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South American Flavors
In the mid eighties, Norah's Place, a small South American restaurant on Lankershim boulevard in North Hollywood, claimed to be the first restaurant in the United States to import and serve quinoa, the South American super grain that grows aside coca plants in the oxygen-rich lower Andes.
Touting quinoa's nutritive value and culinary novelty, Norah's attracted the likes of Madonna, U2, and other Hollywood high-ups. They also attracted my Bolivian friend Fernando and I. Fernando scored a bag of the grain from Norah's Place's owner for our own experimentation. We predicted then that South American cuisine was establishing a place for itself on the palates of North Americans.
Slowly but surely, the cuisine has grown in popularity. It looks like South America will follow the same path as Mexico, whose overall cuisine was made popular by region-specific eateries. Like Mexican food, South American cuisine is the sum of all of it's parts. From the tropical heat of Brazil's coconut fish stew to Argentina's downhome gaucho-style bbq, to Bolivia's mother grain, quinoa, South America is on the verge. Go to the Write On pages for Chef Ron's Bolivian travel account.
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