. “A great second generation of chefs, sons and daughters of immigrants, who have gone to George Brown or other cooking schools are becoming great chefs,” says Carlos Fuenmayor, a private chef and caterer based in Toronto who is excited to see Latin flavours hit Canadian mainstream. “We have been here for a long time, but we haven’t been recognized properly,” he said. According to a 2011 census by Statistics Canada, nearly 71,000 Torontonians have Spanish as their mother tongue increasing our exposure to Latin culture. A handful of Latin American restaurants in Toronto have been around for decades, but it’s the new generation of restaurants creating buzz in the city. Before becoming one of the leading Latin chefs in Toronto, former Top Chef Canada contestant, Steve Gonzalez moved to Miami to see what other chefs making Latin cuisine were doing and spent three years learning more
from them. “I came back thinking the French have haute cuisine, why can’t the Latinos have it too?” Returning to Toronto he got the opportunity to showcase the food as chef de cuisine at Origin Restaurant and Bar. In the summer of 2013, he opened his muchant icipated re s t au r a nt , Valdez, located on King St. West. “Sure we are called Valdez Latino Street Food, but that’s only one part of it,” he said. “At the same time I’m bringing things out that are a little more delicate with nice plating.” Gonzalez says they have their own version of ‘Tamales’ a traditional dish made with ‘masa’, which is steamed or boiled in leaf wrapper, but instead he uses different sauces and fillings with some added finesse. Looking to challenge tradition, Gonzalez is also bringing interesting ceviche
flavours to his menu, such as the ‘Mixto’; a ceviche composed of octopus, calamari, mussels, squid ink, maize, citrus and sweet potato. He wants to modernize the cuisine and says Toronto is the perfect backdrop for this initiative. The mosaic of cultures in the city has created an appetite for diversity among Toronto’s food culture with increasing interest in Latin flavours, enough to launch a Pan American Food Festival, showcasing the best food from 41 countries out of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Fuenmayer says exposure to Latin cuisine has also helped its rise in popularity. “Today people travel more and Torontonians are more aware of the flavours and ingredients in Latin food,” he said. “And we are one the most multicultural cities in the world.”
“For me it’s about educating the masses of what Latin American food is and what it could be,” Gonzalez said.
Eduardo Lee opened Arepa Café five years ago and his Venezuelan background set the foundation of his popular restaurant. “We do arepas and we fill them with really delicious recipes,” Lee said. “They have been well received by Canadians and not just the Latin community. Our purpose was to make it a Toronto restaurant so people in Toronto would know about it.” Arepas, a prominent dish in Venezuela, is made out of ground maize dough and served with several accompaniments such as cheese, avocado, or chicken. “All the flavours and ingredients we use are 100 per cent authentic,” Lee said. “And one of our main focuses are educating people.” Compared to generations who came before Lee says, “we are more open-minded and also educated in North America which has created a new generation of entrepreneurs opening Latin restaurants.” The string of new Latin restaurants shows successive generations of Latinos wanting to keep their culture alive and well in Toronto. “For me it’s about educating the masses of what Latin American food is and what it could be,” Gonzalez said.
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