The Sweet Taste of Home
By Rodrigo Campos

Smell and taste are said to be the sharpest of the five senses, and those that best trigger memory. This photo essay unites sense and memory through food and those who use it as a bond to their roots.

The portraits here are of regulars at restaurants that cater to New Yorkers from abroad.

Photo by Rodrigo Campos

Salvadoran food brings back memories of Ana Zelaya’s daughters, whom she left behind to seek a better life in America.

View a photo essay exploring ethnic dishes from New York.

These are not "typical" ethnic restaurants with world music from an all-star lineup chosen by a Peter-Gabriel-want-to-be. This is the music that immmigrants actually listen and dance to. And this is what it tastes like.

The people you will find here have built a bridge to their homeland through their taste buds.

They say that food reminds them of a certain mood: like a Sunday evening in a park in Ecuador, like their family, or like the Salvadoran who said that a certain crab dinner brings back memories of the two daughters
she left behind three and a half years ago.

Food, and the way it is cooked and shared, says a lot about a culture.

Watch the slideshow and discover the different flavors of new New Yorkers.