ROANOKE, Va. – Fans of Latin-American food often enjoy the empanada, shaped like a half moon or media luna.
Media Luna just so happens to be the name of a food truck that’s gaining a lot of attention-- shooting for the stars in this Tasty Tuesday.
Betty Baker is from Colombia and her family began the business mid-pandemic and have gained popularity. It’s one of the favorite sights and smells at this year’s Go Fest.
“Roanoke is growing, and the Hispanic community is growing. It’s good to have new options, new things, unique things that we miss when we actually move,” said Baker. “It helps people to understand better when we say we miss our families, our music, our life – but our life includes our food.”
A favorite dish on her menu is a Spanish classic.
“Empanadas. They are filled with beef inside and little pieces of potato.”
Those fly out the window, as do the incredible Colombian hot dogs, the sweetest hot dog you’ll ever taste.
“Our Colombian hot dog is a quarter-pound hot dog. It’s a hot dog that comes with five sauces, two cheeses, pineapple sauce. I mean – it’s a lot of things on the hot dog,” said Baker. “This kind of hot dog is when we get out of party time in the middle of the night on a corner, you know?!”
The Baker family came by the station to cook up some for our crew and it generated some buzz around the WSLS 10 Newsroom.
Another Colombian favorite is the arepa – thrown on the grill for a nice crisp.
Betty also treated us to the savory sofrito - a sauce with different seasonings, tomato, garlic and onion.
You can taste all the unique flavors for yourself at Explore Park’s Illumnights later this year.