His free, public lecture about the roots and widespread popularity of Mexican cuisine will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library. He will talk about how the margarita became the most popular cocktail in the U.S., how college students love burritos and how Doritos were invented at Disneyland. Arellano also is working on a Southern Foodways Alliance oral history project about Mexican restaurants in Kentucky.
Arellano is editor of the alternative newspaper OC Weekly in Orange County, California, and author of the award-winning syndicated “Ask a Mexican!” column that uses humor to explore issues such as immigration, labor and Mexican culture in the United States.
He also has written several books including “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America,” “Orange County: A Personal History” and a compilation of his columns. Arellano has been a lecturer in Chicana and Chicano studies at California State University-Fullerton.
He has won awards from the Los Angeles Press Club, National Hispanic Media Coalition and the California Latino Legislative Caucus. Arellano’s commentaries have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and he has attracted national and international news coverage. He also is a consulting producer of the upcoming Fox animated comedy series “Bordertown.”
Arellano’s talk is sponsored by UofL’s history and anthropology departments, liberal studies and Latin American and Latino studies programs and the Office of Diversity and International Affairs.
For more information, call the history department at 502-852-6818 or contact Christine Ehrick at ehrick@louisville.edu
