NewsTaco

By Ken Thorbourne, The Jersey Journal

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy’s newly expanded version of how he came to be photographed naked on his stoop shortly before the November 2004 special election insults Hispanics, the mayor’s political opponents say.

When the incident initially occurred, Healy told The New York Times that he had been drinking and couldn’t remember how he ended up on his stoop naked. A spokeswoman for the mayor told The Jersey Journal at the time that Healy heard a commotion outside, went to investigate, and someone snapped a photo.

But in a Tom Moran column that ran in Sunday’s Star-Ledger, Healy says he was lured outside by “three Hispanic girls, young kids” who were banging on trash cans.

Click HERE or on the picture to read the full story.

Read more related stories here:

Opinion: Seriously? Jersey City mayor blames “Hispanic girls” for his nude photo, NBCLatino

Mayor Jerramiah Healy Blames Nude Photo On Hispanic Girls, Angering Latino Community, Huffington Post

[Photo courtesy mayorhealy.com]

By Fox News Latino

His son says his father will “do something good with the money.” And they will not shutter the Passaic, N.J. bodega the Quezada family has run for years. They may even open another store.

“It’s a blessing,” Casiano Quezada said of his father, Pedro, winning the $338 million Powerball jackpot. “It’s something that happened and you just have to take it as it is.”

Click onpicture to read full story.

[Photo courtesy New Jersey Lotto Facebook page]

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2013/03/26/powerball-winner-future-millionaire-pedro-quezada-could-have-rocky-road-ahead/#ixzz2OgM4F2YG

By Juan Cartagena, LIN@R

America knows Gov. Chris Christie by now. They heard his name in the swirl of presidential hopefuls before the primaries got serious. They saw him stumping for Mitt Romney. They revel or wince at his persona. They admire him for putting his state first when the devastation of Hurricane Sandy required bipartisan leadership.

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

As usually happens, news stories about natural disasters and their aftermath in the U.S. miss the devastating effect that storms and earthquakes and such have on the communities of undocumented workers. There is no blame to be doled, it’s not so much a matter of fault as it is a consequence of circumstances: the undocumented live in the shadows and natural disasters pushes them further into the dark corners.

This past weekend, though, the Washington Post printed an Associated Press story about Mexican immigrants in New York and New Jersey and their lives in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The top layer of the story exposed the basic problem;

Some of those who need help to get temporary housing and food are afraid to come forward because they risk deportation. And many have returned to damaged, powerless, moldy homes because they have no other place to stay.

The numbers are staggering. According tot he Census there are 2.3 million Latinos in the New York ?city area; and according to local non-profits at least 20,000 Mexicans were “hard-hit” by the storm in Staten Island alone.

The Mexican government has visited the area, looking for immigrants in the shadows, pointing them to places where they can find assistance - the problem being that in times of crisis officials wear military uniforms and immigrants will be afraid of them.

More than 735 people have signed up to receive economic help from the government of President Felipe Calderon, but there is only $180,000 so far to distribute, said the Mexican consul in New York, Carlos Sada. As of this week, 66 checks had been written to victims of the hurricane, totaling $110,000.

To compound matters, immigration officials have been conducting “limited street enforcement operations” in the area.

The agency will be “resuming normal enforcement activity, with continued emphasis on at-large criminal aliens, in the near future,” an ICE statement to The Associated Press said.

And to add another layer of problems for the immigrant workers, they mostly get paid in cash for daily labor so every day they go without work is a day they don’t get paid. If any good will come from the storm it’s that there will be more work now for immigrants in the clean up effort.

Groups that are part of the National Day Labor Organizing Network have also brought day laborers to do volunteer cleanup activities on weekends. El Centro del Inmigrante is trying to become a hiring center for day laborers, making sure that they work in safe and secure conditions.

[Photo by Paul Soulellis]

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

This story comes from the New Jersey Star-Ledger, and it caught my attention for several reasons: first because this is still happening in our country and second because it points out the obstacles that many U.S. Latino students have to overcome in order to  succeed in places that all other American students take for granted.

The student in question has not been named, she is identified only by the initials A.Z. This is what we know, accordint to the Star-Ledger: she

was born in New York City in 1994 and moved to New Jersey in 1997 with her mother, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. Her father is not involved in her life.

After graduating from high school, A.Z., who applied for and met all the requirements for the financial assistance, was denied the tuition aid nonetheless.

In court papers, the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority contended A.Z. was not eligible because her parents were not citizens, and therefore she did not meet the residency requirements.

The decision to deny the grant is based on a subjective reading of a law. New Jersey students are eligible to receive aid if they’ve been residents of the state for one year. A.Z. fulfills that requirement. But, and this is the technicality where the New Jersey officials hung their hats, A.Z. isn’t really a resident because her parents are not citizens.

So the ACLU took the case to court, and it made it’s way to the court of appeals. It turns out that the state of New Jersey has been denying grants to the children of the undocumented since 2005.

The three appellate judges found that after years of adhering to laws governing tuition aid grants, the state authority in 2005 inappropriately began linking students’ residency to their parents’ immigration status.

“In 2005, the agency reversed course without any substantive explanation — instead, inaccurately representing that this significant change was merely a clarification,” Judge Mitchell Ostrer wrote in the 19-page decision on behalf of the three-member panel, which included Judges Francine Axelrad and Paulette Sapp-Peterson.

It’s A.Z., and not her mother, who will receive the aid, so the fact that the parents are undocumented has nothing to do with the grant. But this has been going on since 2005…

“There are hundreds, if not thousands, of kids who are unlawfully denied this assistance every year,” he said. “This is a very un-American concept, to say ‘you’ve done everything you’re supposed to do but we don’t like what your parents did so we’ll punish you.’”

[Photo by hhsara]

PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On the eve of the Republican primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota, the Hispanic Leadership Network released its “Top Facts about Hispanics.” Below are some interesting facts about Hispanics in tomorrow’s primaries.

Top Facts about Hispanics in California

California’s Hispanic population is 14,013,719, or approximately 38% of the state’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

From 2000 to 2010, California’s Hispanic population grew by an estimated 28% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

There are 5,386,000 Hispanic eligible voters in California, the largest Hispanic eligible voter population nationally, which constitute 24% of all eligible voters in the state (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

Among the Hispanic population in California, 62% are native-born while 38% are foreign-born (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

The median age for Hispanics in California is 27, whereas the median age of Non-Hispanic Whites is 44 (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

For more facts visit: http://hispanicleadershipnetwork.org/2012/06/top-10-facts-about-hispanics-in-california/

Top Facts about Hispanics in New Mexico

New Mexico’s Hispanic population is 953,403, or approximately 46% of the state’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

From 2000 to 2010, New Mexico’s Hispanic population grew by an estimated 25% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

There are 525,000 Hispanic eligible voters in New Mexico, which constitute 38% of all eligible voters in the state (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

Almost six-in-ten (59%) of Hispanics in New Mexico are eligible to vote, ranking New Mexico first nationally in the share of the Hispanic population that is eligible to vote (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

Among the Hispanic population in New Mexico, 83% are native-born while 17% are foreign-born (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

For more facts visit: http://hispanicleadershipnetwork.org/2012/06/top-10-facts-about-hispanics-in-new-mexico/

Top Facts about Hispanics in Montana

Montana’s Hispanic population is 28,565, or approximately 3% of the state’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

From 2000 to 2010, Montana’s Hispanic population grew by an estimated 58% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

There are 15,000 Hispanic eligible voters in Montana, which constitute 2% of all eligible voters in the state (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

Among the Hispanic population in Montana, 94% are native-born while 6% are foreign-born (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

The median age for Hispanics in Montana is 24, whereas the median age of Non-Hispanic Whites is 42 (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

For more facts visit: http://hispanicleadershipnetwork.org/2012/06/2910/

Top Facts about Hispanics in New Jersey

New Jersey’s Hispanic population is 1,555,144, or approximately 18% of the state’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

From 2000 to 2010, New Jersey’s Hispanic population grew by an estimated 39% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

There are 645,000 Hispanic eligible voters in New Jersey, the seventh-largest Hispanic eligible voter population nationwide, which constitute 11% of all eligible voters in the state (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

Among the Hispanic population in New Jersey, 55% are native-born while 45% are foreign-born (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

The median age for Hispanics in New Jersey is 30, whereas the median age of Non-Hispanic Whites is 44 (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

For more facts visit: http://hispanicleadershipnetwork.org/2012/06/top-10-facts-about-hispanics-in-new-jersey/

Top Facts about Hispanics in South Dakota

South Dakota’s Hispanic population is 22,119, or approximately 3% of the state’s total population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

From 2000 to 2010, South Dakota’s Hispanic population grew by an astounding 103% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

There are 9,000 Hispanic eligible voters in South Dakota, which constitute 1% of all eligible voters in the state (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

Among the Hispanic population in South Dakota, 77% are native-born while 23% are foreign-born (Pew Hispanic Center, 2010).

The median age for Hispanics in In South Dakota is 22, whereas the median age of Non-Hispanic Whites is 40 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).

For more facts visit: http://hispanicleadershipnetwork.org/2012/06/top-10-facts-about-hispanics-in-south-dakota/

To book an interview with HLN Executive Director Jennifer S. Korn, please contact Lisette Garcia at (202) 370-3454 or via e-mail at lgarcia@americanactionnetwork.org.

ABOUT JENNIFER S. KORNJennifer S. Korn is Executive Director of the Hispanic Leadership Network. Ms. Korn has 18 years of experience as a conservative strategist. Previously, Ms. Korn served in the George W. Bush Administration as Director of Hispanic and Women’s Affairs in the White House, as well as Senior Advisor to the Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to her public service, Ms. Korn was National Hispanic Director and Southwest Coalitions Director on President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign. As such, she developed and supervised the implementation of the strategy that resulted in President Bush receiving 44% of the Hispanic vote. Ms. Korn was born in East Los Angeles and is the first in her family to attend college. She is a military spouse.

ABOUT HLNThe Hispanic Leadership Network is an advocacy action group focused on engaging the Hispanic community on center-right policies based on the principles of freedom, limited government and individual empowerment. HLN serves as a home for center-right Hispanic advocates across the country whose goal is to restore opportunity and prosperity in America.

For more information about HLN, visit our website at http://hispanicleadershipnetwork.org/ , visit our page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HispanicLeadershipNetwork or follow us on Twitter @HispanicLN.

SOURCE Hispanic Leadership Network

[Photo By simonlyall]

By Marc Morial, OtherWords.org

Many prominent conservative politicians are making outrageous statements targeted at minority citizens this campaign season. They’re saying spurious things, like implying that African Americans prefer food stamps over paychecks, or that black people use “other people’s money” to get ahead.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, may have topped them all. “People would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South,” he recently declared.

That statement, made in the context of his proposal that New Jersey settle the same-sex marriage issue in a referendum this November, insults the generations of men and women who put their lives on the line for equal rights. It glosses over the fact that the sole purpose of any civil rights struggle is to gain rights for minority citizens that the majority has historically and consistently denied.

During the heyday of lynching, poll taxes, and “separate but equal” schools, any referendum on voting rights and civil rights for African Americans would have excluded many of the very people seeking those rights. It was only because the majority had first enslaved and later discriminated against African Americans that it became necessary for people of conscience to organize in protest against such treatment.

“No minority should have their rights subject to the passions and sentiments of the majority,” Newark Mayor Cory Booker has said. “This is the fundamental bedrock of what our nation stands for.”

Christie, who later apologized and said he “wasn’t clear enough,” should remember that in the 18th century, it wasn’t a referendum but a revolution that formed the United States of America. In the 19th century, it wasn’t a referendum but a civil war that ended slavery and unified our nation. And in the 20th century, it was not a referendum but a series of non-violent civil rights struggles that defeated Jim Crow and secured voting rights for women, African Americans, and other disenfranchised minorities.

Sheila Oliver, New Jersey’s first African-American woman Assembly Speaker, correctly saw Christie’s proposal to submit same-sex marriage rights to the whims of voters as shirking responsibility. “The major issues of our time, such as women’s suffrage and civil rights, were rightly decided legislatively,” the Democrat said. “We are elected by the people of New Jersey to protect civil rights. We do not pass on such tough decisions.”

Oliver also took issue with Christie’s characterization of the civil rights struggle. “Governor, people were fighting and dying in the streets of the South because the majority refused to grant minorities equal rights by any method,” she said. “It took legislative action to bring justice to all Americans, just as legislative action is the right way to bring marriage equality to all New Jerseyans.”

It’s almost unthinkable that a sitting governor would either be so uninformed or so callous to suggest that civil rights movements haven’t played a necessary and positive role in ensuring that the promise of freedom, equality, and democracy is made real for every citizen. Christie owes the people of New Jersey and all Americans a clear explanation.

Marc Morial is the president and CEO of the National Urban League and the former mayor of New Orleans. 

[Photo By Hoboken Condos]

I now realize how naïve my left-sided, LA politics have made me. They do not mean much outside of California, particularly when it comes to gay marriage. I learned this the hard way on a recent trip to the far reaches of New Jersey, where this especially rang true.

My friend and I were visiting her sister in Newark and we both had allowed time to get the better of us. It was 1 a.m. and we were standing around at the Newark station trying to find an entrance. Apparently the station closes up most of its doors after midnight in order to get everyone to enter through a more centralized location.

We were soon joined by a frightened young man. He wore summer clothes and spoke with an effeminate voice that was complimented with head and wrist shakes. He wanted to stay close to us because he claimed we were the only normal-looking people still left in the station. He told us he was in Newark visiting his boyfriend, but could not stay in his apartment because his boyfriend’s brother had shown up unexpectedly.

We reached what we thought was the centralized location. There was a young police officer chatting up even younger scantily-dressed women. The girls took deep puffs of their cigarettes and exhaled a sense of desperation that I could feel in my bones.

My friend and I argued over who should ask the police officer to confirm the location of the centralized entrance. My friend thought that the police officer would not take her seriously enough while I knew not to ask because nothing good can come from interrupting someone trying to get their romantic overtures on. This goes doubly when the person attempting to find convenient romance is holding a gun. The young man that was traveling with us grew tired of our bickering and decided to take the initiative to inquire. That did not go well. It went something like this:

“Excuse me… Excuse me, officer…”

“What did you just say?”

“Um nothing, I said excuse me.”

“No, no! You said something!”

“I just wanted to know…”

“Well boy, I’m going to show you… how you done messed up.”

My friend grabbed on to my forearm and guided me into the train station. According to the way it was explained to me, it wasn’t about what the young man said, it was about the way he said it. He would have avoided himself the headache if he would have simply “butched-up” his voice. Apparently this is an overreaction to neighboring New York’s reaction to allow same sex marriage.

The weird thing is that I never thought I would miss Los Angeles as much as I did. I even missed the Los Angeles Police Department. I do not remember hearing them terrorizing many people after neighboring states repealed laws.

I do not think that I will be returning to Plainfield, New Jersey anytime soon. I felt the same hopeless way I feel when I cross the border in Tijuana and there is someone being held up by immigration officials. I am too soft to exist out there. I can keep my head in the sand, but I do not know for how long.

Follow Oscar Barajas on Twitter @Oscarcoatl

[Photo By Ryan Vaarsi]

Screeners for the Transportation Security Administration, TSA, spent about a year from 2008 to 2009 routinely profiling “Hispanic male passengers, especially Mexicans and Dominicans, to see if they had proper visas or passport stamps.” It was so bad that the TSA officials became known by their co-workers as the “Mexican hunters.” There’s more, The Daily mail reported:

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers told investigators that screeners routinely singled out Hispanic men for referral to law enforcement under trumped up suspicions, in an orchestrated scheme to pump up numbers.

The report claims a group of TSA screeners called behaviour detection officers, or BDOs, were supposed to look for passengers who appeared nervous or suspicious…

However, the report alleges that from early 2008 to late 2009, BDOs routinely looked for Hispanic male passengers, especially Mexicans and Dominicans, to see if they had proper visas or passport stamps.

The profiled passengers were “subjected to bag searches, pat downs, questioning and referrals to immigration with bogus behaviours invented by the screeners to cover up the real reason the passengers were singled out.”

I remember it was 2002 and I was boarding a plane from Chicago and the “random” screenings managed to pull in a group of three — all three — young Latino men for search at once. I would venture to say this wasn’t just going on in Newark, but everywhere else, too.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Photo By Yuichi Kosio]

Looking at the most recent Census data allows us to obtain a clearer picture of how, precisely, Latinos are growing as a population in this country. However, looking at this data in graphic form can often be much more insightful. Below is a chart I compiled from Census data and an accompanying map.

The data from the Census are compiled in a chart below:

*Note: Over half of the U.S. Latino population lives within California, Texas and Florida.

Joseph P. A. Villescas, Ph.D. is an independent consultant, writer and instructor who conducts extensive investigations on Latino and other multidimensional populations that explore trends in their educational development, media consumption, internet usage, voting behaviors, racial categorization, organizational capacities and readiness for future leadership roles in community settings. He is also the founder and owner of Villescas Research, Media & Instruction, LLC.

[Image By News Taco]

New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez sat down with News Taco this week to talk about a few key issues pertaining to Latinos. He spoke to us about the importance of Latino voter participation — from the moment we’re born to the moment we die, the government is a part of our lives, he said, which is why it’s important to be involved in that government.

Menendez also spoke about the potential power of Latino voters in the upcoming 2012 election, and how redistricting battles taking place across the country — including his native New Jersey — would impact the next 10 years of our collective lives. Check out the video below and let us know what you think.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD

[Photo and Video By News Taco]

A New Jersey man who sent threatening emails to Latino organizations from anonymous email accounts received a sentence of 50 months in prison and a fine of $10,000. We wrote about the case previously and the following is a LULAC press release:

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced April 18 that Vincent Johnson of Brick, N.J., was sentenced to 50 months in prison and three years supervised release for sending a series of threatening email communications to employees of five civil rights organizations that work to improve opportunities for, and challenge discrimination against, Latinos in the United States. Johnson was also ordered to pay a fine of $10,000.

Johnson, 61, who went by the internet pseudonym “Devilfish,” pleaded guilty on Oct. 20, 2010, to 10 counts related to threatening conduct towards the victims, who included employees of the LatinoJustice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund; the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; the National Council of La Raza; the League of United Latin American Citizens; and the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders.

Johnson admitted that between November 2006 and February 2009, he emailed numerous threats to the victims to prevent them from aiding and encouraging Latinos to participate, without discrimination, in various protected activities, such as accessing the court system, voting, attending public schools, and applying for employment. Johnson admitted that his threats were motivated by race and national origin.

Examples of Johnson’s threatening language include: “Do you have a last will and testament? If not, better get one real soon.”; “If the idiots in the organizations which this e-mail is being copied to can’t fathom the serious nature of their actions, then they will be on the hit list just like any illegal alien…actually, they are already on the list”; “I am giving you fair warning that your presence and position is being tracked…you are dead meat…along with anyone else in your organization”; “So be warned or we may find you in the obits”; “Get into the American groove or we will destroy your sorry [expletive]”; “My preference would be to buy more ammunition to deal with the growing chaos created by the pro-illegal alien groups. RIP [names of the victims] who are not the friends of our democracy.”; “After reading the article below can you give me simply one good reason why someone should not put a bullet between your eyes for your actions that are promoting lawlessness in this country?”; and “[Y]ou are putting yourself and your staff at great risk . . . and by virtue of the network that I operate under information about your malevolent ways is broadly disseminated. . . And you could very well find yourself belly up 6 feet under.” Throughout his emails, Johnson also made offensive and disparaging remarks about Latinos, including comments such as, “[t]here can be absolutely no argument against the fact that Mexicans are scum as all they know how to do is [expletive] and kill.”

“The defendant engaged in a hate-fueled campaign of fear to intimidate and terrorize the victims,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “Racially-charged threats of violence have no place in a civilized society, and the Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute those who engage in such reprehensible conduct.”

“Johnson admitted that he sent threatening emails to individuals and groups because of who they are and what they believe,” said Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. “Violence or threats of violence based on race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual orientation are an intolerable violation of our most basic civil rights. Hiding behind the perceived anonymity of a computer screen to make hateful threats will provide no protection from prosecution.”

“Vincent Johnson’s intent was crystal clear: he wanted to strike fear in the hearts of Latino and Hispanic activists in hopes of dissuading their activity,” said Michael B. Ward, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Newark Field Office. “Such conduct was, and will always, be met with swift response by the FBI. There is zero tolerance for this type of criminal activity impacting people’s civil rights.”

The case was investigated by the Washington, D.C., and Newark, N.J., field offices of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Benjamin J. Hawk of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Eicher of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

[Photo By Daquella manera]

Fidel Castro will not be be a part of Cuba’s Communist Central Committee.

A man who sent threatening emails to Latino activists is headed to jail in New Jersey.

President Barack Obama is set to tackle immigration reform in a bipartisan meeting today at the White House.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the “birther” bill that would have required presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before being placed on that state’s ballot.

Alzheimer’s disease starts much earlier than previously thought, according to a new study; it begins with changes in the brain and eventually progresses to dementia.

[Photo By IISG]

[Editor's Note: Author Oscar Barajas works in Los Angeles and will be writing dispatches for us from East LA.]

I have grown up and spent most of my life in the West Coast — so there was a bit of a culture shock when I went out to New Jersey a year ago. I visited one of my dearest friends, Jackie, who lives out in North Plainfield. Although I was there to visit her, this was also a sociological experiment. For example, in Los Angeles midnight is a warning that last call is just around the corner while in the East Coast, midnight merely means that you should start getting ready to go out. Jackie took me into her home and showed me the time of my life — even though I almost ruined dinner with one of my culture shock moments.

The moment was beautiful. I was sitting across one of the most beautiful women in the world — a woman so stunning the adjectives needed to describe her have not been entered into any modern lexicon. She was preparing dinner and she was telling me about herself and her upbringing. She spoke of being of Cuban, Colombian and French descent as she moved gracefully along her own kitchen. Her big, brown eyes seem to be dancing with the current state of beds of rice that were on the stove. Ethnically, I was not as “exciting” or “exotic” as she was.

As far back as I can remember — I have always been Mexican. I can’t speak of about mestizo conquests or an Aztec upbringing. I don’t even know how I got my last name. For all I know my great-great-great grandfather could have won it at a church carnival. All I know is that there is an airport in Spain I share my surname with. For all I know a pilot could have pillaged and plundered his way across my father’s hometown leaving the horrific Barajas scar under his Godzilla-like sexually deviant rampage.

Jackie garnished the fish with pepper as she licked her fingers and predicted a delicious dinner. She added olives as they danced in a reddish orange sauce. The aroma filled the kitchen. I was more than impressed because my palette is less than sophisticated. I add a little Mrs. Dash to my Top Ramen once in a while, and that is as far as I go. This wondrous gourmet was adding things like rosemary and telling me the differences between sea salt and regular salt, and how they gave cooking distinct flavors. I nodded stupidly as if I understood. Truth be told, I still do not.

She placed a prepared plate in front of me, as she sat with her own. She looked at me for my first impression. It was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted — and yet there was something missing. The missing ingredient was beyond salt or pepper. I looked around for a bottle of Tapatío, but there was none handy. She handed me a napkin thinking that was what I was looking for, but I merely tucked it into my pants.

I finally broke down and asked her for some Tapatío.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last half decade, Tapatío is a popular orange-colored hot sauce that makes everything edible – including your aunt’s worst cooking. It is orange, and I don’t trust the ingredients listed on the label, because I secretly believe that the company that makes it found a way to put God’s tears into every bottle. It simply makes everything more delicious. I would put it on dirt and eat it if I sure no one was looking.

Alas, though, my exotic and sophisticated companion had never heard of Tapatío, and looked at me as if I had lost whatever was left of my mind. She handed me some Tabasco sauce instead. God bless her heart — it’s just not the same. The meal, though, was still one of the best I ever had. The week was one of the best I ever had. And yet, in the back of my mind I can only bless and curse the people who produce Tapatío for being impotent in denting the market in North Plainfield, New Jersey.

Follow Oscar Barajas on Twitter @Oscarcoatl