Culinary Passport
[ photos by Shane Wynn and courtesy of Joel Orellana ]
Growing up with a Mexican mother and Salvadoran father, Joel Orellana enjoyed staples of those cuisines — like chile rellenos and pupusas — for everyday dinners. Living in Miami influenced their cooking by exposing them to Puerto Rican, Cuban, Haitian and Jamaican food, and Houston, where they later moved, introduced them to Tex-Mex. The family took these Latin culinary influences with them when relocating to Akron’s North Hill neighborhood in 2005. Last month, Orellana channeled those flavors into La Cocina Orellana, a homestyle Salvadoran and Mexican kitchen he ran as a guest chef at the new NoHi Pop-up restaurant in North Hill.
“It’s almost like inviting people into our house,” says Orellana, a culinary instructor at Stark State College who now lives in Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood. “I’d like to pay homage to my Latin roots in America.”
Many people with rich cultural backgrounds from across the U.S. and countries like Bhutan and Afghanistan live in and around North Hill, but the restaurants don’t fully reflect that diversity. So the North Akron Community Development Corporation launched NoHi in historic Temple Square in late August. Each week, NoHi showcases international cuisine from a different food entrepreneur.
NoHi is also a test kitchen, allowing food entrepreneurs to try concepts with less risk, since the corporation takes care of the overhead for rent of the prep kitchen, food costs and delivery. They often buy ingredients locally — and have spent a staggering $12,000-plus at the area’s 12 ethnic markets. Entrepreneurs learn how to run a kitchen by planning a menu and prepping food alongside established chefs, including Orellana, Jenuine Cuisines chef Jennifer Tidwell and Lock 15 Brewing Co. sous chef Jessica Starr. They encourage food entrepreneurs to serve dishes that are true to their heritage.
“Because of what they see available, they shy away from doing traditional dishes,” says corporation operating director Justin Chenault. “Sometimes, we have to convince them like, Make it as authentic as possible — that’s what people come to see.”
While dishes are often unfamiliar to Akronites, many have found new favorites like a Congo native’s luwombo, marinated goat meat and veggies stuffed in banana leaves or faloodeh, chilled wheat noodles with pistachios and frozen cherry syrup, by an Iran native who presented Persian cuisine two times.
Twice Orellana assisted a team led by Northeast Ohio Medical University chef Xavier Smith for a low country pop-up called Common Bread, in which he incorporated Latin twists by putting salsa verde on jambalaya and mixing yucca into braised pork and dirty rice balls. But La Cocina Orellana was his chance to execute his own concept from ideas to final dishes. His sister helped in the kitchen, and all the menu items were family staples, including battered chile rellenos and chicken mole poblano over rice. He sold out of the fried plantains sourced from Morris’ International Market near NoHi and potato-and-onion empanadas. Another hit was the pupusas stuffed with chicharron pork from the Farmer’s Rail, beans or cheese.
“We wanted to showcase it as close to how we would have it for Sunday dinners,” says Orellana, who hopes to repeat the concept. “I got some Salvadoran food fans now.”
The demand has been overwhelming: NoHi has sold over 4,400 items and food entrepreneurs were paid over $22,000 in profits to date. Last month, the corporation opened NoTique, a North Hill shop featuring goods made by international artisans living locally. It’s all part of a larger cultural exchange, and Akronites’ embrace of NoHi means a lot to food entrepreneurs.
“Sometimes they feel excluded because they don’t see their heritage reflected. Once they see them respond, they’re surprised,” Chenault says. “To see your history incorporated in your community, that’s a big deal. Now they feel worth.”