Poor-people food fills your stomach and powers a workday in a way gourmet fare can't match.
Take the traditional Latin meal of Spanish bean soup, Cuban bread and café con leche.
The beans provide natural protein for your muscles, the bread packs carbohydrates that'll burn all day and the coffee's caffeine peps your blood. Salt the beans, spread butter on the bread and pour sugar in your coffee — or enjoy the food's inherent, subtle flavors — either way the meal tastes good, and you'd be hard pressed to find items cheaper than beans, bread and coffee (provided your bean of choice isn't freshly ground Jamaican Blue Mountain).
Time tested in tiny kitchens and bodegas, at food stands and lunch counters, on city streets and rural farms — these are recipes that have endured like the people who created them, folks willing to work hard for opportunity, who emigrated with nothing more than what they could carry.
Fiesta Day, a festival that began as the official day of rest in Ybor City, celebrates the ethnic heritage and culture of its immigrants: Cuban, Afro-Cuban, German, Italian, Jewish and Spanish. The festivities begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, with an International Parade of Flags, and closes with a reprise of the parade at 5 p.m.
Throughout the day in Ybor City, the national historic landmark district teems with activities, vendors and displays. And to properly introduce visitors to immigrant culture there's complimentary Spanish bean soup, Cuban bread and café con leche.
The International Parade of Flags showcases ethnic music and period dress with marchers carrying flags representing their countries of origin. Participation in the parade is open, in fact, to any clubs and organizations that would like to participate.
The day also includes a Children's Fiesta, offering games, contests, demonstrations and exhibits for kids. And the weekly Ybor City Fresh Market takes place as usual in Centennial Park, located on Eighth Avenue between 18th and 19th streets. The market features handmade arts and crafts, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh baked breads, plants and herbs, jewelry and other assorted goods.
For more info, visit www.cc-events.org or call 813-248-0721.
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 3, 2004.