(orchestral music)
- [Narrator] Japadog is a portmanteau;
and for those of you that don't know what a portmanteau is,
a portmanteau is when you combine two distinct word forms.
In this case, it's Japan and hot dog.
But this is not a story about words.
This, my friends, is a story about two cultures
coming together via hot dog.
(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] On the menu, you'll find dogs
with an assortment of traditional Japanese flavors,
such as grated radish, bonito flakes, and nori.
(orchestral music)
- [Narrator] There are countless Chinatowns all over
the world, and New York boasts one of the most famous
full of cheap produce, fish markets, and, of course,
a plethora of Chinese food.
But, if you hop on the 1 train,
take it to the Upper West Side,
you'll find a Chinese restaurant like no other,
where half the menu is something else.
- [Male] Chuletta, chicharones, ropa vieja,
tostones, arroz y frijol.
- [Narrator] This is La Caridad 78,
New York's last Cuban Chinese restaurant.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Narrator] How did this unlikely culinary duo come to be?
That's a great question: Enter, Sam Lee.
- Sorry, it was my wife.
- [Narrator] Hundreds of thousands of Chinese came
to Cuba in the 19th and early 20th century,
establishing a strong presence on the island;
but when Castro came to power,
most Chinese immigrants, like Sam's father left—
many of them coming to the U.S.
And thus, Cuban Chinese food was born.
- [Narrator] So are there any Cuban-born workers left?
(speaking foreign language)
- [Narrator] While Cuban Chinese culture is fading,
La Caridad is a snapshot of a strange moment in time
where two vastly different cultures merged together.
(orchestral music)
(upbeat music)
(orchestral music)
(upbeat piano music)
- [Male] You're in Mississippi,
and everywhere you go, tamales.
Those magical little snacks of cornflour and meat
packed into a corn husk.
Tamales, tamales, tamales.
So if you've ever wondered what Mississippi tastes like,
it tastes like me, the tamale.
My journey starts almost a hundred years ago.
It's 1930, and Mexican migrants
are tricklin' into Mississippi.
They bring along a taste of home,
their version of the sandwich:
Meet the tamale.
- My great-grandfather came here from Mexico City,
jumped the trains, ended up in Mississippi.
He decided to make his family's homemade hand-rolled
hot tamales, and in 1939, opened up this place
and started selling tamales.
You have to understand, this is a family thing.
I'm the fourth generation.
These same generational people who have been coming
to the Big Apple Inn for the last 78 years
are also generational.
When they eat a tamale, they always have a story.
My daddy used to bring me here,
his daddy had the same kind of story,
his daddy had the same kind of story.
Tamales caught on here, and it became a staple in the city.
- [Male] So there I am, winnin' over
the Mississippi natives, and as I make my way up
into the Delta, my location may change,
but little did I know that the tradition
of family most certainly would not.
Just like Geno and his grandfather at the Big Apple Inn,
I bring the Scott family together—
a family who has gone on to be known
as the first family of tamales in Mississippi.
- In the early '50s, my father bought
the recipe from a Mexican guy.
My mother and father taught me,
my sisters and my niece, all of us together,
we're makin' hot tamale, we just one big hot tamale family.
In a business that's family oriented,
I think it'll last longer.
- [Male] Much like the Scott family,
the Doe family is made up of a long line of tamale makers.
Doe's Eat Place is a landmark restaurant
that helped propel me to become the backbone
of Mississippi cuisine I've become today.
- My daddy started this restaurant in 1941 with my mother.
We've been here 76 years.
Momma had a sister that was livin' here,
and Daddy had a couple, two or three sisters,
that were livin' here, so they all came and rolled tamales.
A lot of people ask us, "How did tamales get prevalent
"in the belt?"
It's been family.
You know, family's been here all the time.
- [Male] As tamales make their way from Mexican culture
to African American communities
and onto Mississippi's white population,
there's one thing that remained a constant, family,
the most southern concept of all.
(light music)