Alma Cocina Latina expands Baltimore’s palette with Venezuelan flavor. The key is in the peppers.

Chefs at Alma Cocina Latina hear from customers that they’d never tasted such unique flavors before they dined at the Baltimore restaurant. That’s the goal for Founder and Creative Director of Irena Stein.

“This is the idea of culinary diplomacy, which is at the core of our work, which it is to expose the cultures and the many cultures and many migrations that have occurred in Venezuela from 16th century on, and to seduce people into… all these flavors that come together,” said Stein.

Stein first opened a café in 2004 at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. She said they made food from all over the world because the astrophysicist they served were from different parts of the world. Her next venture was in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood, where her business was for 5 years before moving to its current location in Station North.

“I just wanted to give back to the city, what the city has given to me since I [have] been here. So what could be better than my own culture?” said Stein.

The peppers are key

It’s the peppers at the heart of the flavor of the cuisine, like the sweet peppers, ají dulce along with others like ají llanero and aji margariteno. Without them Stein said the food wouldn’t taste the same.

“The key characteristic is always fragrance, deep aroma, floral, fruitiness,” said Alma Cocina Latina Sous Chef Fernando Bertelsen.

“Imagine trying to make Mexican food without chipotle, serrano, habanero, ancho; it’s the same for Venezuelan food,” he added.

Unlike bell peppers and jalapenos, the peppers used at Alma Cocina Latina are not easy to acquire.

Locally grown

Ed Snodgrass mainly grows succulents and has a perennial nursery in northern Harford County, but he also grows some of the peppers for Alma Cocina Latina. He met owner Irena Stein through another Baltimore restaurant owner.

“She said can you grow peppers? And I said sure, I’ll grow them,” said Snodgrass. He enjoys “unlocking the secrets of plants and how to grow them.”

Sourcing peppers native to Venezuela means everything to the chefs at Alma Cocina Latin.

“When our first ajies, the peppers, came to this kitchen… they opened [the container] and the aroma came out of those peppers, they cried. The chefs all cried because they were so happy to have the base, the real base of all our foods in house,” said Stein.

Experience the culture

“When people come here it’s a unique taste that’s not available to most people,” said Snodgrass. “There’s not a lot of Venezuelan restaurants or true Venezuelan restaurants.”

To get the full mixture of Venezuelan culture and flavor, you must smell and taste it for yourself.

“It really is an experience to come to Alma [Alma Cocina Latina] and you’ll have a combination of flavors that you’ve never had before and yet it’s not snob[ish], it’s not weird, it’s not arrogant at all its just delicious for 99% of the palettes,” said Stein.