Eduardo “Lalo” García: A Migrant’s Memory
Chef Eduardo “Lalo” García opened Máximo Bistrot to host a crucial conversation: how cooking can become a sanctuary and integration tool for migrants, refugees, and returnees.
In 2011, after the tsunami devastated Japan, the government distributed gas stoves in shelters. The logic was clear: before rebuilding buildings, one had to rebuild daily life, and nothing did it better than cooking as a family. This image was revisited in the roundtable “Recetas para pertenecer” at Máximo Bistrot, where Chef Eduardo “Lalo” García turned his place into a setting for a distinct conversation. Here, migration and displacement were not measured in numbers but in stories, and gastronomy was shown for what it is: a sanctuary, memory, and belonging.
Lalo recalled, “I was nine the first time I crossed the border.” He grew up in the United States, worked in the fields, and experienced precarity and discrimination. He was deported and, back in Mexico, walked for months searching for work in hotels and restaurants that never hired him.
His story revealed the face of thousands of farm families displaced by a lack of opportunities and a poisoned field. “Investing one and a half million in corn and recovering only 800,000 didn’t make sense. That’s why everyone left. My father died of cancer from agrochemicals, and I lost my hair from the chemicals they sprayed,” he confessed.
Voices Expanding the Conversation
The roundtable was moderated by journalist Javier Risco, who opened the dialogue with a powerful idea: discussing migration through cooking has another flavor, one that calls for consciousness and action.
Claudia Masferrer, an El Colegio de Mexico researcher, emphasized that integration is not automatic: “It’s a two-way process requiring commitment from those who arrive and the society that receives them,” and urged generating policies ensuring housing, employment, healthcare, and education.
Meanwhile, Miguel Ramírez Sandi, Incidencia Política Coordinator at Save the Children Mexico, reminded us that migrant girls and boys “are not responsible for the contexts forcing them to displace. Cooking can become a space of care, belonging, and resilience,” he said.
Alejandra Carrillo Soubic, head of the ACNUR office in Mexico City, stressed that Mexico is no longer just a transit country but a destination for thousands of refugees: “Gastronomy is a space of encounter and collective creation. It can be the way for refugees to rebuild their lives here.”
Kitchens that Save and Transform
The table was filled with examples where cooking not only nourishes but also saves.
For instance, an albergue in Mexico City was mentioned where a teenage refugee turned his story of violence into bread. His “shells,” baked with discipline and memory, are now among the city’s best-regarded bread. His bakery workshop transformed into a sanctuary where other young people and women share their stories and find collective strength.
The families of refugees from Gaza who dream of opening a café in Mexico were also highlighted. Their goal isn’t just to sell coffee but to show that their land is not reduced to war, but holds flavors, traditions, and hospitality.
The consensus was unanimous: gastronomy plays a crucial role in integration. From small restaurants to large groups, the industry can create employment and dignity spaces for migrants and refugees.
Key Questions and Answers
- Q: How does cooking help migrants and refugees? A: Cooking can open doors, alleviate dispossession, and restore dignity.
- Q: What role does the restaurant industry play in this integration? A: If the restaurant industry organizes even once a year to support migrant children, the impact would be enormous.
- Q: What policies are needed for successful integration? A: Policies ensuring housing, employment, healthcare, and education are essential.
- Q: How can gastronomy foster a sense of belonging for refugees? A: Gastronomy can be a space of care, belonging, and resilience for refugees.
