Podcast Summary: All Of It — “A New Cookbook About Salvadoran Culture and Cuisine”

Host: Kusha Navadar (in for Alison Stewart)
Guest: Carla Tatiana Vasquez, author of The Salvi Sol Cookbook
Air Date: May 23, 2024

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Kusha Navadar speaks with food writer and advocate Carla Tatiana Vasquez about her new release, The Salvi Sol Cookbook. The conversation explores the deep ties between Salvadoran food, memory, migration, and identity—while highlighting the women who keep these traditions alive. Vasquez details the inspiration behind her work, shares personal and communal stories, and discusses how food both roots and evolves within immigrant life. Listeners also join in to share their own experiences with Salvadoran cuisine.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Cookbook and Its Origins

[02:15-05:05]

• The Salvi Sol Cookbook presents a collection of 80 recipes from around 30 Salvadoran matriarchs, focusing on comfort foods and traditions handed down through generations.
• Carla shares that her inspiration was a craving for “Salpicon de res”—a minced meat salad emblematic of family rest and togetherness.
  • “That was just the epitome of rest and comfort in my childhood...it let me know, it's Saturday. We can rest as a family and enjoy each other.” (Carla, 03:55)
• Food acts as a connection point—“recipes can serve as addresses for the people we love because they remind us of them, and they remind us of these moments...just formative for us.” (Carla, 04:29)

2. Uniqueness of Salvadoran Culinary Traditions

[05:05-08:17]

• Vasquez discusses misconceptions about Salvadoran food—people often equate it with other Latin cuisines without recognizing its unique mix of regional traditions.
• Salvadoran food uniquely celebrates local flora and fauna, from the national flower (loroco) to Mesoamerican staples (corn, beans) and tropical fruits (plantain, mango, pineapple).
• Eating edible flowers is a culinary touchstone. Recipes in her book feature loroco, sote, and pacaya flowers, emphasizing a fondness for distinctly bitter flavors—an element not always embraced in Western cooking.
  • “That's how Salvi cuisine is. Here in Western cooking...if there's something bitter, you really want to put some extra fat or something sweet...But whenever I'm cooking pacayas and I ask my mom...she was so stunned. She's like, no. Why would you do that? Then you can't taste the flower.” (Carla, 07:03)

3. Evolution of Salvi Soul Platform

[09:13-11:27]

• Vasquez’s Salvi Soul project began in 2015 as a personal craving for family recipes and evolved into a large-scale preservation effort through interviews and collaboration.
• She notes the lack of published Salvadoran cookbooks at the time and describes the need for stories that reflect transnational identities—those who hold space for both home and host cultures without compromising either.
  • “A lot of us have a transnational identity. We have roots in El Salvador, but we're also in different parts of the world, and we're trying to kind of hold both...without having to compromise.” (Carla, 09:50)
• Collecting recipes naturally brought forth life stories, turning the cookbook into a vessel for intergenerational wisdom.
  • “A lot of the stories that came through these cooking sessions were real stories that taught us something about living.” (Carla, 11:13)

4. Highlighting Women’s Stories and Empowerment

[11:27-13:31]

• The book spotlights 33 Salvadoran women, blending their food traditions with personal stories.
• Vasquez highlights a favorite, “Maybe the Earthquake”—a tale interweaving romance, survival, and self-agency.
  • “What I found in all of the women who were excellent cooks is that they were also excellent storytellers...They know exactly what to do with the listener, and they have you at the edge of your seat.” (Carla, 11:42)
  • Key theme: Food is about more than nourishment—it’s a survival strategy, community-building tool, and “boosting our morale to keep going.” (Carla, 13:15)

5. Listener Engagement: Traditions, Names, and Adaptations

[13:50-16:50]

• Caller Jennifer shares childhood memories of Salvadoran pasteles, noting confusion with the Empanada from other Latin cultures.
• Vasquez explains that food naming reflects living, evolving cultures—there’s no “right or wrong,” only tradition and context.
  • “Similarly to children who come from the same parents...if your mom calls you your sister's name, it's still going to be upsetting because that's not your name. If the name is pastelitos, then that's what I'm going to call it...Food culture is alive, right? It changes. There's an ebb and flow to it. If we had one specific...that's what's correct and this is what's not, then...the culture is dying because...no one [is] walking with it into the future.” (Carla, 15:06)

6. Adaptability and Survival in Recipes

[16:50-18:39]

• Discussion of curtido (pickled cabbage slaw): Multiple preparation methods exist, influenced by migration, available ingredients, and individual taste.
• Carla emphasizes adaptation as an act of cultural survival—making do and adjusting a recipe reinforces connection to heritage.
  • “It’s an effort to keep this food culture, this food practice alive, using what you have in your pantry...the work of your survival...in spite of all the things that I may not have...I will insist on practicing this food ways that connects me to home.” (Carla, 17:09)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On food and memory:
  “Recipes can serve as addresses for the people we love because they remind us of them, and they remind us of these moments that...were just formative for us.” (Carla, 04:29)
• On embracing bitterness:
  “Whenever I...ask my mom, like, hey, what can I do to, you know, balance out the bitterness? She was so stunned. She's like, no. Why would you do that? Then you can't taste the flower.” (Carla, 07:03)
• On the need for more Salvadoran cookbooks:
  “There are so many Salvadorans in the country and just worldwide. And...a lot of us have a transnational identity...and we're trying to kind of hold both, not necessarily assimilate...but to hold capacity for both so that we feel grounded without having to compromise.” (Carla, 09:50)
• On preserving tradition through adaptation:
  “Curtido can be made in several different ways...I enjoy learning all the different adaptations of a recipe because it's someone saying, in spite of all the things that I may not have...I will insist on practicing this food ways that connects me to home.” (Carla, 17:17)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:15 — Introduction to Carla Tatiana Vasquez and the Salvi Sol Cookbook
• 03:55 — “Salpicon de res” and childhood memories
• 05:18 — What makes Salvadoran cuisine unique
• 07:03 — Edible flowers and embracing bitterness in Salvadoran food
• 09:13 — Creating and growing Salvi Soul
• 11:42 — Storytelling in the cookbook; “Maybe the Earthquake”
• 13:53 — Listener Jennifer shares her story about pasteles vs. empanadas
• 15:06 — Carla on food naming across cultures
• 16:50 — Different methods for preparing curtido
• 17:09 — Foodways, adaptation, and survival
• 18:39 — Closing remarks and invitation to discover the Salvi Sol Cookbook

Final Takeaway

This episode highlights how food traditions are communal, intergenerational, and ever-evolving—held together by the memories, creativity, and resilience of women like Vasquez and the matriarchs she honors. The Salvi Sol Cookbook is more than a collection of recipes; it's a living archive of Salvadoran culture, its adaptations, and the power of sharing stories and meals—where each dish becomes a map back home.