Cuzcatlan: The significance of food in nurturing a community
Amidst the tragedy and change that swept through households worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic, a small business owner saw a silver lining. As lockdown enforced social distancing and home deliveries became the norm, Adelina, owner of Cuzcatlan– a Salvadoran food business run from her home in Enfield, North London –, took the opportunity to bridge the gap between her beloved cooking and homesick clients. Operating solely through delivery and collection services, she guaranteed that if customers couldn’t go to her, she would go to them.
The notorious pupusa has roots in the Pipil tribe, who were a dominant community in El Salvador. Like many Latin American dishes, the pupusa is made from maiz (corn) flour with the base fillings being frijoles (refried beans), chicharrón (shredded pork) and queso (cheese), among others. The word pupusa literally meaning ‘stuffed’ comes from the indigenous Nahuatl language and is a perfect description for the dish. Its succulent smell hits you before you are able to open it up to see the cheese wax and wane between the corn-floured fillings, enough to make you fall in love. And then you take a bite.
When speaking to Adelina, she shares treasured childhood memories of smelling the delicacy on her way home from school and from a very young age was handed down the tradition of making the dish. For her mother, it was a rite of passage to instil the importance of sharing home cooked meals with others as a means of community and connection. Food plays a significant part in Latin American culture, from your abuelita serving you an overloaded plate after you’ve said twice that you’ve just eaten, to being offered a plate while visiting a family where you know food is scarce. It is a demonstration of love. This belief has followed Adelina into her adult life, leading her to become the owner of a small Salvadoran food business in the UK, where she has created a small community of her own. Like many self-employed individuals, Adelina found it difficult to keep the business afloat. Juggling a second job and life’s unexpected changes, there were many factors pointing towards Cuzcatlan’s downfall. COVID-19 could have easily been the final straw. Fortunately, Adelina was able to turn this into a benefit for Cuzcatlan, and slowly found her purpose in curating this community from a distance. Not only was she able to continue her sales during lockdown by delivering to people’s doorsteps (while abiding by COVID regulations), but she was also expanding her connections online, sharing her culture, and keeping her business afloat. As COVID regulations relaxed and people were able to roam the streets of London again, Cuzcatlan continued its deliveries and began attending pop-up events.
Over the years, many customers have expressed a desire for Adelina to open a Salvadoran restaurant, seeing it as an opportunity to expand her business and grow the community. While this is her dream, it also requires a significant amount of time and dedication, which may be overshadowed by rising prices in London. Adelina’s initial goal for Cuzcatlan was to preserve and share her culture with others. She wanted to give people a sense of having a little piece of home away from home through cooking. Although a restaurant hasn’t yet materialised, this feeling has clearly been evoked, with many customers becoming close friends. She recounts the story of a Salvadoran woman from Los Angeles whose daughter, a homesick international student in the UK, found Cuzcatlan on social media and travelled to London to pick up an order. This connection grew into an ongoing eight-year friendship with the family, emphasising how food, culture, and community can bring people together. And this is not an isolated event; many customers have travelled across the UK to collect food from Cuzcatlan to satisfy their nostalgia. “My favorite thing to say is, ‘Cuzcatlan es donde entran como clientes y salen como amigos’ (where you enter as a customer and leave as a friend),” Adelina says. “I have made lifelong friends because of Cuzcatlan. From catering baby showers to catering the child’s 8th birthday, I go on a journey with my clients.”
Her community has grown beyond Salvadorans to include other Latin Americans and even non-Latinos. All groups, however, remain dedicated and loyal customers who attend Cuzcatlan’s pop-up events to show their support, spend time as a community, and enjoy the food. Some have even travelled to El Salvador or the U.S. and brought back the beloved native Salvadoran flower, Loroco, as a gift, which she uses as a filling for pupusas. Small businesses are a step in the right direction towards magnifying the voices of the Latin American community in the UK and showcasing the diversity of their contributions. As the diaspora grows larger, so should the visibility and representation in society. Stories like Adelina’s highlight the power of community, which works as a catalyst in uniting people, increasing recognition, and sharing the culture with other communities in London.
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