Snacks?

One of the best parts of living in Southern California is the complex tapestry of cultures and ethnicities that we get to interact with daily. At the first school I worked at there were Spanish-speaking teachers from Cuba, Spain, Mexico, and El Salvador. I loved listening to their conversations about the regional differences in how you say certain words. At another school, the office tech that helped me with my Spanish translations would sometimes say, “Yeah, but that’s not how the parents would say it. It’s technically correct, but no one talks like that.”

So, how do you say snacks in Spanish? This was a hotly debated question. Some people said botanas, while others said bocadillos, or antojitos. Another added, “Well, it depends on what kind of snacks you’re talking about.” Sadly, I don’t remember what we settled on.

No matter how you say it, last night we had a delicious Mexican snack I’ve never had before: duros. Okay, I’ve had duros before actually, but only the wagon wheel shapes doused with limón y chile. What we had last night was more like a raft that was topped with fresh vegetables: jicama, tomatoes, and lettuce. On top of that was a drizzle of chamoy and crema (or maybe mayonesa) and a sprinkle of seasoned peanuts. It was assembled by my friend’s mom who had kindly offered to put it together for us. She had a whole set up for my friend’s birthday party. She said we could do it ourselves if we wanted, but since we didn’t know how to start, we were grateful for her help.