This National Hispanic Month, Try a New-to-You Latino Dish or Drink!

It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month — and yeah, it’s complicated. Every Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, the United States of America gets its Latino on, celebrating the milestones and contributions of people from Spanish-speaking nations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Problem is: We are more than a month. Is once a year enough to honor what we’ve contributed to our nation’s history, economy, culture and mucho más ? No way, José. We are here, loud, proud, and worth celebrating 365/7/24. (Or 31,536,000 seconds a year, in case you were wondering). We could go on, but let’s not. Let’s spin it positive and choose to look at the sunny side of this annual month of Latino recognition. When he signed Hispanic Heritage Week into law in 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson had all the best intentions. Twenty years later, President Ronald Reagan extended the celebration to a whole month of Latino love — and we’ll take it.

So, let’s make the most of our 30 days, gente. Here’s how we like to do it at Familia Kitchen, in partnership with one of our favorite Latino news and culture sites BELatina: With our bocas, through food and drink. It’s easy, delicioso, authentic — plus: We all have to eat, right?

This National Hispanic Month, to honor and strengthen our Latino community ties, let’s cook our way to each other. From Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, we challenge ourselves and you to try a new Latino dish or drink and explore the genius and joy of our Latino heritage through our taste buds.

Need a little inspiration? We’ll help you get started with these delicioso dish and drink ideas:

Love Mexican tortillas? … Try Venezuelan arepas!

”Arepas are our daily bread in Venezuela,” says Liliana Hernandez, one of our favorite homecooks from Venezuela. ”You could say it’s our country’s most famous dish. It represents Venezuela in any part of the world. Its ingredient list is simple: it made from three things: pre-cooked and ground corn meal, water and salt. Arepas are typically made on a round griddle or comal called a budare. In my case, I then pop them into the oven for another 10 minutes so that they stay fluffy and taste even more delicioso.”

Love Puerto Rican tostones? … Try Colombian patacones!

Take a bite of patacones con hogao sauce, and you’ll understand why so many Colombians profess their amor for this traditional treat. These plantain fritters served with a garlicky tomato sauce are crunch-in-your-mouth satisfying, salty-sweet, and addictively delicioso. In Colombia, patacones — like tostones in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the D.R. — are served as a side with just about any meal, or on their own, as a snack any time of day.

Love Dominican arepitas de yuca? … Try Panama’s enyucado!

Enyucado is a savory-sweet treat traditional to Panama. This macaroon-like cake is made with grated yuca, grated coconut and ground anise, reminding our editors and cooks at Familia Kitchen of the Dominican Republic’s anise-flavored fried yuca fritters. But sweet!

Love chili? … Try Mexican pozole!

Pozole is a hearty, thick soup-stew made with pork, hominy, garlic and chiles. It comces in red, green and white varieties and we love all three. Bonus: pozole is a traditional go-to for hangover cures, as well as a festive dish to honor major celebrations, like Mexican Independence Day, and, of course, Christmas (if you’re not making tamales).

Love Salvadorean pupusas? … Try Mexican gorditas!

Gorditas are chubby tortillas made from masa harina and stuffed with your choice of Mexican filling. For Vivi Abeja, one of our favorite Mexican cooks, that choice always has and always will be queso and frijoles: beans and cheese. ”The difference between a gordita and pupusa is how you cook them,” explains Vivi. ”With pupusas, you put the filling in the raw masa, and both masa and filling are cooked together on the hot comal. With gorditas, first you cook the raw masa with no filling, and once it’s toasted and nice and golden, you slice it open, and add whatever filling you want. Then, you cook the gordita again to heat the filing.” Try it, pupusa lovers!

Love Cuban arroz con pollo? … Try Panamanian pollo guisado!

Pollo guisado or stewed chicken is a dish steeped in the world of flavors of Panama. ”It has sazón, a habanero chile, spaghetti, paprika, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce,” writes Familia Kitchen contributor Sarah Kear of her mom’s Lisa’s family-famous dish. ”Although my Mom likes her stew served with rice as the carb, her mother and grandmother preferred it with spaghetti-style pasta.

Love a Mexican margarita? … Try a Peruvian pisco sour!

Light and refreshing, a pisco sour is the must-make drink when Peruvians mark occasions (even if it’s just Friday night!) and make a brindis to toast family and friends getting together. Pisco is made from fermented, pressed grapes, but it is not a wine: It is a brandy. It’s topped with beaten egg white and three dashed of bitters. It’s light, frothy, happy. The perfect drink to honor Latino heritage this and every National Hispanic Month.

Find hundreds more Latino homecooking recipes to make for National Hispanic Month (and the other 11) at FamiliaKitchen.com