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HAZLE TOWNSHIP — If you attended the fifth Festival Latino de Hazleton on Saturday at Community Park, you might have come for the music, the beauty pageant or the martial arts demonstration.

You might have wanted to socialize, to enjoy the park’s forested setting off Pecora Boulevard, or to peruse the wares at stands that offered everything from tires and mufflers to rosaries and snow globes.

But, let’s face it. For many hungry visitors, the big attraction at the festival was the wide variety of foods that offered a taste of the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico and other cultures.

“I never met a food I didn’t like,” said Bob Curry, of Drums, who with his wife, Elaine Maddon Curry, was sampling several Peruvian dishes. “Just give me your specialty.”

So, what were some of the specialties? What did people recommend?

Empanadas, said Olga Lantigua, of Hazleton, describing a fried pastry that is usually stuffed with meat and seasonings.

Pasteles, said Madeline Peguero, of Hazleton, who had neatly wrapped individual servings of the savory dish in plantain leaves.

If you like pierogies, as Rode Umana does, the Hazleton resident suggested you would enjoy Puerto Rican fry patties that contain potatoes, cheese and, sometimes, meat.

As for Barbara Meza, of Mountain Top, she hoped people would try the arroz con pollo (chicken with rice), papa a la huancaina (potatoes in cream sauce), escabeche de pollo (a marinated chicken) or causa de tuna (tuna and vegetables sandwiched between two layers of mashed potatoes) at her food station.

Proceeds of the dishes Meza was selling would benefit a society at Annunciation Church in Hazleton called Hermandad del Senor de Los Milagros, and the dishes reflected the Peruvian heritage of her late husband.

While not a Latina by birth, she said, she embraced his culture.

“I spoke it. I danced it,” Meza said with a smile. “I cooked it.”

“I feel enriched,” Elaine Maddon Curry said as she sampled the causa while her husband tried the escabeche de pollo. “The best thing about diversity is trying different foods, and meeting all these wonderful people.”

Several years ago the Currys helped establish the Hazleton Integration Project and its related Hazleton One Community Center, where children attend after-school programs during the school year and can immerse themselves in art and science during summer camps. New sessions of English as a Second Language classes for adults will begin in the fall, the Currys said, and there will be Spanish language classes for interested English speakers, too.

Saturday’s festival was organized by Amilcar Arroyo, editor of Hazleton’s Spanish-language newspaper, El Mensajero.

Chi Chi Espinal plays the accordion in the band ‘La Pasion Tipica’ during El Festival Latino de Hazleton.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL071617LatinCommunityDay2.jpg.optimal.jpgChi Chi Espinal plays the accordion in the band ‘La Pasion Tipica’ during El Festival Latino de Hazleton. Sean McKeag | Times Leader

Amiyah Curry, 6, of Hazleton, laughs at ‘Tun-Tun the Clown,’ who was making balloons for the children on Saturday afternoon during El Festival Latino de Hazleton at Hazle Township Community Park.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_TTL071617LatinCommunityDay1.jpg.optimal.jpgAmiyah Curry, 6, of Hazleton, laughs at ‘Tun-Tun the Clown,’ who was making balloons for the children on Saturday afternoon during El Festival Latino de Hazleton at Hazle Township Community Park. Sean McKeag | Times Leader

By Mary Therese Biebel

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Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.