I grew up a Norteña (which, according to the Collins dictionary, means a native woman from northern Mexico), stretching out my ch sounds, talking golpeado (abruptly) and listening to Norteñan and Sinaloense banda music. I went to carne asadas (north Mexican barbecues), ate flour tortillas, dogos (Mexican hotdogs), nachos and corn on the cob on the beach while running around with my siblings. Even though I have been living in London for the past 20 years, I still cook the same family recipes that I grew up eating. I’m living proof that you can take a Norteña out of the north, but you can’t take the north out of a Norteña’s heart.
