Latino food gaining popularity in the U.S.

A woman chooses vegetables at a market in Lince, Lima, May 18, 2007. Americans may be split over what to do about immigration, but when it comes to food they are curious and more willing to experiment, specially with Latin American cuisine, according to a food expert.

WASHINGTON (Reuters Life!) - Americans may be split over what to do about immigration but when it comes to food they are curious and more willing to experiment, specially with Latin American cuisine, according to a food expert.

Author, former food critic and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine Ruth Reichl got mixed reactions from some of her 5 million readers after she decided to dedicate an entire issue to Latino food in September.

She said Americans are increasingly discovering regional Mexican cuisine including pupusas, a corn tortilla from El Salvador, and many other Hispanic delicacies.

Reichl talked to Reuters about her passion for food and her new discoveries on the U.S-Latin American food front:

Q: Immigration is a polemic issue in this country, why did you decide to do a Latino-only issue?

A: "All of us are now virtually being affected by this huge Latino population in the country and we are becoming more and more curious about the food and more interested in authentic flavors."

Q: What reaction did you got from readers?

A: "We got widely different responses, with people saying 'thank you, thank you, thank you', this is the best issue you've ever done, to other people saying this is disgusting, we never eat these kinds of food', or isn't gourmet a French word?' So clearly there is racism in food as there is in everything else."

Q: Beyond Mexican cuisine, what else can we try?

A: "We are discovering regional Mexican food. That's really a big change. We are starting to understand that Mexico is a country with a really proud and very different history from region to region. I think people are also starting to eat pupusas from El Salvador and Dominican food, certainly here in New York."

Q: So is this a national trend?

A: "It's affecting virtually everyone in the country. One of the things that we point out is that Nebraska has a 100 year-old Mexican community and that the fastest growing Mexican community in the country is in North Carolina."

Q: How did you discover the Dominican food in New York?

A: "We went to some of our favorite writers and asked them to write about what it is like growing up in their neighborhoods. We have a great piece from (Dominican-American author) Junot Díaz about "El Alto" in Manhattan. You read this and the community sense is wonderful. We all read it and ran uptown and started going for these restaurants."

Q: What else did you find out?

A: "I discovered something that I am embarrassed to say I've never heard about that is chimichurri from the Dominican Republic. It's completely different from Argentinian chimichurri (a sauce and marinade for grilled meat). Why would you like to eat a regular hamburger when you can eat a hamburger with chimichurri?"

Q: What's your favorite Latin American dish?

A: "Arroz con Pollo (rice and chicken). I've been making it and making it, it's a Cuban dish, it's a soupy rice and it's incredibly delicious."