Episode 100: Barbacoa sin fronteras (Barbacoa Beyond Borders)

After fleeing her hometown of Capulhuac, Mexico, Cristina Martínez starts all over in Philadelphia, where she rises to fame as a barbacoa chef.

How to Listen

Listen free on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Transcript

Martina: It was a Saturday morning, and the line at a South Philly restaurant spilled out the door and down the sidewalk. Inside, people sat around tables with floral Mexican tablecloths. Laughter mingled with conversations in English and Spanish. And Chef Cristina Martínez, in her white apron, was greeting guests.

Cristina: La comunidad se enamora cuando prueba esta comida: la carne suave de borrego, con una tortilla fresca hecha a mano… Vienen a tomar una bebida fresca, a comer tacos y a charlar con sus amigos o en familia.

Martina: Barbacoa is a traditional Mexican dish from the city of Capulhuac, Cristina’s hometown. Tender lamb, called borrego in Mexico, is cooked over a fire underground and served on corn tortillas with toppings like cactus leaves, salsa, onion, and cilantro. For Cristina, it’s the smoky smell of barbacoa that reminds her of her childhood and family back home.

Cristina: El negocio de mi familia era la barbacoa. De niña, yo cortaba los chiles y las zanahorias para las salsas. También aprendí a preparar el borrego. Me encantaba el color rojo del fuego y el delicioso olor de la carne cocida.

Martina: When she was a kid, Cristina could hardly have imagined the role this dish would play in her future. Today, her barbacoa restaurant is a centerpiece of South Philadelphia and has won national acclaim. Every weekend, doors open…at 5:00 am…and people flock to the restaurant for breakfast, lunch, or just to catch a glimpse of Cristina.

Cristina: Las personas vienen a saludarme y a veces a tomarse fotos conmigo y con sus niños. Me siento muy afortunada porque aunque sé que hay muchos restaurantes, la gente de todo el país viene a probar mi barbacoa. Cada fin de semana recibimos entre 1500 y 2000 personas.

Martina: Cristina’s success has been widely celebrated. But when she first came to the United States in 2006, the idea of starting her own restaurant in Philadelphia hardly seemed possible.

Cristina: Nunca imaginé un futuro como este cuando me fui de México. Sin embargo, yo sabía que tenía el potencial dentro de mí.

Martina: Bienvenidos and welcome to the Duolingo Spanish podcast. I’m Martina Castro. Since we launched this podcast back in 2017, we have shared stories from the whole Spanish-speaking world, from Argentina to the United States, from Mexico to Spain. And now, we reach a special milestone. This is our 100th episode, which is only possible thanks to you, our listeners. To mark the occasion, we head to Philadelphia, to meet a Mexican chef, who has found success despite many challenges. Thanks to Nick, who suggested this story on social media!

As usual, the storyteller will be using intermediate Spanish and I’ll be chiming in for context in English. If you miss something, you can always skip back and listen again. We also offer full transcripts at podcast.duolingo.com.

Martina: On a cold October night in 2006, Cristina stood at the edge of the Sonoran Desert in Mexico, near the border of Texas. She was 37 years old. She looked out over the dark, flat desert with its tufts of brush, and she could see the silhouettes of 25 other migrants around her. Suddenly, she was scared.

Cristina: Estábamos allí para cruzar al otro lado. Llegué a la frontera sin mucha preparación, sin meditar ni pensar que íbamos a caminar por todo el desierto. Pero me habían dicho: “Tú tienes que resistir y trabajar duro por lo que quieres”.

Martina: What Cristina wanted was to escape her abusive husband of 18 years. She wanted to be safe and feel empowered as a woman. She loved her community, the people, the food… But for most of her life, she had done nothing but work for her husband.

Cristina: Yo me casé muy joven, solo tenía diecisiete años, y después de casarme, lo único que hice fue trabajar y trabajar. Mi esposo me decía cosas horribles y me trataba muy mal.

Martina: Cristina had had enough. She wanted to make it on her own, be independent, far from all of the abuse.

Cristina: Era difícil porque, como mujer, no podía tomar decisiones, solo tenía que seguir órdenes, órdenes y más órdenes. Todo el mundo tenía autoridad sobre mí. Mi esposo me decía: “Tú no vales nada, no sirves para nada”. Esas palabras eran dolorosas porque, a veces, yo creía que eran la verdad.

Martina: But deep down inside, Cristina knew she was worth something. Except, on her own in Mexico, she couldn’t even make ends meet. So at 37, she made a major decision: She hired a smuggler to take her across the desert to the United States…

Cristina: Cuando llegué a la frontera, sentí mucho miedo, pero regresar con mi esposo me daba más miedo. Entonces pensé: “Bueno, yo quiero un cambio y aunque no sé a dónde voy, ya estoy aquí”. Y empecé a caminar…

Martina: The walk across the desert takes days, but Cristina’s group didn’t make it in one shot. The first few times, border patrol officers caught them and took them back…to their starting point. But they kept trying. Finally, after three weeks and six attempts, Cristina was able to cross…

Cristina: Llegué tarde en la noche y todo estaba oscuro. Sí, tenía miedo y estaba muy nerviosa. Aunque, en realidad, no tienes tiempo de pensar mucho. En esa situación corres mucho peligro, pero al cruzar, yo sentí paz y tranquilidad porque ya estaba del otro lado. Fue un momento increíble y lleno de emociones.

Martina: Cristina had made her way from the Texas border to Phoenix, Arizona. But her final destination was all the way across the country: Philadelphia.

Cristina: Yo quería ir a Filadelfia porque mi cuñado vivía allá. Nosotros hablamos y él me dijo que me podía ayudar.

Martina: Cristina jumped into a car arranged by the smuggler and set off across the country. She was exhausted from her trip crossing the desert, and, on top of that, the drive took seven long days. She was feeling pretty out of it when, finally, one evening, she saw a city skyline. Tall buildings glittering in the distance…

Cristina: ¡Era Filadelfia! Cuando llegué, sentí que ya conocía esa ciudad. Tuve un sueño sobre ese lugar tres meses antes de llegar ahí. Soñé con las casas y las calles durante el atardecer. Era como algo mágico. Y en ese momento supe que Filadelfia me estaba esperando.

Martina: Now, Cristina had to figure out her next step. She settled in South Philadelphia, in a neighborhood that’s home to many Mexican immigrants in the city.

Cristina: En este barrio las calles están llenas de tiendas y vendedores de frutas y verduras. Hay muchos trabajadores de la industria de la comida y siempre hay mucha gente caminando. La cultura mexicana está muy presente aquí.

Martina: As she got to know this bustling neighborhood, Cristina got an idea about what she might do for a living. The streets were peppered with taquerías, Mexican bakeries, and restaurants. But Cristina noticed there was one big tradition from home that had not found its way to Philadelphia.

Cristina: Había muchas opciones en los menús: mariscos, carnes y platos tradicionales, pero no había barbacoa. Entonces pensé: “Quizás yo puedo vender barbacoa aquí”.

Martina: Cristina thought back to her childhood in Capulhuac in central Mexico. She had worked alongside her family every day to prepare barbacoa to sell on the weekends. Each week, they bought ingredients, made salsa, butchered sheep, and started the fire… Then, each Saturday, the smell of cooked lamb would rise up from the ground at dawn.

Cristina: Todos los sábados muy temprano por la mañana íbamos a la ciudad o a los pueblos cercanos a vender barbacoa. Y los domingos la gente se reunía con sus familias para comer barbacoa. A veces había hasta treinta personas en una mesa grande.

Martina: This tradition had been in Cristina’s family for three generations. It was a complex job that traditionally required an underground pit, or hoyo, and it wasn’t something just anyone could do.

Cristina: ¡Es un proceso muy largo y complicado! Primero, hay que preparar la leña, que son trozos de madera para el fuego. Cuando el hoyo se calienta, se pone la olla y las hojas de agave. Después, poco a poco, se pone la barbacoa en su jugo de naranja y salsa, y después se ponen otras hojas por encima para evitar que se queme. Por último, se cubre la olla.

Martina: After all these steps, the lamb then cooks for several hours. The entire process takes a lot of time and a lot of skill. Cristina knew that an authentic barbacoa restaurant would be one of a kind in Philly. But while she wanted to start one, it wouldn’t be easy…especially since she was undocumented.

Cristina: Si no tienes documentos, no puedes tener un negocio, obtener una licencia de conducir o un préstamo del banco. Además, tenía miedo de las autoridades porque nos podían deportar. Siempre vivimos con miedo porque en Estados Unidos la situación política puede cambiar muy rápidamente.

Martina: There are roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, and like many of them, Cristina had big dreams. But with all the uncertainty in her life, it was hard for her to think about the future.

Cristina: La gente que vive indocumentada en Estados Unidos prefiere dormir en el piso y no comprar muebles bonitos. ¿Por qué? Pues porque sabemos que en cualquier momento las autoridades pueden llegar y deportarnos a nuestros países de origen.

Martina: She would also need some money before she could open up her own restaurant. So Cristina set out to find work wherever she could. Eventually, she got a job prepping food at an Italian restaurant in South Philly, which didn’t verify her legal status.

Cristina: Ahí preparaba pastas, vegetales y postres. Yo aprendí mucho en ese restaurante solamente viendo a los chefs. Después de un tiempo, descubrí que tenía talento y que tenía que usar todo lo que había aprendido.

Martina: Cristina hoped one day she’d be able to use what she learned in her own restaurant. But for now, things were going well. She was making decent money. After just six months, she’d even been promoted to pastry chef…and she was getting to know someone special at the restaurant.

Cristina: Trabajaba muchísimo porque quería aprender. Además, no quería perder mi trabajo porque me gustaba mucho. Entonces Ben, un compañero de trabajo, me invitó a comer varias veces.

Martina: Ben did not speak much Spanish. And Cristina did not speak English. But they began to spend more time together. They shared lunch, watched telenovelas at his apartment, and communicated as best they could.

Cristina: No nos entendíamos siempre, pero era muy divertido. A veces no puedes hablar, pero puedes sentir. La gente tiene que pensar con el corazón, no con la cabeza.

Martina: And her heart was telling her that this relationship was meant to be. After just a few dates, Cristina, who had spent nearly two decades in an unhappy marriage, suddenly felt…in love. She and Ben decided they wanted to be together — and didn’t waste any time.

Cristina: Un viernes, al salir del trabajo, Ben me tomó la mano y me dijo: “Vamos al centro, vamos a casarnos”. Cuando llegamos, entramos al edificio y una mujer nos hizo varias preguntas. Después, nos dio un papel y dijo: “Ya se pueden casar. ¡Felicidades!”.

Martina: Cristina had never expected to be in love again. But that same day, she and Ben walked home as husband and wife. And with this whirlwind of a love story, Cristina’s life completely changed.

Cristina: No todas las mujeres tienen la oportunidad de enamorarse y casarse de nuevo a sus cuarenta años. ¡Yo estaba muy feliz!

Martina: Now that she was married to a U.S. citizen, Cristina could also apply for residency. But because at one point during her border crossing she had been detained and deported, her situation was complicated. To get her green card, she needed a letter of support from her employer.

Cristina: Ben y yo fuimos juntos a pedir el papel y él dijo: “Yo me acabo de casar con Cristina, ella es mi esposa. Vamos a pedir su visa y necesitamos tu ayuda con esta carta”.

Martina: Her employer claimed not to know that she was undocumented. They refused to write her a letter. And now that everything was out in the open, they didn’t want anything to do with her. They told her not to come back to work.

Cristina: Fue duro, muy duro. Yo perdí mi trabajo inmediatamente. Salí llorando del restaurante. ¡Había trabajado tanto para ellos! El problema es que nosotros, los inmigrantes, nos ven como máquinas de trabajo. No es un problema para ellos si te tienen que despedir. Yo tenía que volver a empezar desde cero.

Martina: Cristina had come to the U.S. for a better life. But after losing her job, she was back at square one. Her dream of owning a restaurant seemed more distant than ever. And for months, she was out of work.

Cristina: Fui a pedir trabajo en diferentes restaurantes. Pero cuando tienes problemas con tus papeles, nadie te da trabajo. Fue un momento muy difícil en mi vida.

Martina: During those difficult moments in her life, Cristina decided to do what she did best. She started making barbacoa in her own kitchen and sold it in her neighborhood to see if it could be successful.

Cristina: Mi casita fue mi primer restaurante. Era un apartamento muy pequeño, pero muy acogedor para una pareja. No tenía un hoyo de barbacoa, pero repetí el proceso lo mejor que podía en mi cocina.

Martina: Cristina spread the news by word of mouth, and people came. Her first guests were a couple from the neighborhood. Before they arrived, Cristina combed her hair and tied on an apron. Then, when the guests rang, she let them in and seated them…in her living room.

Cristina: Eran unos vecinos que yo ya conocía. Vinieron un día en primavera, empezaba a hacer un poco de calor. Les di la bienvenida y les enseñé mi pequeña cocina. Estaba un poco nerviosa. ¡Todo tenía que ser impecable! Pero también estaba feliz de poder servir a mi gente.

Martina: Within months, more and more people were showing up at her door. Word was getting around, and Cristina’s tiny apartment was filling up — until eventually, she didn’t have enough space.

Cristina: Un día vino una familia de quince personas a nuestro apartamento. ¡Estaba muy lleno! No teníamos suficiente espacio, así que empecé a buscar otro lugar.

Martina: So, when a local restaurant closed down in 2015, Cristina and Ben rented out the space.

Cristina: Pintamos el lugar de amarillo, lo decoramos con arte y flores y pusimos música de mariachi. Era un ambiente bien bonito, muy familiar y acogedor.

Martina: Finally, Cristina’s dream was starting to take shape. But even though she and Ben had their own space now, it still wasn’t easy to make completely authentic barbacoa. For that, they’d first need a large pit to cook the meat. Plus a bunch of ingredients that were hard to find in Philadelphia.

Cristina: Durante la semana, yo iba a varios lugares en bicicleta a comprar los ingredientes que necesitaba para cocinar el sábado y el domingo.

Martina: Cristina began to ask owners of other Mexican restaurants to order ingredients for her when their shipments came in. She and Ben even planted Mexican corn on a nearby farm so they could make truly authentic tortillas. But, as for how exactly she makes barbacoa — that’s a secret ingredient Cristina does not share.

Cristina: El proceso es nuestro secreto. Lo más bonito es que cuando tú vienes, la barbacoa ya está lista, esperándote. Y es como magia porque no sabes quién la cocinó o a qué hora comenzaron a prepararla. Cuando llegas, el negocio está abierto, las tortillas están calientes y frescas, y tú solo te tienes que sentar a comer. ¡Esa es la magia de la barbacoa!

Martina: And the results speak for themselves. Every weekend, hundreds of customers spill into South Philly Barbacoa. For some, it’s a way to experience a different culture or try something new. For others, it’s a way to reconnect with their homeland.

Cristina: Hay gente que llegó a los Estados Unidos hace años y que no había comido barbacoa en muchísimo tiempo. Así que, cuando se sientan y ven los platos tradicionales, las tortillas y la comida, se sienten como en casa y, a veces, hasta lloran.

Martina: Although Cristina is 2,000 miles from the home she left in 2006, she now feels at home in Philadelphia. Cristina is still undocumented. But these days, she’s not as concerned with getting a piece of paper that says she belongs here.

Cristina: No necesito tener un documento para ser feliz… Filadelfia ahora es mi ciudad. Yo decidí hacer algo diferente, algo que nunca se había hecho aquí. Y aprendí que sí valgo, que sí sirvo. Todas las mujeres tenemos una luz muy especial dentro de nosotras, solamente hay que trabajar duro para poder verla.

Martina: Cristina Martínez still lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Ben. Although she hasn’t returned to Capulhuac in 15 years, Cristina continues to work hard to provide for her family in Mexico. Together, Cristina and Ben run South Philly Barbacoa, which is open every weekend from 5:00 am till the barbacoa runs out.

This story was produced by Samia Bouzid.

We'd love to know what you thought of this episode! You can write us an email at podcast@duolingo.com and call and leave us a voicemail or audio message on WhatsApp, at +1-703-953-93-69. Don’t forget to say your name and where you’re from!

If you liked this story, please share it! You can find the audio and a transcript of each episode at podcast.duolingo.com. You can also follow us on Apple Podcasts or your favorite listening app, so you never miss an episode.

With over 500 million users, Duolingo is the world's leading language learning platform, and the most downloaded education app in the world. Duolingo believes in making education free, fun, and available to everyone. To join, download the app today, or find out more at duolingo.com.

The Duolingo Spanish podcast is produced by Duolingo and Adonde Media. I’m the executive producer, Martina Castro. ¡Gracias por escuchar!

Credits

This episode was produced by Duolingo and Adonde Media.