Something for the coffee lovers…
Los Picos from El Cafecito - the unbelievably delicious single origin freshly roasted Colombian coffee from the region of Santa Marta ,Magdalena, Colombia. This amazing coffee is picked in the foothills at an altitude of between 1800-1900 m.a.s.l. Sun dried in direct sunlight for approximately 70 hours which helps to bring out the delightful notes of Chocolate, citrus, hazelnut and sweet honey. This single origin coffee had been picked as the El Cafecito house bean for it's consistent quality and positive feedback from our consumers. www.elcafecito.co.uk
Something for the Kids...
Raising kids to be bilingual and aware of their cultural identity can be hard, and no one would agree with this more than Patty Rodriquez and Ariana Stein. In answer to this, the two mothers created Lil' Libros, an online children's picture bookstore aiming to encourage bilingualism and Latin American culture. Their books celebrate and tell the stories of iconic figures from Latin American history, from Frida Kahlo to Celia Cruz, combining beautiful illustrations with numbers, colours, and shapes, to make sure that your child learns key skills whilst not losing their heritage.
Something for the foodies...
Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Marlon’s Lechona...This Colombian style stuffed pork is made of layers of juicy sous vide cooked meat, rice and peas, buried under delicious crackling. Vacuum-packed, ready to be stored for up to 10 days, and re-heated in a disposable biodegradable tray. Marlon is a Colombian Chef who, before coming to the UK, worked in Michelin star restaurants in Madrid and Valencia, learning from Ricard Camarena, Vicente Patiño and Alberto Chicote. In London Marlon worked for Tom Aikens, who was awarded 2 stars, before opening Marlon's Kitchen, the renowned London pop-up in Fulham. Marlon's Christmas Lechonas have now become legendary. Book yours today
https://marlonskitchen.com/lechona-in-london/
Something for the Salsa lovers...
Rock it old school with ’salsa legends’ limited edition Caps and Ts, by Latin flavoured merch brand Latin Apparel, who have come up with the ingenious idea of celebrating our true Salsa heroes. The ideal present for the Latin music lovers in your family, whether its your salsa loving abuelos or the #reggaeton and #Latinhiphop loving’ bros and cousins who are listening to these greats through sampling anywayz. This Christmas season there’s a special offer, buy ANY Latin Apparel item (£15) and receive a year’s subscription to LatinoLife print magazine for free.
And Something for the Papa Noel himself...
Forget the boring old cider, give Santa a nice surprise when he gets down the chimney, with a shot of Aged Charanda from El Tarasco. Yes, it's not only tequila that Mexico produces...Charanda is a Mexican rum made from sugarcane harvested in the mountains in Michoacan, with the higher altitude resulting in a higher sugar content. This aged expression was matured for nine months in American white oak bourbon casks in the warm climate of Uruapan, before it was finally bottled at 38% ABV. You can also get the Silver Rum and extra aged, all available at
www.mexgrocer.co.uk/Mexican-Rum/
Something for the Activists…
For the Latin Americanist this book, by no less that our own editor Amaranta Wright, is a great companion to political thinking on Latin America and a very readable travelogue and overview on the history of the continent for anyone thinking of travelling there. Widely critically acclaimed, Ripped and Torn documents the journey of a young writer living in Miami when Levi’s hired her to travel through Latin America. Her brief was to befriend teenagers and report back on every aspect of their lives: their hopes, fears, dreams and aspirations. At first, she saw the job as a means to travel around a continent she loved. But as time passed, the more sinister and divisive aspects of what she was being asked to do became apparent, as she attempted to understand the dispossessed of these countries who are constantly frustrated by the mechanics of corporate globalization and its unspoken aim to reduce individuals to bullet points.
This is a compellingly humane portrait of a continent in crisis — brimming with paradox, complexity, beauty and brutality. It is a book about the arrogance with which we in the West refer to “developing” continents, the developed world’s overarching desire to turn people into consumers, and the often insidious methods employed to this end.
