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Puerto Rican Cooking And The American South Mix In 'Coconuts And Collards'
Author Von Diaz's cookbook Coconuts and Collards offers a vegetable-forward take on foods she learned to cook from her Puerto Rican grandmother and on the fly in her family's kitchen near Atlanta.
When Von Diaz was growing up, her mother sent her away from her home outside Atlanta to spend summers in Puerto Rico. Diaz was born on the island in Rio Piedras, but she found the trips back disorienting. She didn't speak Spanish well. She lay awake at night, pestered by mosquitoes and wilting heat. In her grandmother's kitchen, she found relief in grilled cheese loaded with ground beef picadillo, aromatic olive oil infused with garlic and oregano, and fried cinnamon donuts.
Back in Georgia, Diaz was tasked with cooking for her younger sister and their cash-strapped single mom. She says her grandmother inspired her to add
