Hudson Grande Senior Living Culinary Honors Hispanic Heritage Month

In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law a week-long celebration of the contributions and influences Hispanic Americans have made on the culture and history of the United States. This observance was expanded from a week to a month by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, to begin on September 15th, which recognizes the start of the Mexican War for Independence. All US presidents since 1988 have given a Presidential Proclamation to mark this historic date.

Today, there are roughly 63 million Hispanics living in the United States, that make up 19% of the population. They come from diverse countries and bring with them unique and different cultures and cuisines.

At Hudson Grande Senior Living, we will be recognizing those culinary contributions by celebrating the food of Mexico on September 23rd, Peru on September 30th, and Guatemala on October 7th. We are also doing a four-course candlelight dinner on October 11th celebrating Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Cuba.

I chose these countries because I know very little about their cuisines. I really wanted to challenge myself and my team to expand our knowledge and step outside of our comfort zone. 

Celebrating Mexico, we made carnitas, barbacoa, quesadillas, and flautas. For Peru we created Lomo salt ado, rococo rellenos, empanadas, and arroz con leche. The Guatemalan meal included tostadas, halachas, and pupusas. For our candlelight dinner we made tostones, Chilean sea bass, churrasco, and Tres leches cake.

Through my research I learned that in all these cultures BBQ and smoked meats have a heavy presence in their cooking.

We hope you enjoy our interpretation of these dishes and learn a little more about these countries in the process!