Latino Cuisine---Beyond Mexican

If you’re like most in the foodservice business, you are already very familiar with Mexican cuisine.  Eleven percent (10.7%) of all items on chain menus are Mexican cuisine and this is up from 8.9% in 1997.  What about the rest of Latin America?   What about Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and others in the Caribbean?  What about Central and South America including Brazil, Argentina, Peru and others?  And yes, what about Spain and Portugal in another hemisphere?  Cuisine from these countries may all be classified as Latino cuisine.    

Latino cuisine (beyond Mexican) accounts for 0.9% of all chain menu items.  True, Latino is dwarfed by Mexican, but so are most other cuisines, except Italian.  Chain restaurants have committed to Latino cuisine as indicated by the 18.7% of all chain restaurants that menu at least one Latino item.  Even more impressive is that one of every three casual chains (32.1%) features one or more Latino menu items.  And, as we all know, the casual chain sector is where new culinary trends emerge and blossom.   

 Source: MenuMine!, a database of 50,000 menu items from over 500 chains and cutting edge independents

Chain restaurants position menu items by cuisine using various sauces, ingredients and  cooking methods used to prepare the selection.  To draw attention to the cuisine positioning of a menu item,  country of origin clues are sometimes provided in either the menu item name or in the menu item description.  Caribbean is the leading Latino cuisine among chains, accounting for 52% of all Latino menu mentions.  Other cuisines are as follows: 

Leading Latino Cuisines

Glossary of Latino Menu Terms

Bahamas: Conch (prounounced conk), fish for breakfast

Cuba: Cubano sandwich of pork tender, ham, swiss cheese, pickle, mustard, mayo, pressed and toasted bread

Haiti: Red snapper seasoned with shallots, rice with black mushrooms, and with a French accent: tournedos bordelaise

Jamaica: Ackee (native fish) and salted codfish for breakfast, Jerk pork, Jerk chicken, Jerk beef

Puerto Rico:  Asopao (a mixture of rice and chicken), okra soup, adobo (a marinade of lemon, or vinegar, garlic, pepper, salt and spices), or sofrito ( sautéed onions, garlic, and green pepper)

Spain: Tapas which are little samplings of foods, main dishes like Paella (Saffron rice), Black bean soup, Gazpacho soups (cold purees of vegetables and vegetables added)

Peru:  Ceviche (raw fish marinated in citrus juice which “cooks” the fish)

Brazil: Feijoada (fayowada) a Black bean stew of beef cuts, pork and sausage.  Cachacha, Brazil’s national spirit, a drink made of fermented sugar cane

Latino Cuisine Originated From Multiple Sources

By all accounts, there should be more Latino items (currently 0.9%) on chain menus.  Immigration, a powerful driver of ethnic cuisine, has been strong for years from the Caribbean and Central and South America.  In the 90’s, according to INS, approximately 10% of the immigrants to the US came from the Caribbean alone.   And, another 5% comes from the rest of Central and South America. 

Not only that, Latin American cuisines, beyond Mexico, have been part of the most important changes in culinary history. And much of it couldn’t be any closer to our shores. 

After all, when Columbus came to the New World over 500 years ago, he came to the Caribbean, and those who followed from Spain and Portugal focused not only Mexico, but on the Islands and the Gulf sides of Central and South America.  In fact, it was called The Spanish Main.  As the first explorers brought tomatoes, potatoes, corn, chocolate, green beans, or peppers to Spain and Portugal, they also introduced the New World to beef, pork, lamb and dairy items, apples, pears and peaches. 

After domination of Latin America by Spain and Portugal, the Dutch, French and the English, along with slaves from Africa, each made additional culinary contributions.  Indeed, the populations of countries touched by the Spanish influence on both sides of the Atlantic have had 400 years to combine the new with the native vegetables and fruits, meats and seafoods that have become today’s Latin American cuisines.  Moreover, many, if not all, of these ingredients are increasingly available so you can easily use them to add some Latin American color, spice and exotic tastes. 

Leading Latino Ingredients 

Proteins: Unlike traditional US menu items we measure, which are heavy on Chicken and Beef, Latino  menus devote more than half their proteins to Seafood:

Flavor Enhancers

Marinades: Jerk seasoning marinade, various mojos (garlic, citrus juice, oil, herbs) like citrus marinades, tamarind & garlic sauce marinades.  Also, pineapple/soy/ginger marinade, sesame-ginger oil, brown sugar/pineapple/soy

Dressings: Honey lime, creamy mango, banana dressing, citrus fruit dressing, vinaigrette

Dipping Sauces: Marmalade sauce, coconut curry, cilantro sauce, mango salsa, coconut ginger sauce, peppercorn sauce

Sauces: Madeira wine sauce, jerk sauce, pineapple orange sauce, tamarind pickapeppa sauce, tomato sauce, raisin caper sauce, honey rum spiced sauce, pina colada sauce, apple mango salsa, cucumber sauce, cheese sauce, black bean relish, vegetable relish

Desserts:  Rum cakes, Chocolate cakes, Chocolate sauces, Rice puddings, Banana bread, Coconut puddings, Pumpkin bread, Pineapple bread, Banana flambes, Trifles, Custard flans, Sorbets, Three cream ice creams, Sauteed bananas with caramel, ice cream, pistachios

Beverages:  Naturally, rums and sangrias lead the list, but non-alcoholic drinks with bases such as teas, chai teas, coffee, mocha and flavors like coconut and pineapple are also popular.  So are Spanish and Portuguese wines.

Here’s a sampling of Latin American items being menued by chains and cutting edge restaurants:

Carribean Menu Items

 Spanish Menu Items

Brazil Menu Items

Chile Menu Items

Peru Menu Items

Jamaican Menu Items

Cuban Menu Items

So, don’t wait til manana, start exploring Latin American cuisine today.  Begin by subscribing to Chain  Link, Foodservice Research Institute’s instant link to all the chain restaurants we measure in MenuMine!