To say Jose Guerrero misses the sweet and savoury foods of Colombia is an understatement.
Guerrero has opened the Embassy Latino Market in Sudbury on the Kingsway near Dairy Queen, to ensure all his South American friends can indulge in their favourites.
He moved to Sudbury two years ago after spending four years in Southern Ontario.
“In southern Ontario, the Latin communities are larger in size and native foods and snacks are more readily available and shipped, but that is something Sudbury lacked when I arrived,” Guerrero said.
He wanted to ensure the community had access to Costa Rican and Peruvian sauces, fresh cheese and tortillas, dried chili peppers from Mexico and sweets from the regions.
Originally from Bucaramanga, a large, mountainous city, Guerrero pined for sweet treats the most. In fact, his desire for sweet foods from home is why the Latino Market was created.
“Chocolate at home has a distinct taste that is very different in North America,” Guerrero said. “Sweets like Chocorama and chocolate mini cakes make me think of home.
“One lady came in and ordered a Colombian drink and started to weep because she missed the flavour and taste.”
Right now, the market does not have full licensing to cook foods on site, but can heat up frozen items for serving.
Almojábana, a traditional Colombian cheese bread, is often eaten at the tables in the market as well as empanaditas, a Mexican pastry that contains meat and cinnamon spice.
South American-style cookies are also a hot commodity. The Latino Market has Principe, a brand from Mexico, that looks like an Oreo-style cookie. Canelitas are flat cinnamon cookies that hail from Mexico as well.
Morochas, made by Nestle, is a very popular Peruvian cookie. Ducales is also a popular biscuit from Colombia.
Customers can pair their biscuits with coffees from Brazil or the Dominican Republic, as well as hot chocolate from Mexico.
But the market offers so much more than Guerrerro’s love for chocolate sweets.
Pan corn meal from Colombia and Venezuela is available. For those who love savoury snacks, the market offers a full variety of potato chips from Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and Colombia.
Guerrero would love to bring in items from Chile, but says they are hard to acquire.
The market also has guacamole salsas, beans and refried beans from varying countries. Other hot commodities are the sauces of Peru and Costa Rica, tapioca from Brazil and a huge selection of dried chilis from Mexico.
And those missing the fruits of South America can buy smoothie packets featuring mango and passion fruit, and even soursop packages that are native to the area and taste like a strawberries, apple and citrus fruit blend.
The Embassy Latino Market, 1258 The Kingsway, is open Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 9:30 to 4 p.m.
You can also find The Embassy Latino Market on Facebook and Instagram.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.