Salvation in tacos - escaping cartel violence for the kitchen

Manolo ‘Manny’ de la Torre grew up in Veracruz, Mexico in a large family of restauranteurs. Manny followed in his family’s footsteps, and by his mid-20s he was balancing his own food business with a successful DJ career. But when drug cartels threatened his life, he had to leave it all behind, fleeing to London to seek asylum with his family. Life in the UK was tough, but a series of unexpected encounters led him to a small indoor market in south London, where he started making tacos to raise money for his church. Soon, he was getting rave reviews from London’s food critics. He tells Jo Fidgen the unlikely story of how he became ‘Taco Manny’.

Pen Caeyatano is a musician from the Central American country of Belize. He belongs to the Garifuna culture, of mixed African and indigneous Caribbean descent, who make up approximately 6% of Belize's population. Growing up, Pen faced discrimination for his background but as he got older, he decided he wanted to do something to celebrate his Garifuna culture. When he was given some turtle shells in the late 1970s, he started using them to play around with different rhythms, eventually creating a whole new genre of music - Punta Rock - which took Belize by storm. Saskia Collette went to the town of Dangriga to hear how he pioneered this new sound.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen

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(Photo: Manolo de la Torre at his restaurant, Guacamoles in London. Credit: Courtesy of Manolo de la Torre)