In this business, “You must like what you’re doing, and I really love what I’m doing.”
-Teresa Balboa Rodriguez, co-owner of Don Pablo’s Family Mexican Restaurant
Teresa Balboa Rodriguez, co-owner of Don Pablo’s Family Mexican Restaurant, Fergus Falls, Minnesota
When you walk into Don Pablo’s Family Mexican Restaurant in Fergus Falls you’re met with the bright colors of Northern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. This makes sense when you learn that Teresa, originally from South Texas, near San Antonio, and her husband Jose, originally from Guadalajara, Mexico loving bring the flavors and the feel of Mexico to this part of Otter Tail County. When I visited with Teresa in her restaurant early May 2021, she had just survived a packed night before, when the community showed up for Cinco de Mayo specials. It was a welcome situation, people waiting for a table was a much more typical experience before the global pandemic hit. She and her staff ended up ordering pizza because they were so busy; Domino’s came to their rescue. For 17 years, Teresa has enjoyed running the restaurant with her husband Jose in Fergus Falls. She describes herself as the one who works the front, the one who likes engaging customers, getting to know new people, and serving the community while Jose takes charge of the menu and the kitchen. He’s busy focusing on details like purchasing the right corn tortillas to fry for the house-made chips. Jose takes cooking seriously, overseeing the chopping of the tomatoes that go into the salsa served to each customer that accompanies those fresh, crispy, delicious chips. When I asked where the ingredients come from, Teresa shared in addition to the typical larger scale food vendors she takes trips to Mexico to pick up the spices that they use in the restaurant. Given Teresa also traveled to Mexico to personally oversee the delivery of the beautiful, heavy carved and painted Mexican chairs with scenes of daily life, fiestas, and animals adorning them, it should come as no surprise that she goes all the way to Northern Mexico to get the supplies that make Don Pablo’s foods special. Guajillo and other Chile powders, oregano, black pepper and even garlic bridge the gulf of Mexico to Minnesota.
While the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on small businesses and restaurants in all communities, Teresa was super grateful to be in Fergus Falls where she says, she has always been welcomed and a proud member of the community. I know her customers who keep coming back would say the same about her: Teresa welcomes all into Don Pablo's Mexican Kitchen. Her smile will greet you and you will feel her love of people, her love of Mexican culture, and of course, her love of sharing Mexican food in her community.
For more of Teresa’s story as well as other migrant farmworker stories check out this PBS documentary: Ésta Es Mi Casa - This is My Home.
“Once you put the salsa on the taco, everything changes.”
-Leonardo Segura, Co-Owner of Fish Factor 108, Fergus Falls, MN
Leonardo Segura and Martha Hijar-Segura are the dream team behind the innovative vision of Fish Factor 108. Their truck’s motto “Tasty Latin Flavor” drives Leo’s and Martha’s mission to bring a different take on Mexican food to the area. Since moving to Fergus Falls in January 2008 both Leo and Martha have been pillars in the food service and culinary scene of the town, each of them working in different kitchens ranging from the hospital, to Bella Cucina and the Fabled Farmer. But, in June of 2019 they decided to start their own business. Serving out of the truck means that they can be a bit more mobile. You can often find their delicious take on Mexican food on the corner of Lincoln and Cascade, but because they’re a food truck, they travel all over the county to provide nourishment at a local brewery, and as hired caterers for business parties or family gatherings of all types. Leo told me that next weekend he’s headed to Perham for another graduation celebration. Having lived for some time in California, Leo says part of his vision for the cuisine is bringing the flavors of the ocean to the town he loves. Even though Minnesota is not by the ocean, those of us living in the Minnesota county with the most lakes are definitely connected to fishing foodways. Leo believes there’s a way to bring those two worlds together, we can enjoy walleye and build on the cooking of that fish with the seafood legacies of Mexican cuisine. This approach provides a different experience for folks looking for new Latin American cuisine options; Fish Factor 108 is not your typical Tex-Mex menu. You can see this drive for different flavors in the descriptions of the various salsas on the menu created to pair with the tacos and specials. “Once you put the salsa on the taco, everything changes,” and Leo strives to provide that variety to his customers. The family takes deep pride in their food truck, especially because they have survived a global pandemic that overlapped with their first year of business. The first year for a new restaurant is always difficult, but to also try to maintain the business during the COVID-19 pandemic on top of it all, made last year really challenging. Through hard work and a constant hustle, Leo is grateful to the community that helped them stay afloat. Leo strives for excellence in the foods he makes, knowing that his day-to-day main customers are not Latinos, he really wants to provide new flavors for people to fall in love with, just as he did when he perfected the fish tacos on the menu. “Some people just want to come back to the regular menu,” he says, “where others want something new, something different,” which drives Leo’s vision for creating new specials for Fish Factor 108. Drawing on their training in kitchens from across the region Leo and Martha bring something special to their truck, a desire to be different, and a drive to excite the tastebuds. The passion and dedication to high quality flavors is matched by Leo’s drive to be constantly finding opportunities to get his food to the community. Stop by their truck, try the ceviche, you won’t be disappointed!
Chile Relleno with Red Sauce - Photo by Nallely Harlow (Urbano), Carlisle, MN
Located in Carlisle Minnesota, between Fergus Falls and Rothsay, Nallely Harlow (Urbano) shares the love of Mexican food with her husband Jesse and their three children. Originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, Nallely moved with her parents to Pelican Rapids which is where she grew up watching her mom cook and care for her family by making all of their food from scratch. Nallely has taken these cooking traditions from her mom and her grandmother very seriously and strives to pass these lessons on to her children. Seventy percent of the food they eat in their household is Mexican food. When her husband Jesse tries Mexican food that he’s never had before he has been known to say, “I’ve been missing this my whole life!” Making Mexican food together is an important family activity. Nallely’s young sons, Romeo and Liam, help participate in preparing food in their kitchen and her daughter, Sophia, has her own miniature wooden tortilla press. For Sophia, who is autistic, there's been more of a journey toward feeling comfortable touching the masa dough used to make tortillas. While once difficult for her, with therapeutic approaches and working together, Nallely’s daughter currently enjoys playing with the masa and Nallely looks forward to her making mini tortillas on her personal press. Nallely has received four different tortilla presses as gifts from her mom. Her very first one was a wooden one that was passed down from her mom. After that, her mom has brought iron ones from Mexico. Whenever her mom, or anyone in the family, goes to Mexico they are sure to stock up on the ingredients they can’t get anywhere else. The most desired Mexican ingredient in Nallely’s household, is a special spice medley the family uses for their mole sauce recipe made by someone in Guanajuato. Trips to Mexico also allow for stocking up on other kitchen tools and ingredients they need for the food they make. This spirit of sharing isn’t limited to the Mexico trips, whenever her extended family finds a dried chili that is more difficult to find in Minnesota or closer to home, they will buy enough for their kitchen and the kitchens of their relatives. Anytime she is traveling to a larger town she will stock up on her Mexican food ingredients at the Mexican markets to supplement what she finds at stores in Fergus Falls (Wal-Mart and Service Foods) or the Cashwise in Fargo. Nallely and I bonded over how it’s a real treat when we can get our hands on pan dulce. On rare occasions when her mom brings her pan dulce “it’s like Christmas!” Especially good because Nallely doesn’t have a family recipe to turn to for these coveted pastries.
The food Nallely shared with me in this image is a chile relleno con queso fresco along with homemade corn tortillas and rice. While Nallely’s mom makes her twist on this recipe, Nallely learned this version of adding an egg on the bottom of the chile relleno, and topping with a red sauce, from her dad’s aunt who taught her this different method of serving the stuffed poblano chile. This method of learning from the women in her family is something Nallely truly cherishes. Though, it also highlights how she feels the bicultural tug of being a Mexican American. Growing up in the US, she often felt like she was missing out on some aspects of her Mexican culture because she didn’t grow up in Mexico. For example, she really respects the written recipe cards that are common to white American cooking culture. However, she has worked to find ways to collect the recipes from her family so as to not lose them. Some of this process is reflected in her commitment to learning how to make the family recipes that aren’t written down. Additionally, while she hopes she will not have to rely on them for a very long time, Nallely has videoed her mom telling her how to make certain family dishes. In the meantime, she too will continue to pass on her knowledge to her children so that they can all stay connected to their Mexican heritage and keep making tortillas from scratch, just like her mamá does.
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This activity is part of the Otter Tail County Story Mapping Project, a partnership between Rethos, The Otter Tail County Historical Society, and Springboard for the Arts with support from the Minnesota Historical Society. This project was made possible in part by the people of Minnesota through a grant funded by and appropriation to the Minnesota Historical Society from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.