Latino Hispanic Culture, Art and Film at Bullfighter’s Cafe

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A couple of weeks ago, life in Los Angeles got crazy. I needed a break so as usual I took off to Vegas to visit my sister. I love hiding out at my sister’s house but this visit was set to be a little extra special; for over a year we’d been looking forward to learning how to make Puerto Rican Pasteles. Pasteles are traditionally known as a special occasion food; like  Mexican Tamales or a Venezuelan Ayacas. Whole families usually get together assembly-line-style to make large numbers of these delights and get them ready for the boiling pot. While I ate PLENTY of Pasteles growing up, making them was NOT a part of our family tradition so this week, when family flew in from NYC and Orlando, I couldn’t help but feel excited.

Pasteles are A LOT of work. The ingredient list reads like a Garcia Marquez novel, with almost everything having at least one name in English and two or more in Spanish (eg. Spanish Potato or Tannier = Malanga or Yautia). Clearly, I did not know the extent of the pre-production process. My sister, daughter and I took turns grating while our 80 year old grandmother in law put us to shame, producing twice as much masa in half the time. We laughed and cried hearing the tales she rattled off while she worked. At every interval, I found myself taking mental notes on how each story could make a great scene in a film.

I realized why I so loved films like Tortilla Soup and Eat Drink Man Woman, when all at once I experienced the power of family, food and the art of story telling. Paul and I have had a chance to meet and interview artists from all over the world and have quite frankly become obsessed with “the source” of inspiration. What we’ve discovered is that inspiration can spring from ANY real life or imagined experience. What an artist does with those inspired moments determines his/her success and in some cases, preserves sanity. I had spent two days in the ultimate interactive theater experience. My life! I was inspired and started writing. I hadn’t written in years.

I also video taped the process, more to serve as a family archive, than for public viewing, although, (thanks to BFC many of my private moments are often made public… I will be posting it on Youtube so stay tuned. Until then, enjoy this clip from Tortilla Soup Directed by María Ripoll.

Luz y Paz,

Angel

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