Our Juntos Fund initiative started when we set out to find Latino/Latina/Latiné food businesses creating positive change in their communities. We're honored to announce the recipient of the Siete Juntos Fund: CocoAndré Chocolatier y Horchatería!
Within our family, each of us have our own stories that come to mind when thinking about what it means to be Mexican-American. These experiences—of emotions, smells, tastes, sights, and sounds—are nostalgic to us, and embody what it means to “live the hyphen.”Living the hyphen is an important part of who we are not only as individuals or as a family, but on a larger scale, as a part of the Mexican-American community. Following the previous questions we’ve asked the Garzas about their hyphen, we’ve reached the final question: what does their Mexican-American hyphen sound like?
The foods and occasions that the Garzas reflect on in their answers paint a picture of the way (and why) we gather together as a company, years later. They are the same foods that we enjoy on Friday Lunches, summer cookouts, and holiday parties. Their smells bring us to fond memories of living our hyphen, and our nostalgia surrounding them is at the core of the foods we make, and the experience we hope to recreate at your table.
For some, it looked like a family relic of La Virgen de Guadalupe. For others, it looks like the traditions of gathering around spaghetti on Christmas, and regularly, without occasion. To each Garza, however, our hyphen is both literal and symbolic of connection.
The Garza’s further explain their Mexican-American hyphen through one of our familia’s favorite topics: food. Potato chips from convenience stores, doused in hot sauce and lime juice, tangy and icy paletas in the summer, and frijolizzas on weeknights with family. In the words of our Grandma Campos, our Mexican-American hyphen tastes like “a little bit of this, and a little bit of that.”
In a word, we might offer that our Mexican-American hyphen feels like “perspective.” Understanding what albondigas aren’t by knowing what meatballs are; having a firm foot in two seemingly distinct cultures; cooking with ‘a little bit this and a bit little of that;’ growing up in Laredo and living in Austin.
Cinco con Siete is a season for gathering, a celebration of our family's culture, and an occasion for coming together with friends, neighbors, and community.
When our co-founder and sister, Veronica, said she and our Culinary Innovation Team were going to make a queso potato chip, we said, “Y’all are crazy! Everyone knows you can dip a chip into queso, but a Kettle Cooked Queso Potato Chip?!” Sure enough, not only did they pull off a deliciously flavorful mouthful with every chip, but, in true form, they also made them gluten free, non gmo, and yes—even dairy free, too.
We, Siete, are a Mexican-American food company that lives—what we call—“the hyphen.” The hyphen is a foundational, symbolic way of describing our culture as not being totally one thing or the other. In other words: it’s the blend of our authentic experience of both cultures, Mexican and American, into a unique identity that we identify with more than either culture on its own. Think: tacosand pizza, telenovelasand Friends, Laredoand Austin.
Our Co-Founders, Vero & Miguel, recently sat down (aka hopped on Zoom from their living rooms!) with our friend Guy Raz to tell him the story of Siete.
Our family believes good things come in small batches. Kind of like we believe in the tooth fairy. But, unlike our failed attempts to catch her in the act, we’re much more confident in our ability to make a compelling case for small batches. For those who like to see, smell, feel, and (especially) taste it before they believe it, we’re prepared to delight your socks off with this month’s Siete Small Batch: Kettle Cooked Chile Lime Potato Chips!
At Siete, our product innovation stems, in part, from solving problems. Our latest problem to solve? Having something nostalgic, delicious, and fun to eat when we want something sweet. Enter our latest creations—not one, not two, but THREE new: GRAIN FREE MEXICAN COOKIES!
Inspired by the papitas found in mercados—that we drenched in limón and hot sauce—and popular brand-bagged potato chips in corner stores, we’ve cooked up another product that traverses both cultures (and childhood snack-time nostalgia): Kettle Cooked Potato Chips!
Remember when you told us that you dream of being able to do the splits in the kitchen? Wait—what? That’s not what you said? You said that you dream of the day when you havemore flexibility when it comes to cooking? Oh. That makes more sense...Well, in that case, we’ve got great news for you! Introducing our Chorizo Skillet Cooking Spice and Carnitas Slow Cooker Spice!
When was the last time you had a churro? Follow up question: when was the last time you ate a delicious grain free, gluten free, vegan churro? The way we see it, that time has come. Now introducing our Grain Free Churro Strips!
