In this newsletter:

• Latinx Changemakers: Burriteurs Miguel Jara of La Taqueria, Victor Escobedo of Papalote Mexican Grill and Ricardo Lopez of La Vaca Birria.
   
• K Más from KQED: featured stories
   
• K Pasa: Concerts, festivals and a Banda-themed fitness class.
   
• ¿Quiénes somos? Meet Marisa Lagos, correspondent for KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk and co-host of Political Breakdown

In recent weeks, I’ve eaten many types of burritos for research as you’ll read below. In moments like that, I find myself asking, how lucky am I that this counts as work? Other times, I find myself exhausted just reading through my news feeds full of stories of federal agents harassing and arresting immigrants — and subsequent protests. This is another reminder to celebrate and uplift culture while staying vigilant against injustice and mistreatment of our community.

Born in the Mission, Built by Immigrants: The Burrito That Became a Bay Area Icon

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On a recent afternoon, my mouth began to water as I placed a to-go order for a lengua burrito at Taqueria San Jose near the 24th Street BART Station in San Francisco.

I was already hungry when the cashier handed me my order of three burritos I planned to eat once I arrived home in Concord. I would have to wait an hour to unwrap the foil and pour salsa on each bite.

But as usual, my Mission-style burrito was worth the wait — a simple but satisfying punch of perfectly cooked ingredients, rolled into cylindrical tortilla greatness that is as portable as it is palatable.

In the past few weeks, I’ve spent more time musing on Bay Area burritos than I have in the 20-some years I’ve lived in this region. I didn’t feel the need to over think why I enjoy burritos. I just did.

On May 29, I hosted an event for KQED Live called Burrito Showdown that brought together three generations of Mission burriteurs (yes, I made that up).

The morning after the showdown, I followed up by producing a Forum segment on why the burrito remains a culinary icon in the Bay Area.

Hosting the live event and producing a Forum show centering the influence of Mission-style burritos gave me a deeper appreciation for the amazing success of the Mission-style burrito — and what they represent not just for the Bay Area, but for how culture transforms and is shared.

What I love about burritos is that they shine in both their simplest and most complex forms. The standard bean and cheese variety can earn a Michelin nod.

K Más: Featured Stories From KQED

Why the Mission-Style Burrito Defines the Bay Area

Listen to the Forum episode I produced to dish on what burritos — our region’s iconic and passionately debated staple — mean to the Bay Area. One thing locals can agree on is that the enormous, foil-wrapped burritos are a culinary anchor that were perfected in San Francisco decades ago. But just because it’s a classic doesn’t mean Bay Area burritos haven’t evolved or are not pushing into new frontiers.

San José Immigrant Advocates Protest Sweeping ICE Arrests

A coalition of immigrant advocacy groups gathered in San José to call for an end to “harsh escalation” of arrests of immigrants in recent weeks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, ICE offices and immigration courts in San Francisco, San José and across the nation. “These raids are not about justice or security, they are about terrorizing our communities and enforcing an unjust immigration system,” Lyla Salinas, an organizer with the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee. Read more of KQED’s coverage.

Half Moon Bay Mass Shooting Suspect Will Face Rare Push for Death Penalty, DA Says

Read the latest news about the 2023 mass shooting in Half Moon Bay that shook the Bay Area’s farmworker and Latinx community. San Mateo County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Chunli Zhao, the man accused of killing seven people at two Half Moon Bay mushroom farms.

How Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs Became One of the Bay Area’s Most Popular Street Foods

Behold the bacon-wrapped hot dog, a beloved staple in the Bay Area’s street food landscape. Like burritos, they have Mexican roots in Sonora, a state just south of Arizona, where these delicacies are known as a Sonoran dog, or a dogo. Read more about their history and why the Bay Area has embraced them.

San José’s New Late-Night Hot Spot Serves Smoky, Charcoal-Grilled Arepas

Colombian food offerings are starting to pop up in the Bay Area. Edward Tovar and Vivian Sanchez opened a San Jose outpost of Salpikitos, an eatery focused on arepas, last December, after learning the restaurant business in Colombia. Over the last six months, they’ve transformed Salpikitos from a simple food stall to more of an outdoor restaurant.

K Pasa: Events We Recommend

¿Quiénes somos? Meet one of our staffers 

Marisa Lagos, Correspondent for KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk and co-host of Political Breakdown

Tell us about your background and how you identify?

I did a whole project for KQED called MIXED! I’m not fully any one thing. I grew up feeling a little conflicted because I had a Mexican-American grandfather who worked really hard to assimilate and didn’t want to speak Spanish to me or to my dad even though I lived in San Diego. My dad is Mexican and Norwegian and my mom’s side is Armenian and Irish, English and Norwegian. A lot of my identity has really been a personal journey of thinking, learning and traveling because my parents grew up in an era where assimilation was the name of the game. They didn’t have the language to talk about things like being mixed race and it was a lot easier to just fit in. Now my kids are at schools where practically everyone is mixed race.

What do you do at KQED?

I love this job because I get to fulfill my own curiosity every day. I get to talk to folks and ask questions. I always wanted to be a writer. I think about the line that the job of a journalist is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. That really gets to the core of a lot of the government and politics reporting I do.

How does your Latino heritage show up in your life?

Cooking is one of the ways that my family connects, shows love and finds community. I taught myself how to make tamales at Christmas. I crowdsourced that between friends who grew up with Mexican abuelitas and by looking up recipes. I make a mean enchiladas suizas. Also, my heritage shows up when I travel and try to show my kids our cultures and other cultures as well.

What is something Latinx-related that you are into right now?

Besides food, I connect with my Latino and Armenian cultures through literature. Luis Alberto Urrea wrote an amazing book called The Hummingbird’s Daughter. He also grew up in San Diego and I met him because he was the poet laureate for San Francisco probably a decade ago. I’ve learned a lot about history and culture through literature and art.

Thank you for reading K Onda!

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¡Hasta pronto!

Blanca Torres