Becoming Loisaida: Spanish Caribbean Food & Family on the Lower East Side

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Join Essex Market and the Tenement Museum for a celebration through food of the past and present of the Lower East Side’s Spanish Caribbean communities. The Tenement Museum will share the story of Ramonita Rivera Saez and her children, who migrated from Puerto Rico to the Lower East Side in the 1950s, as the neighborhood became home to Spanish-speaking communities. You’ll get a close-up look at her kitchen, learn about Puerto Rican dishes she cooked, and explore the importance of Loisaida in the neighborhood’s history.

From there we’ll go live to the historic Essex Market where we’ll meet Sobeida De La Cruz, owner of Viva Fruits & Vegetables. The De La Cruz family migrated from the Dominican Republic during the same wave of immigration in the 1950s, and has owned produce markets on the Lower East Side for over 20 years. Sobeida will share her family’s experience living and working in a rapidly changing neighborhood, while simultaneously demonstrating how to make a traditional Caribeño dish — arroz con gandules — of which many Caribbean cultures have their own versions and find their ingredients at the De La Cruz’s market stall. 

When: May 25, 2021, 6:00 – 7:00 pm ET

Where: Zoom – register HERE