I’m in the kitchen with Paulina Lopez Velasquez, co-owner of the popular L.A. restaurant Guelaguetza. Here, at this long established Mexican eatery, the staff is getting ready for its annual Thanksgiving special - turkey, yes, but with mole and all the Oaxacan style fixings.
Lopez, whose parents started the restaurant 30 years ago, says their Thanksgiving tradition began with her mom.
“So my mom actually started making the Thanksgiving dinners, but she made Oaxacan style like our stuffing at our table has chorizo instead of having the traditional stuff,” Lopez said. “The sides that we have is lrefried beans. We have our very famous green spaghetti, which has chiles, chiles poblanos... We make candied pumpkin instead of having a pumpkin pie. Or flan, instead of doing that, we eat it with bolios.”
For many years, the restaurant has served pre-ordered Thanksgiving meals to customers. For some, it’s a taste of home. Lopez says turkey is in fact a staple in southern Mexico, but it’s served differently than the typical Thanksgiving bird.
“Instead of gravy, we put mole on it, and then we actually make it in barbacoa, which is with chiles, guajillo chiles, and it’s also cooked with avocado leaf,” Lopez said. “So we make it our own style.”
Lopez’s turkey is just one example of the variety of Thanksgiving meals served around Los Angeles, where people from around the world have fused American traditions with their own.
“We are in L.A., right?” Lopez said. “It’s a very multicultural, multi-faceted place, and a lot of the cultures, we feel like we’re different, but if you really think about it, we’re very similar.”
The restaurant will be very busy this week - orders for the Thanksgiving special must be placed by next Monday.