Nuestro Kentucky

This photo of Froylan Gonzalez loading up the tortilla machine at Tortilleria Ramirez on Alexandria Drive is an outtake from the upcoming Nuestro Kentucky column scheduled for publication on April 5. Immigration is a big story around here, but like many issues, when we have a headline about it in our news section, it is exposing a problem or debate. These stories are needed and we could probably do more of them. We started Nuestro Kentucky to get the fun, interesting side of our Latino community in the paper more often.

Like many Latinos, I showed up in Lexington five years ago for a job. Being from south Texas, I was not used to a “Mexican food aisle” at the grocery store. Hot sauce was right there with the ketchup and tortillas were in the bread section. Most grocery stores had a big tortilla-making machine behind the deli case, so you could get them while they were still hot. There are Mexican towns just across the border like Reynosa and Matamoros, where several little storefronts on the main shopping streets sell hot stacks of corn tortillas wrapped in newspaper for a quarter.

Naturally, one of the first places I found when I moved here was Tortilleria Ramirez. I didn’t ask how many calories were in their tortillas or if they used lard or organic corn meal, but I saw steam inside the bag of tortillas, so I bought them. While there is nothing wrong with the tortillas at the grocery store here in the little section of the “Mexican food aisle”, it makes a big difference to many people who move here to have such an important staple made fresh daily.

I hope to keep the column light and informative while concentrating on the culture and personalities through photography.

Model: NIKON D2H
Lens (mm): 17
ISO: 640
Aperture: 5.6
Shutter: 1/30
Exp. Comp.: +0.3
Flash Comp.: +0.0
Program: Manual
Focus Mode: AF-C
White Bal.: FLUORESCENT (gel on flash)

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