By Reynaldo Mena
It was an afternoon, during a brief break at a small bar in Los Angeles, where Memo Torres‘ life changed. He had finished his day’s work and stopped for a whiskey. He looked attentively at the menu, it was a typical American establishment, and he trown back that they offered enchiladas.
“It seemed strange to me, being an American place, they asked me what I wanted, and I ordered a plate of enchiladas not having any expectations,” says Memo Torres, a multi-media taco journalist and Director of Partnerships for the James Beard award-winning L.A. Taco.
And then he tasted those enchiladas he ordered, from the first bite, he could taste the seasoning of his mother’s food. For a long time, after his mother passing, he had searched every corner of Los Angeles for something that resembled the food flavors he had enjoyed since birth, but he hadn’t found it until then.
“It impacted me so much that I got very emotional. The bartender approached me to ask if everything was okay, and I told him what was happening, and it moved them so much that the chef came out with a tray full of enchiladas and gave them to me,” MemoTorres recounts.
This is the best way to summarize this award-winning journalist, who has participated in important series on Netflix and other platforms.
“My love for food has always been marked by my mother’s cooking. I remember in my childhood, my love for eating mole with flour tortillas; it was a delight. I miss her cooking and is what sparked my quest to find those flavors, and I continue to do so to this day. To find something somewhere that resembles it, but that hasn’t happened again,” he adds.
But what has happened is that through his work, he has given voice and an image to hardworking people, mostly immigrants, who offer authentic gastronomic delights on the streets, alleys, and in the most unexpected places.
“If you’ve noticed, in my work, I care about helping. I write about people who have struggled to start their businesses, to make a living. I don’t go to fancy places where they might offer very innovative tacos that have nothing to do with my work,” he says.
In addition to establishing himself as one of the most important and well-known food critics in California, Memo Torres has his own gardening company that offers services to hotels, mansions, and other places.
It’s something that runs in his family. His grandfather was dedicated to it, his father too, and now he has taken on the batton.
“Since I was a child, my dad would bring me along, waking up at five in the morning to have coffee with bread and be ready to go to work at six in the morning. There I was, operating machines, helping out from the age of five or six, doing whatever I could,” he comments.
His childhood and young life cannot be categorized as typical among other young people his age. Memo Torres was accustomed to working; it was something he had learned all his life.
At the age of 14, his father would already send him to do gardening work leading a crew. Always very responsible but also exposed to experiencing the lives of immigrant workers who worked with them and sharing the food they ate.
“Echate un taco,” the workers would tell him.
“My family is from the countryside, from Zacatecas, hardworking people. I learned that you have to work and not be ‘huevón’,” he adds.
Despite his work with his father, his dreams were to become a lawyer or a teacher; he didn’t plan on dedicating himself to gardening, let alone writing about food.
He applied to the University of Berkeley, where he studied Sociology.
“I didn’t stand still; in addition to studying, I worked with Mexican consulates and in student programs,” he says.
There was a great political fervor; the effects of propositions 187 and 209, which eliminated affirmative action in education, were being felt.
“I have always been very aware of social classes. When I worked in Beverly Hills, in that political atmosphere, I tried to show the students that making changes was possible,” he adds. “Working shoulder to shoulder with good people.”
When he finished his degree and was unable to find a job, he returned to what he knew how to do, gardening. He joined his father again and later founded his business, which he still runs to this day.
His entry into the gastronomic world was a coincidence. LA Taco had been founded, and he was good friends with the editor. They were looking for collaborators.
“My friends told me, ‘Come on, you’re educated, and you’re always eating at all these places, you know them all.’ And that’s how it all started,” Memo Torres says.
Although he considers himself a “terrible cook,” he loves food.
And so, week after week, he continues his long pilgrimage through the streets and neighborhoods of Los Angeles and its surroundings, searching and finding the most unusual places, the best-kept treasures.
The memory of his mother’s food is still present.
“It will never disappear; I keep searching for those flavors. This has opened the door for me to get to know other cuisines, other cultures,” he says.
Memo Torres is very flexible when it comes to the quality of food and not orthodox in its preparation.
“It’s not a black-and-white issue; I’m open to all possibilities,” he adds.
One of the most important things in a taqueria is the taquero, even though it may seem obvious.
“Being a taquero is a ‘gift.’ They have to know how to prepare the tortillas, give the taco in the hand, put the perfect ingredients,” he says.
Q/A
What is the most important thing in a taco?
The tortilla, perhaps followed by the salsa or the filling, although many taquerias don’t use good-quality meat. As they say, a good salsa covers everything.
Does size matter?
Hahaha, not at all, a taco can be any size and be enjoyed.
Is a taco that falls apart not a taco?
There are proportions to consider; abundant tacos are good, but you won’t eat a taco that you don’t know how to approach.
Eating standing or sitting?
You have to eat them standing.
Corn or flour?
There’s a big controversy there. Many defend corn tortillas, but I like flour tortillas; that’s what they use in Zacatecas.
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