Her name is Glorimar Rivera Mercado. A business owner using her family’s recipes to bring Puerto Rico to Los Angeles.

“I was told by a lot of people that I should share my culture through taste buds because my food was so good and different. So one year before the pandemic I sold a family recipe, coquito and tembleque, for the holidays and it was an absolute hit.”

She started off with vegan options that included food she ate while she was growing up. She uses recipes that she learned from her grandparents and her great grandparents.

“The vegan options mainly began because my mom has a dairy and gluten allergy...I originally came up with recipes for vegan tembleque and vegan coquito for my mom and sister to continue enjoying.”

Tembleque is a coconut pudding dessert that is very common in Puerto Rico. It consists of coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, cornstarch, and water.

Coquito is generally served during Christmas and it is considered to be Puerto Rican eggnog. It is also served with rum.

Another food that is also a staple in Puerto Rican cuisine is tostones. Tostones are fried plantains and usually includes salt and a dipping sauce.

In addition to her grandparents’ influences, she reflects on her Taino indiginous roots that have inspired her cooking and to start this business.

“Taino culinary customs were a big influence for me...they were known to cook foods like yucca (cassava roots), yautia, olives and beans. All foods I grew up eating and learned to cook when I was living in Puerto Rico.”

This business is dear to her heart and she works hard to grow her business on Instagram.

Another restaurant that is making a name for itself within Los Angeles is a restaurant called Mofongos.

Mofongos restaurant opened in November 2009 after working from home. It is currently located in the trendy arts district of North Hollywood.

This restaurant is one of few restaurants that serves Puerto Rican food. Diners were thrilled to finally find a place that serves food that reminds them of food that their family cooks.

Diner, Deja Santiago, compares the mofongo to food at home. She says, “I am from Florida...I think it was hit or miss for me, the first time I came to California, but this time I think this was the first place that we tried out. It was the only one that was up to par.”

On the East Coast, Puerto Rican food and restaurants are much more common. It is known that anyone can go to a bodega(small grocery store in a Puerto Rican or Dominican neighborhood) or to a restaurant to get authentic Puerto Rican food.

Mofongo's customers, Chanell Napier and Devon Davis, said bodegas and Puerto Rican food are hard to come by in the LA area. “When I first moved here from New York, the first thing I was looking up as I was packing...where is the bodega? Where is the Puerto Rican or Dominican food?”

Added Davis: “We’re used to going around the corner and having access to Puerto Rican food.”

The Puerto Rican diaspora is distinct to the history of U.S. immigration.

Puerto Ricans have been citizens since 1917 and they have been able to move throughout the U.S. freely just like any other American.

The U.S. experienced a huge influx of Puerto Ricans migrants due to the extreme economic depression that took place after the Second World War in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican immigrants mostly settled on the east coast because those states were the easiest to travel to from Puerto Rico.

By the mid-1960s, more than a million Puerto Ricans were currently living in the U.S.

Migration to the U.S. was not as difficult for Puerto Ricans as it was for other ethinc groups, but preserving their culture from the island was difficult because of the pressure from U.S. society to adopt American customs and traditions.

In this sense, Puerto Ricans are still within the bounds of their homeland because they are U.S. citizens, but the cultural traditions and the identity of being Puerto Rican is missing.

In Los Angeles, the Puerto Rican community is not as vibrant as it is on the east coast.

According to the 2019 census, 45, 504 Puerto Ricans are in Los Angeles county.

This small number of Puerto Ricans has been trying to expose the surrounding LA area to Puerto Rican food and tradition.

Puerto Rican food has many different influences and takes on a whole different approach to how they prepare food.

Among the foods that the Puerto Rican cuisine adopted from the Tainos are: cassava, yautía, maize, beans, batatas, pepper, sweet and spicy chilli and recao. From the Spanish conquest were acquired foods such as pork, beef, rice, oil and various enriching flavors such as oregano, cumin, basil and almost all herbs used to make sofrito.

While directly from Africa came the famous plantain, banana, yam, okra and beans, but also came a starter food in Puerto Rican cuisine, the gandules (pigeon peas).

This is different from what Angelenos are used to when it comes to Latinx food.

Mexican food uses corn and beans and spices such as chilli, oregano, chocolate, chipotle, and many more. It is a mixture of indigenous and Spanish food. Puerto Rican food has Spanish, Taino, African, and American influences and uses ingredients that are native to the land.

The taco has been traced as far back as to the 18th century Mexican silver mines. The taco was first eaten as a light meal by miners, and the term originates from these mines as well. The word taco, initially referred to an explosive that was used in the mines to remove the ore from the rock.

Since its inception, the taco is very popular across Los Angeles and has become a staple for LA culture.

Competing with Mexican food that is already so well-established has been difficult for other ethnic groups to preserve their culture while at the same time creating a sustainable business.

Holidays with my Family

For me, food has always been a mixture of my Latinx identity and an extremely important part of my family.

Growing up, I was surrounded by many different dishes that my Puerto Rican family would make for my brothers and me.

She learned the recipe from my grandmother and this recipe has been passed down from each generation for us to continue the tradition of making this dish every holiday.

I always ate this dish, but I never really understood where it came from or the history behind this dish.

All of my cousins and my brothers know the recipe. My brother currently has the pot that my grandmother used to make this dish.

It is important for me and my family to preserve this dish because it is connected to my ancestors. It reminds me what my family has gone through to be successful in this country.

Puerto Rican food has a special place in my heart and it is an honor to be a part of this tradition.

Recipes from my family

Here are some recepies that my family uses during the holiday season.