Episodio 59: Life in L.A. - Food Culture

Dos jóvenes emprendedoras que trabajan en la industria culinaria y de alimentos comparten cómo transforman la escena gastronómica de Los Ángeles al reinterpretar las recetas de sus familias migrantes.

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Transcripción

Diana: En 1981, los padres de Mayly Tao compraron una tienda de donas llamada DK’s. Ese nombre había sido puesto por los dueños anteriores, David y Kathy. Cuando Mayly tenía cinco años, su madre la despertaba muy temprano para ir al negocio familiar. Usaba una caja de cartón, o case, como escalera para llegar al mostrador.

Mayly: The glass case in the shop usually had about 40 donuts in it. And when I opened it, there was a sweet, buttery smell. We had many classic flavors like chocolate and strawberry. After the customers told me what they wanted, I took each donut out of the case, one by one. And then I put them into a pink box.

Diana: Las cajas de donas de color rosa de tiendas como DK’s son legendarias en Los Ángeles. Se convirtieron en algo tan simbólico que empezaron a aparecer en películas y programas de televisión. Pero para Mayly, estas cajas le recordaban algo más.

Mayly: When I was younger, pink boxes always reminded me of work. I had to fill so many boxes with donuts. And I also had to fold all of the boxes when they were delivered to our store! But it was a fun place for a kid like me to hang out. I loved the smell of the store, and spending time with my family. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to sell donuts for the rest of my life.

Diana: Welcome, les damos la bienvenida a “Relatos en inglés”, un podcast de Duolingo. Soy Diana Gameros. En cada episodio podrás practicar inglés a tu propio ritmo, escuchando historias reales y fascinantes, contadas por las personas que las vivieron.

Los protagonistas hablan en un inglés sencillo y fácil de entender para quienes están aprendiendo el idioma. En cada capítulo, yo te acompañaré, para asegurarme de que entiendas todo. También ofrecemos transcripciones completas en podcast.duolingo.com.

En esta temporada especial del podcast, vamos a Los Ángeles, también conocido como L.A.; la ciudad de California famosa por sus playas, su clima soleado, su diversidad cultural y sus celebridades. Por el camino, conoceremos a algunas de las diez millones de personas que han hecho su hogar en Los Ángeles, y nos contarán por qué es tan especial para ellos.

Hoy les presentamos dos historias sobre dos emprendedoras que encontraron nuevas formas de expresarse en la diversa escena gastronómica de Los Ángeles.

Diana: A finales de la década de 1970, miles de camboyanos huyeron del régimen totalitario de los jemeres rojos. Uno de ellos fue Ted Ngoy, el tío abuelo de Mayly y el hombre detrás de las icónicas cajas de donas de color rosa de Los Ángeles.

Mayly: When my Uncle Ted arrived in Los Angeles, he tried a coffee and a donut together. And he loved it! Then he did some research and decided to open a donut shop. It was a great option because it wasn’t expensive, and you didn’t need to go to college to work there.

Diana: El tío Ted se hizo bien conocido entre los refugiados camboyanos, o Cambodian refugees. Les enseñó acerca de su singular negocio de donas que incluía una táctica que pronto se haría famosa: empaquetar las donas dentro de una caja rosa.

Mayly: Uncle Ted chose the pink boxes because they were the cheapest options at the time. After a while, he started training other Cambodian refugees, and then they opened their own donut shops and used the same pink boxes. After that, everyone started calling Uncle Ted “The Donut King.”

Diana: Uno de los refugiados a los que el tío Ted asesoró fue la madre de Mayly. Montó una tienda de donas en Los Ángeles llamada DK’s Donuts, y allí es donde Mayly pasó la mayor parte de su tiempo cuando era niña.

Mayly: Our shop used to be open 24 hours a day, so my family was always there. I spent a lot of time there as a kid. I remember running around the shop and playing, eating donuts, and helping customers. I was a shy kid, so talking to customers helped me become more confident.

Diana: Años después, Mayly quiso aprovechar su experiencia con los clientes para construir una carrera como presentadora de televisión. Así que cuando fue a la universidad, estudió comunicación. Pero al final de la carrera, Mayly se dio cuenta de que su corazón no estaba en la sala de redacción.

Mayly: My parents were so happy when I got my degree. They asked me what I was going to do next, but I didn’t know! So, I moved back home. After a while, they asked me again, and I told them I still didn’t know. Then my brother asked if I could help my family at the donut shop. And so, I decided to help them.

Diana: Cuando Mayly volvió, DK’s Donuts estaba casi igual que cuando era niña. El viejo letrero y el logotipo de la tienda, escrito en una fuente de neón de los años ochenta. Le parecían viejos y anticuados. Y todavía empacaban las donas en esas mismas cajas rosas forradas con papel encerado.

Mayly: I felt so many different emotions when I started working at the shop again. It was such a familiar place to me. As I worked there, I continued to think about my career. I really liked talking to customers and helping people. And I realized that I wanted to start my own business someday. But until then, I could use my marketing and social media skills to help the family donut shop!

Diana: Mayly empezó a pensar en formas de dar nueva vida a la tienda de su madre: hacerla estallar de colores y sabores. Desarrolló una estrategia, y comenzó con las cajas.

Mayly: My goal was to make DK’s Donuts a lot more modern. I wanted to use social media to create a new identity for the store. My mother is very traditional and wanted to keep the pink boxes, but I knew that if we had interesting boxes, then customers might take pictures and share them on social media. I wanted people around the world to know about DK’s Donuts & Bakery! It took a lot of work, but I finally convinced my mom to change the logo and the boxes we used.

Diana: El nuevo empaque seguía rindiendo homenaje a la clásica caja rosa sinónimo de las tiendas de donas de la comunidad camboyana en Los Ángeles. Pero era de color rosa intenso en lugar del rosa pálido original y tenía un dibujo de nubes y alas de ángel, o angel wings.

Mayly: We added brighter colors to the boxes, like yellow and orange, plus some clouds and angel wings. And most importantly, we also put our phone number and instructions for ordering on the boxes. We had to become more modern and unique because there were so many donut shops in California. I wanted people to know that our shop was different — and that we had the best donuts! So, our boxes had to be beautiful.

Diana: Los clientes solían sugerir nuevas coberturas y combinaciones de rellenos. Así que Mayly probó nuevos sabores y utilizó las redes sociales para promocionar las nuevas ofertas de la tienda.

Mayly: My mom let me do whatever I wanted, but I had to make sure the customers were happy. By 2013, we had more than 120 flavors, including some new types of donuts my mom had never heard of. But she said that if I could sell 20 of any new item in one day, then it could stay on the menu. So I started contacting people, and I got a food magazine to write an article about us. After that, a lot of people came to buy our donuts — especially our most famous new item: the “cronut.” Half croissant and half donut. Cronuts were really popular in the U.S. at the time. And it was a big success. We were selling way more than 20 cronuts a day — sometimes we sold hundreds of them!

Diana: Mayly y su madre ofrecían un cronut con una cobertura o relleno diferente cada semana. Tenían sabores como Hot Cheetos (piensa en algo picante y con queso), flores comestibles y ube. El ube es una raíz vegetal con almidón que se utiliza en los postres y el pan dulce en Filipinas; es conocido por su cremosidad.

Mayly: My mother was so surprised by all of the new customers coming through our doors. We were always tired because we worked around 20 hours a day! And at the end of each day of work, my mom always made a meal for us. It was hard, but we worked together really well. She never said thank you or congratulations to me, but every time a person visited us and told us they heard about our cronut, my mom looked so proud. I was just really happy to help her after she worked so hard for so many years.

Diana: Habían sido unos años muy buenos. Pero en 2020, la madre de Mayly estaba agotada.

Mayly: And that was when my mother told me she was ready to retire and sell the donut shop. I felt happy for her because she was finally going to get some rest. I always expected to be the manager of the shop one day, but I knew I couldn’t continue the business without my mother, so we decided to sell it. It was a sad time, but my family taught me the importance of hard work. And I realized I was ready to work hard on my own project.

Diana: Mayly apoyó la decisión de su madre de vender la tienda familiar de donas. Pero durante su estancia en el negocio, Mayly aprendió que la innovación podía mantener vivas las tradiciones en el mundo moderno. Así que decidió abrir su propio negocio: Donut Princess L.A.

Mayly: I learned to love the donut business at DK’s, and so I started my own. I called it “Donut Princess” to honor my Uncle Ted. He’s known as “The Donut King,” and I wanted to make a connection between him and me. I still sell donuts, but I also help other small businesses get more customers through social media. It’s my own new business, but it’s still part of a long tradition. Those pink boxes have brought happiness to people for many years. That’s why the history of DK’s Donuts is special, and I’m so proud of my family.

Diana: Lugares como la tienda familiar de donas de Mayly, son los que hacen que el panorama gastronómico de Los Ángeles sea tan especial. Comunidades y culturas de todo el mundo han traído sus propios sabores, recetas e ingenio a la ciudad. Rashida Holmes lo descubrió de primera mano cuando se mudó a Los Ángeles en 2013 para trabajar como ayudante de chef.

Rashida: The only thing I knew about food in Los Angeles was that there were a lot of tacos and donuts. But I was really surprised when I realized that there was amazing food from all over the world. There’s Cambodian and Mexican food. But there’s also Korean, Thai, Filipino, and Salvadoran food. And most of it is not very expensive. That’s what’s fantastic about this city. You can eat amazing food without spending a lot of money.

Diana: Rashida nació en Nueva York, pero su familia es de la isla caribeña, o Caribbean island, de Barbados. Al crecer en Estados Unidos, la familia de Rashida se mudó varias veces. Pero siempre, la cocina casera de la isla, más que los lugares donde vivía, es lo que hacía que Rashida se sintiera como en casa.

Rashida: Food was always important in my house when I was growing up. My parents cooked us three hot meals every day, and we rarely ate fast food. My father usually prepared eggs and bacon every morning. And during the holidays, my parents always worked hard to make a great meal. They used to prepare classic dishes from the Caribbean, like chicken curry, and rice and peas with plantains. I loved it!

Diana: A Rashida le encantaban las ocasiones especiales en las que su familia servía la comida tradicional de Barbados, como los pasteles de bacalao, o codfish cakes.

Rashida: One time, when I was a kid, it was late at night and the adults were celebrating my mother’s birthday. I remember going downstairs and seeing our house full of people! My grandmother saw me and said, “Hey, what are you doing here?” Then, she fed me a codfish cake to help me sleep. That flavor was just so interesting and new to me. I had dreams about codfish cakes that night.

Diana: Los pasteles de bacalao son una combinación de masa y bacalao salado. En Barbados, se suelen enrollar en una pequeña bola, se fríen en aceite y se sirven como aperitivo. A Rashida le encantaba. Pero más adelante, cuando trabajaba en restaurantes de Los Ángeles, los pasteles de bacalao no estaban en el menú.

Rashida: When I moved to L.A., I worked as an assistant chef. The chef I worked with was considered to be the best new chef in the city by a lot of food magazines. In the restaurant, we served “California cuisine.” It was very different from the food I ate as a kid.

Diana: La cocina californiana es un movimiento culinario que favorece los ingredientes frescos, locales y de temporada. Está influenciada principalmente por las tradiciones alimentarias europeas y estadounidenses. La cocina californiana incluye cosas como la pizza de masa delgada, la pasta y mucho aguacate.

Rashida: I got a lot of good experience cooking this kind of food with a respected chef, and I was good at my job. But after a few years, I felt like something was missing. I wasn’t happy with my work. And I really just wanted to make the Caribbean food that I loved so much.

Diana: Rashida habló con una amiga sobre qué hacer. Y le sugirieron que hiciera una lista de todas las comidas que realmente amaba preparar. La mayoría resultó ser comida “Bajan”. Bajan es un término para referirse a algo o alguien de Barbados.

Rashida: I wrote down everything I liked to eat. And when I looked at the list, it was all Caribbean food, or Bajan dishes. It included West African, South Indian, and British flavors. The food I grew up eating. And then I realized that food was hard for me to find in Los Angeles. Sure, there were good Jamaican restaurants, but there weren’t any good Bajan restaurants. And I realized, “Oh, that’s it!” I can start my own business and prepare the Caribbean food I loved as a kid!

Diana: Cuando Rashida se centró en lo que era único en la comida Bajan, las ideas empezaron a fluir.

Rashida: L.A. loves a good food story. If you want to have a successful food business in Los Angeles, you need to share your story and what makes your food so special. I wanted to be honest, and I knew that I had an important story to tell with Caribbean food. So I decided to share my culture and food with others by cooking the food that I grew up eating.

Diana: Rashida se dio cuenta de que la escena gastronómica de Los Ángeles prosperaba gracias a las diferentes culturas de la ciudad. Esta nueva realidad la llevó a querer experimentar más.

Rashida: In LA, many people are willing to try new types of food. They understand that you don’t have to be at a restaurant to have a good experience. So I just started cooking, and I didn’t worry about finding a place to sell my food.

Diana: Rashida empezó a hacer puestos de comida pop-up. En Estados Unidos, un pop-up es un negocio temporal que abre durante un corto periodo de tiempo para generar expectativa en torno a su producto, y luego lo cierran. Es muy común en grandes ciudades como Los Ángeles.

Rashida: I wanted to see how people in L.A. liked my food, so I did a pop-up at a friend’s restaurant. I also got a part-time job to make sure I could pay my bills. Then, in January of 2020, my friend’s restaurant closed. And that was when I realized it was time to make a big change. I was ready to work on my business.

Diana: Después de que el restaurante de su amiga cerrara, Rashida consiguió algunos trabajos para ofrecer comida en eventos. Pero entonces, apareció la pandemia de COVID-19. Y Rashida se vio obligada a improvisar, comenzando por lo que mejor sabía hacer: las empanadas Bajan, que son como pequeños pasteles rellenos de carne o verduras.

Rashida: Instead of doing more pop-ups or starting a restaurant, I opened my own business in my house! I started preparing Bajan patties. I advertised my food on social media and then people came to pick it up at my house. It was incredible! On my first day, I made 50 patties, and I sold all of them in half an hour!

Diana: Rashida llamó a su nuevo negocio “Bridgetown Roti”. El término roti procede de los envoltorios roti, una comida callejera de origen indio muy popular en Barbados. Los rotis son un envoltorio de harina que puede rellenarse con pollo al curry, camarones, cabra o garbanzos.

Rashida: One time, my wife accidentally took a huge order of 200 patties. Instead of canceling the order, I just made all of the patties. And after that, I just started making even more patties each day. And we were still selling all of them! It was amazing.

Diana: Además de los rotis y los patties, el menú de Rashida incluye curry con pollo o langosta, y los codfish cakes que le daba su abuela.

Rashida: We are taking our grandmother’s and mother’s recipes and making them even better. People like me — children of immigrants — are opening L.A. restaurants that serve food from our parents’ countries. There are people from all over the world here, so it’s the perfect place to share your culture and your story. And that’s what I’m doing.

Diana: Rashida Holmes ofrece servicios de cocina y banquetes de comida Bajan en Bridgetown Roti. Ya no vende comida desde su casa, pero su pop-up se puede encontrar en festivales de música y en el Arts District, un barrio del centro de Los Ángeles.

Nuestra primera narradora, Mayly Tao, ofrece servicios de entrega de donas camboyanas-americanas en Donut Princess L.A. Puedes encontrar su negocio en la mayoría de las redes sociales.

Este episodio fue producido por Laura Marina Boria, una productora con base en Puerto Rico. En este episodio, Cristela Guerra dio voz a nuestra segunda protagonista, Rashida Holmes.

Gracias por haber escuchado “Relatos en inglés”. Nos encantaría saber qué te pareció este episodio. Puedes enviarnos un correo electrónico a podcast@duolingo.com, o también puedes enviarnos un mensaje de audio por WhatsApp al +1-703-953-93-69.

“Relatos en inglés” es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media. Puedes encontrar el audio y una transcripción de cada episodio en podcast.duolingo.com. También puedes seguirnos en Spotify o tu plataforma preferida. Yo soy Diana Gameros. Thank you for listening!

Créditos

Este episodio es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media.