Since moving to the Bay Area at the beginning of the year, Venezuelan midfielder Deyna Castellanos has found a local restaurant in San Jose that reminds her of home, Arepas Latin Cuisine.
In honor of Latino Heritage Month, Castellanos and her teammates; Alex Loera, Melissa Lowder, and Kiki Pickett went to the local Venezuelan restaurant in San Jose to celebrate their cultures.
While they waited for their food, they went around the table and talked about their experiences and favorite meals.
Lowder shared how living close to the border exposed her to Mexican culture, opening the discussion on Mexican dishes.
“What’s your favorite Mexican food?” Lowder asked Pickett.
“Empanizados, it’s where you have a meat base, like a thin meat that we use,” Pickett shared. “You crunch up crackers and coat it with eggs and then put it with crackers and you fry it.”
Loera also shared her favorite dish and said she would have menudo or pozole with tamales every Christmas morning.
“I like it red, so it’s like a red chili base soup,” Loera said. “It’s really good.”
As the appetizers were brought to the table, Castellanos began to explain what each plate was. “The arepa in general, you put inside whatever you want,” Castellanos said. “Usually salty stuff.”
Castellanos shared how she looked for Venezuelan food in San Francisco and found the same restaurant chain that’s in San Jose.
“This one is the best one,” Castellanos said.
“It is very good,” Loera added.
Loera expressed her favorite thing about different cultures. “The food,” Loera said. “I just really love food.”
Check out what Castellanos, Loera, Lowder, and Pickett enjoyed at Arepas Latin Cuisine below:
