New Cookbook Features Denver’s Top Immigrant Chefs

With the aim to support Denver-area immigrants and refugees, DU associate professor Dr. Julia Roncoroni co-authored Cocina Libre: Immigrant Resistance Recipes last spring. Since then, the self-published cookbook earned number-one new release status on Amazon and has sold 850 copies.

Profits have benefited several local organizations, including the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, and have allowed Cocina Libre to launch its own social enterprise offering keynote presentations, community workshops, and interactive cooking classes led by immigrant chefs. Through that training, some of these chefs have found short and long-term employment in the food industry.

The success has brought about a second cookbook, Sazón & Liberation, set to debut at Mile High Spirits on Monday, September 29. While the first release spotlighted the stories and recipes of any local immigrant or refugee willing to participate, this latest book is a collaboration between some of the most renowned chefs in Colorado — all of whom are first-generation immigrants.

This includes Dana Rodriguez of Carne, Casa Bonita, Work & Class and Super Mega Bien; Manny Barella of Riot BBQ; René González Méndez of Xiquita (which Westword named the Best New Restaurant of the year); Ruben Hernandez of food truck La Reyna Del Sur; and Byron Gomez of Brutø, one of several one-star recipients in this year’s Michelin guide. 

Seventeen contributors represent ten countries, nine of which are in Latin America. Among them are Venezuela, Costa Rica, Chile, Guatemala and Mexico, with regions spanning from Chihuahua to Oaxaca. Ethiopia is the sole outlier, spoken for by Kidist Woldemariam of ghost kitchen Shiro on the Go. 

Designed for home chefs, the recipes in Sazón & Liberation feature dishes and drinks of importance to the collaborators. For example, empanadas signify a life-changing shift for Senaida Cifuentes Galvis, who’s better known as Chef Zeny. 

In the book, the Colombia-born founder of Zeny Street Food explains how empanadas freed her from her previous routine of 85-hour work weeks in restaurant kitchens. The savory, crisp pastry pockets also allowed her to reconnect with the memory of her mother’s cooking.

Her signature empanada recipe and immigrant experience are shared alongside many others in Sazón & Liberation. Pages spotlight Mexico City-inspired fish al pastor tacos by González Méndez; a smoky Veracruz-style sauce by Eusebio Silverio of El Jefe; Salvadoran pupusas by Carlos Blanco of food truck Delicious Baruc; and a Honduran-style corn cake by Edwin Sandoval of private cooking concept Xatrucho. 

Several of the aforementioned chefs also appear in a new short documentary. Like the debut cookbook, this second film by Cocina Libre explores the relationship between food and four aspects of the immigrant experience: resistance and resilience; hope and liberation; identity building; and community building. 

The documentary will premiere during the Cocina Libre book launch party. Many of the chef contributors will be present for a Q&A session during the event, which requires advanced reservation but is free to attend. However, a $5 donation is suggested and can be applied towards a book purchase. Available in English and Spanish, Sazón & Liberation is priced at $35 and can be bought via Cocina Libre’s website and on Amazon. 

Mile High Spirits at 2201 Lawrence Street will host the Sazón & Liberation launch party and documentary screening premiere on Monday, September 29 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. While free to attend, a $5 donation is suggested. RSVP and learn more at cocinalibre.co.