A Rexburg family is honoring their grandmother’s sacrifices by serving the community Venezuelan cuisine.
Mayerling Linton, with her husband and children, runs Bocados, a Venezuelan food truck specializing in arepas.
Linton said she was raised in Maracaibo, Venezuela with the help of her grandmother, Maria Colina, who was an illiterate, single mother of eight children who woke up every morning at 5 a.m. to prepare food to sell at 7 a.m. She sold out every day.
“I think of my grandmother because she taught me how to cook, how to have a positive attitude about things,” Linton said. “And I really loved being in the kitchen and coming up with recipes, doing new things and sharing with people. My grandma was always in the back of my head. I wanted to do this to honor her and see what else I can do. That’s how my inspiration began.”
Linton said her grandmother was her greatest monitor and that they worked countless hours in the kitchen “creating bold flavors and savory meals.” It was her grandmother’s perseverance and determination that enabled her children to gain an education and build better lives and careers.
Linton wanted to share healthy and sustainable meals with her family and the community like her grandmother did. It became possible once her kids got older.
“I began having these feelings like maybe now is the time and I brought it up to my husband again,” Linton said. “He was like, ‘I think now may be the time, and let’s do this the right way.’ He encouraged me to do a self-reliance class.”
After taking a self-reliance course, and finding a spot to sell food, the Lintons received help from Frescos and were able to make food using their kitchen for a period of time.
“I would say that our family has definitely come closer together. We’re united,” Linton said. “This is something that I have to do, but the children understood that I couldn’t do it alone … I didn’t want to feel guilty, like they’re working or wasting their summer … It was really cool to see that they truly wanted to do it to help me.”
Linton’s middle schooler, Stephen Linton, loves finding ways to promote Bocados to the community and said those who want to try the family’s arepas, can find the food truck every week from Wednesday to Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at the Idaho Sky RV Resort and at this year’s Teton Valley Farmer’s Market.
Stephen Linton added that customers who stop by the resort this week and mention the promo code, “Bocados at Idaho Sky RV Resort,” when ordering, can receive a 10% discount.
To learn and hear more from the Lintons, listen to the full interview on BYU-Idaho Radio’s podcast on Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.