A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

As a U.S.-born American citizen of Colombian descent, I have been very fortunate to have grown up in a bi-cultural environment which has allowed me to experience the rich culinary heritages of both the United States and Colombia.  To many people in the U.S. who have never traveled abroad or who may live in towns where there are no Colombian restaurants or Latin American markets, there exists a misconception that all Latin food must be like Mexico’s, which is compounded further by the fact that most of what we consider to be “Mexican” food is really a collection of Americanized dishes invented in border states such as Texas, New Mexico and California.  Because most of what is now Latin America was colonized by Spain, there  are  certain elements of Latin cuisine which are common to many South American and Caribbean countries.  For instance, corn-based tamales can be found in many Latin countries’ treasure troves of recipes, albeit in vastly differe...