The first time I have what I now call Mexican food was in "Sanchez Market" on Atwells Avenue in Providence, now "Casa Mexico."  I have only been in the United States for a few months, so I was still creating an understanding of what this new culture is and deconstructi...

Today is Mexico’s Independence Day and the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. I will be launching a series of blog post to explore my relationship with Mexican and Mexican American culture and food in the next month.

I don't remember how I first learned about Mexico. May...

I didn't write anything in May. After four months of regular articles and blog post, I took a break.

Instead, I embrace #procastibaking to reflect instead of writing.

While growing up, baking was unheard off in my household. My grandma was concern about connecting our ga...

(The sazones isle on the Dominican bodega of Quisqueya on Broad Street, Providence, RI)

Do you know that feeling when one food item becomes a staple in your diet, and you are not even sure why you eat it for the first time?

Growing up in a translational household in...

“Oaxaca is not folklore. It is Rebellion”

On one of the first days on the trip, we saw a graffiti art on the street that read “Oaxaca is not folklore. It is Rebellion”. This graffiti art was a reminder of my fears and provide me with the lense to observe Oaxaca culture....

Growing up in the Dominican Republic, eating international food or other non-Dominican cuisines was something animate and an experience that was considered sophisticated and encourage to reaffirm a particular socioeconomic and social status.

My first non-Dominican food...

By Vanessa Garcia Polanco. August 1st, 2017

“If someone wants to know what my homeland is,

Do not ask for it.

Do not want to know if there are woods, trills,

Many peninsulas and others,

Or if there are four mountain ranges,

All right,

Or if there are several bays destinations

...