19. TrooRa The LGBTQ+ Not an Issue Summer ’23

ONE TOUGH Chingona

A No-Nonsense Profile of Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza

“A fucking badass” is the literal definition of the self- appointed “Chingona” chef. It is obvious at first glance that Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza cuts her own figure. Born and raised in California, she lived in Florida for eight years before returning to CA and eventually settling in Arizona. She blazes her own path. She spent a good amount of Saturday mornings in her youth at the congregation where her father was an overseeing and founding elder. They would knock on residents’ doors, preaching the word of God. “I was not keen on disturbing folks, but I did enjoy entering folks’ homes,” she says. “Especially those migrant work camps—where I was able to see, firsthand, the poverty that I did not experience at home.”

WRITTEN BY CARY WONG

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