Gary Rodriguez from My Latin Kitchen has a strong connections to South America. His parents were originally from Bolivia and when he was in his mother’s belly, they immigrated to Australia travelling with a family of Argentinians who later became his godparents. This family, along with another Brazilian family, heavily influenced the weekend gatherings and barbecues of the group of friends who were keen to maintain their South American identity. Gary’s has fond memories of old drums cut in half being transformed into barbecues in the backyard and the evolution of cultures resulting in a melting pot of cuisines, music and dancing.

The My Latin Kitchen menu consists of a variety of South American foods including snacks choripan (sandwich with chorizo), perritos Colombianos (hot dog), pupusas (corn tortilla) and empanada (stuffed bread or pastry), or the Brazilian barbecue with 24-hour slow-cooked Angus beef from the Darling Downs served with feijao (organic black beans), rice and salad. There is also a chicken and vegetarian haloumi version of this Brazilian dish as well as the Angus beef, grilled chicken or haloumi served in a roll with salad. On the Argentinian barbecue side of things, Gary slow cooks 30-cm-long spare ribs and serves with yellow rice, salad and a traditional Argentinian sausage. The My Latin Kitchen produce is local and good quality resulting in a dish that is not only traditional but great tasting. Gary grills the meat with chimichurri, which is made of finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and white vinegar. The chimichurri was so popular that My Latin Kitchen has now bottled it to settle as a take-home marinade.

My Latin Kitchen cooks up a storm on its Brazilian and Argentinian barbecue each weekend at Eat Street Markets.