Latin America – being the incredibly diverse and culturally rich place that it is – is not only home to the romance languages, but also to extraordinary food. There are very few places in Adelaide where you can find truly authentic Latin American food, but Antojitos Latinos in Pooraka has come HIGHLY recommended.
Viviana Torres Opazo and her mum, Maria Teresa Opazo Sepulveda, first moved to Australia from Chile in 1990. Since then, the family has always connected with their local community through food.
“When we first got here, there was not a lot of Latin American things available – not food to be made or ready-made,” says Viviana. “My mum started cooking for the community as more of a hobby – not to make money.
“Me being younger and moving to Australia in an ethnic family, I was always told my focus should be on studying. I went to Uni and got my degrees, but I always loved cooking. When I went overseas at 29, I went through a breakup and was on my own. Sick of Macca’s and Subway, I started cooking. After that, I came back home and joined forces with my mum.”
Antojitos Latinos opened in 2018, specialising in Chilean, Peruvian, Colombian, Venezuelan, and Argentinian dishes. Brazilian and Bolivian dishes get a look in sometimes too, but one thing Viviana wants to emphasise is that they’re not a destination for Mexican food.
“Our food is not Mexican food. We won’t have tacos, because it’s not what we’re familiar with and so many awesome places do Mexican food already,” says Viviana.
“Also – although it’s a bit of an oxymoron – food in Chile isn’t spicey. We don’t really like spicey food. We add spice to food rather than the food being spicey on its own. Nothing on the menu is spicey unless you add sauces to it… my mum thinks ‘spicey’ is pepper!”
Antojitos Latinos – which translates to ‘Latin Cravings’ – changes its menu every two weeks so each dish is cooked using only the freshest, seasonal produce.
“We buy our own everything. Nothing gets delivered and everything has to be individually picked by either mum or myself. If there’s great strawberries, we might make a strawberry tart. If there’s a premium cut at the butchers, we might have a barbeque. We like mixing local produce and Latin flavours,” says Viviana.
“While there are some spices that aren’t available locally, we try to buy extremely local as much as we can. We get all our tomatoes from this little Italian lady in Virginia. I think they’re the best tasting tomatoes in Australia!”
As reflected in Viviana and Maria’s desire to cook Latin American flavours not commonly represented in Australia and desire to support local when sourcing produce, the pair do everything with community and inclusivity in mind.
“Visiting Antojitos Latinos is like eating at our home. We cook with that feeling. Everything has been made with love, picked with love, and eaten in a home. That’s how we want to present ourselves and our customers become our friends,” says Viviana.
“You can’t get the food we make here anywhere else. There’s a few shops peppered around that may do one or two dishes, but everyone has their own flair. We have our own special way of seasoning things, which has earned many loyal customers.”
Vivana’s and Maria’s fried empanadas have come highly recommended, as well as the Pastel de Choclo with Chilena Salad.
“The Pastel de Choclo is kind of like a Shepherds Pie, but with corn on top instead of potato. It’s cooked with roasted chicken, sultanas, olives, boiled egg, basil, and grated corn, slow cooked with spices. It’s baked in a clay pot and tastes sweet at the top, savoury at the bottom,” says Viviana.
One guest who left a review on the Antojitos Facebook page said the Pastel de Choclo was a “glorious combination of taste and textures” and the mashed sweetcorn was “the ideal companion to the shredded free range chicken, lean beef, Spanish olives, organic sultanas and hard-boiled egg pieces”.
To learn more about Antojitos Latinos, you can check out the website or follow the business on Facebook and Instagram.
Find Antojitos Latinos at 849 Main North Road, Pooraka SA 5095.
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