After 23 years, the humble elotero Andres Santos has hawked his final kernel. He headed home to Mexico to chase that grandest dream of all: love.
Each day, he woke before sunrise and spent his early hours shucking, chopping and cleaning dozens of ears of corn in a friend’s backyardBy nightfall, he loaded his 300-pound cart — carrying big tubs of mayo, bags of cotija cheese, bottles of lime juice and powdered chili — into a van and drove to the corner of Avenue 57 and Figueroa in Highland Park. There, he stood for hours, selling corn on the cob and cups of esquites, a buttery soup of kernels and spicy ingredients.
“I felt like a donkey chasing a carrot hanging from a string,” he said. “You never reach the carrot.” In 1997, Santos left his hometown, fleeing an economic crisis that hit the family market hard. His young daughter and her mother followed. But eventually, he started noticing that Latino-owned businesses disappearing. They blamed raising rents.
“It was something that was traumatic, because in my whole life, I had never been in that situation,” he said. “I felt very bad. Depressed, humiliated.” He didn’t want to disappoint them again, so he woke that last day at 4 a.m., this time prepping nearly 600 ears of corn to make esquites, his hands moving swiftly, chopping the ends of each ear of corn before undressing it and brushing it clean. He only took a break to get his hair cut.That evening, within minutes of arriving at an Avenue 57 parking lot with his daughter, Andrea Santos, he was surrounded by customers.
“It makes me sad that you’re leaving,” said Jorge Quezada, a Highland Park resident. He asked Santos about his “secret recipe,” to which Santos said: Epazote and chicken broth powder.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
U.S. Limits Mexico Guest Worker Visas, Sends Farmers ScramblingExpected travel restrictions to limit the spread of the coronavirus could hurt U.S. fruit and labor production.
Consulte Mais informação »
Mexico tells citizens to follow 'healthy distance' coronavirus guidance—starting next weekThe Mexican government has branded March 23 the 'National Day of Healthy Distance'.
Consulte Mais informação »
U.S. limits Mexico guest worker visas, sends farmers scramblingU.S. fruit and vegetable producers are bracing for dramatic disruptions to their...
Consulte Mais informação »
Trump admin plans to reject asylum seekers, undocumented foreigners at Mexico border amid coronavirus pandemic: ReportThe rule, expected to be announced over the next two days, will reportedly see all asylum seekers, undocumented foreigners rejected at the border points of entry. They will not be detained.
Consulte Mais informação »
'Roswell, New Mexico' creator takes us inside Liz's heartbreaking shower sceneIf you didn't tear up during Liz's (Jeanine Mason) shower breakdown in Monday night's episode of Roswell, New Mexico then you must be part of an…
Consulte Mais informação »