Pocho Ocho Top Ways to Decolonize Your Diet

corn-maizDecolonizing your diet is more than a trendy Chicanx meme, it’s a book, and a chingon idea.

If you want to just say “No!” to the comida of the Conquistadors and eat what Tlaloc intended — the authentic food of your ancestors — here are the Pocho Ocho Top Ways to Decolonize Your Diet:

8. Take the milk out of chocolate and put the chile back in

7. Honor the Aztecs and eat more of Moctezuma’s gold

6. Chihuahua on a stick

Mas…Pocho Ocho Top Ways to Decolonize Your Diet

Can you spot the Latino in this photograph?

salvadorlitvakI’m pretty sure I was the only redhead at the NYU Latino Law Students Association Gala in the spring of 1990. The food was delicious, my date looked stunning, and I was glad I had jumped on the opportunity when I received the LALSA invitation.

My journey to that moment began 25 years earlier. I was born in Santiago, Chile in 1965: a third generation Chilean on my father’s side (whose people came from Odessa), and first generation on my mother’s side, who arrived when she was 12 from Hungary.

We left Chile in 1970 after the election of socialist president Salvador Allende. For Mom, socialism was close enough to the Soviet regime she’d fled in Hungary.

I started kindergarten at P.S. 81 in the Bronx. With a curly mop of flaming red hair and speaking only Spanish, I immediately embarked on a lifelong career of not fitting in. I learned English fast, but I still felt like an outsider. I got into X-Men comics because I identified with the mutants.

Mas…Can you spot the Latino in this photograph?

Crunchy Thai treat in a bag makes you magically Mexican! (video)


What are they eating? Chips? Rolled taquito-looking snacks? Does she say “Mexican sweet chile?” We don’t know, but how can you go wrong when one crunchy bite magically turns this attractive Thai couple into tango-dancing Mexicans! [Mariachis not included.]

PREVIOUSY ON “MEXICAN” CHIPS IN EXOTIC FOREIGN COUNTRIES:

Mas…Crunchy Thai treat in a bag makes you magically Mexican! (video)

When Irish peeps try Mexican treats, faces turn red (video)


Once you catch onto their accents, the reactions of these Irish folks to Mexican sweets and treats are priceless. Their body language is quite revealing, too. Not only do their faces turn quite red, but their red hair gets even redder! 😉

And although we’ve always said the Irish are the Mexicans of Europe and friends of La Gente (San Patricios, etc.), it’s quite apparent from this video that chiles, limon, tamarindo, and horchata are not universally appreciated.

BBC: One easy old trick helps you live longer – eat more chiles!

codexWant to live longer? It’s easy, according to the BBC. Eat more chiles! Specifically, the BBC recommends “chillies,” and we’ll do them a favour and labour under their rules whilst minding the gap:

For thousands of years, humans have taken a masochistic pleasure from adding chilli to their food. Now research indicates that the spice that has undoubtedly made our lives more interesting may also make them longer.

There is only one mammal that enthusiastically eats chillies.

Mas…BBC: One easy old trick helps you live longer – eat more chiles!

New medical study: Eating spicy foods helps you live longer

mexicanchilesHere’s some fantastically hot news: The more chiles you eat, the longer you’ll live!

The New York Times explains:

Eating spicy food is associated with a reduced risk for death, an analysis of dietary data on more than 485,000 people found.

Study participants were enrolled between 2004 and 2008 in a large Chinese health study, and researchers followed them for an average of more than seven years, recording 20,224 deaths. The study is in BMJ.

After controlling for family medical history, age, education, diabetes, smoking and many other variables, the researchers found that compared with eating hot food, mainly chili peppers, less than once a week, having it once or twice a week resulted in a 10 percent reduced overall risk for death. Consuming spicy food six to seven times a week reduced the risk by 14 percent.

Mas…New medical study: Eating spicy foods helps you live longer

L.A. woman eats 53 habanero chiles in 20 minutes (video)

@nbcla Thank You #habaneroeatingcontest coverage #prlife #culinary #chichenitza restaurant #dtla

A video posted by Mariluz (@mariluz2012) on


Teresa de Jesus Sandoval was named the champion at the Father’s Day habanero chile eating contest at Chichenitza in Downtown L.A. after scarfing down 53 of the the scorching peppers in 20 minutes.

PREVIOUSLY ON CHILES:

Mas…L.A. woman eats 53 habanero chiles in 20 minutes (video)

Food blogger La Quirky discovers the joys of Mexican mangos (video)

La Quirky Nancy discovers mangos in East LA and lives to tell about it. #laQuirky #Columbusing

PREVIOUSLY ON DISCOVERING MEXICAN MANGOS:

Quirky food video blogger katie q discovered this totally delicious new healthy food treat LOL OMG. Latino-style people eat this all the time, I’m so sure! It’s a fruit they call a “mango” and they squeeze lime juice on it and add hot sauce, just like you put mousse on your hair when you go out clubbing. Srsly, is this quirky or what?

Mas…Food blogger La Quirky discovers the joys of Mexican mangos (video)

Can Gustavo ¡Ask A Mexican! Arellano finish OC’s hottest burger? (video)


Can intrepid POCHO Associate Naranjero Gustavo ¡Ask A Mexican! Arellano and OC Weekly colleague Nick Schou make it through the Nuke Burger, said to be the hottest/spiciest hamburger in Orange County?

How spicy is it? The OC Weekly’s Charles Lam reports:

The Nuke Burger [at Bombburger in Huntington Beach] is quite possibly the spiciest burger in Orange County at the moment, featuring a who’s who’s list of hottest peppers in the world (Scorpion and Reaper for you pepper heads, as well as Ghost Pepper Jack Cheese).