The sounds of Ozuna and El Chaval boomed through speakers while portions of tacos, papusas and tamales were dished out at serving stations. Colorful flags from countries all over Central and South America decorated the walls. Johnny Newton took hold of Gaby Perez's hands for a few steps of bachata. No, this wasn't a scene from an off-site fiesta; rather, it was a Tuesday in the cafeteria at BigBear.ai Training Center at Commanders Park.
"Eating wise, it's the best day of the year for sure," Commanders' executive chef Brandon Laurent said. "This is a day where the staff really just get to showcase food that not only is special to make but that they eat all the time. This is their home cooking."
Hailing from countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, Peru and more, staff with Latino heritage in the Commanders culinary team take the reins on "Taste Around Latin America," cooking up platos tipicos like papusas, tamales, ceviche and more. Making and eating these delights is one part of the fun; at its core, the day is about highlighting the beauty of and celebrating Latinidad.
"Taste Around Latin America" is a collaborative work of art. Creating the menu starts with basic principles that guide all meals in the Commanders kitchen: you want a couple different entrees (usually one is fish; another is chicken, beef or pork), a vegetable-focused side and a starch-focused side. The team plugs in some of the favorite dishes from their home countries into this outline. Fish served on banana leaf, Peruvian chicken, short ribs, street corn, chicharron and rice and beans were mouthwatering eats at this first stop on Tuesday.
The deliciousness only grew in moving down the line. Chicken chorizo tacos, three different kinds of papusas, duck tamales and tacos flautas greeted eaters. A steaming pot of pozole, a hearty Mexican soup, was the center piece of the salad bar. Sweets at the end of the spread gave a whole new meaning to "leave room for the dessert," the space overflowing with Tres Leches cake (affectionally rebranded as Tress Leches for *points* you know who), shortbread cookies and flan.
Making this memorable lunch requires preparation -- a lot of preparation. For Juana Ortez, the commander of Tuesday's operation, that began on Friday with marinating, chopping, stewing and making the mix for papusas. Ortez, who moved here in 2005 from El Salvador, uses a recipe passed down from her grandma. For this year's celebration, she made 200 papusas.
"I love making the food," Ortez said with a translation assist from her coworker Gaby Perez.
"She's the person preparing everything…the beans, the meat," Perez added.
Perez, Xiomara Canales, Luz Serpa Puente, Silvia Sanchez, Margarita Palacias Romero, Yolanda Melendez Rivas and the rest of the Commanders culinary team all locked into their respective duties, forming a well-oiled machine to make "Taste Around Latin America" come to life. The love and care that goes into the lunch is evident to anyone who indulged in Tuesday's lunch.
"It comes through," tight end Colson Yankoff said after polishing off short ribs. "It's so cool to see these guys doing what they love and making food that they love to make … And it's really fun to just come and feast."
The culinary team gets just as much joy seeing the excitement around the food as staff do eating it.
"What I love the most is when the players and coaches come and say, 'Oh the food!',' Perez said with a smile. "We try our best every year and make something different."
To add to the enrichment, SOMOS, the Commanders' employee resource group for Latino/a/x employees and allies, supported "Taste Around Latin America" with their own thoughtful touches. They wrote and printed out descriptions to place near the different foods so diners could learn as they served themselves.
SOMOS members then fostered a dynamic conversation while eating lunch about identity and being Latino in the NFL. They shared about how their background influences their approach to their work, creating a legacy and inspiring others. One of the most salient messages from the tables touched on influencing the future by stepping proudly into the space and doing good work – whether that's in the kitchen, on the phones with fans or out in the community.
"I always think of the little kids that come to our games and they're able to see these huge Hispanic figures or even just us who work in this space … They can see themselves in these spaces," Premium Client Service Manager Lucia Mitnik said. "We're impacting beyond just maybe some fans, we're impacting the next generation of Commanders, and they just know, 'Hey, I could probably be in the business side. I can be on the football side because all of us are represented here, working in those spaces.'"
