Stop asking creators which is better...
Different doesn't equal better than the other.
Oh, yeah! I just wanted to thank those of you who have also signed up to be an Instagram Subscriber! That’s so cool and wild. I have done some Instagram Subscriber specific posts and reels, mostly behind the scenes things (like me having to shop for a bra for GMA) that I can’t show here on Substack. I’d love to be able to manually add my ANNUAL newsletter subscribers to my Instagram subscriber list, but IG doesn’t allow that option. However!!!!! I have added the IG subscribers to my “close friends” list to specifically see my Road Trip stories, which is where I’ve been showing special content to my ANNUAL newsletter subscribers for about a year now. It’s a constant juggle, y’all.
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illyanna Maisonet's Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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Buy Mami a burger, send her a Starbucks gift card (grande hot mocha with whip) or nail polish at the Dollar Tree:
Mami Maisonet
5960 S Land Park #222
Sacramento, CA 95822
MAISONET X MILK STREET
Thursday, October 27
6:00 PM – 7:15 PM EDT
Both my MS radio interview and this class won’t go live until closer to the publishing date of my book (October 18), but you can sign up for the class today! You say you can’t attend this class because it’s your brother’s BM’s first husband’s birthday? I got you.
MAISONET X 92Y
Friday, November 4th
10:00 - 11:00 AM PDT
Then sign up for this class! The 92Y has been kind enough to ask me to collaborate with them on several ways for my followers (and unfollowers) to engage. Stay tuned for more and I hope to see you at one of them.
illyanna in the news:
Real Simple: Mami’s Mushroom Chicken
10 Fall Cookbook Recommendations: Ankiet Gulabani gives his own personal list of books that will make you a “better and more confident cook.”
Marin Independent Journal: Five fantastic new Bay Area cookbooks by Tanya Holland, Illyanna Maisonet and more.
I’m a competitive person. A lot of people probably don’t think that someone who is in my body should have the audacity to be competitive because it only belongs to sportsmen. I have always been bigger than what the BMI scale says is the average size, but I have always been relatively athletic and used my natural strength to work out my unhinged anger issues on the field. Until I got my first car in 2012 and then all hell broke loose when it came to my body and its movement; or lack thereof.
When I saw this tweet by Eric Rivera, it made me realize how uncompetitive I was in some arenas.
I just thought to myself, “here we fucking go again.” I don’t know what this obsession is to pin creators against each other, especially when they are working within a very specific niche. There aren’t many Puerto Rican writers that write about Puerto Rican food or Puerto Rico content, and yet publications still choose to give first dibs involving “10 of the best restaurants in Puerto Rico” gigs to white writers. I’ve learned to live with that. Many times I have tried to work with the official destination marketing organization of Puerto Rico tourism. This was before I found out they were ran by non-Puerto Ricans. This company has gratuitously flown in and lodged my white colleagues for press trips (and I have been put in direct contact with this company, by these same white colleagues, only to be ignored). I’ve come to terms that they don’t want to work with me. Even though I have ties to Puerto Rico and an okay platform to support the collaboration. They don’t want to work with me because I don’t promote their demographic: tourists and those looking to turn Puerto Rico into Hawai’i.
Many Boricuas had issues with this organization’s “Live Boricua” campaign, just to be noted because we’re here and talking about this organization.
Under this organization’s website section “About Us,” the first thing that is mentioned is “Act 17 passed.” Act No. 17 of March 30, 2017 includes “Act to Promote Puerto Rico as a Destination.” The website lists “Brad Dean is appointed CEO, Leah Chandler as CMO.”
BTW - Since we’re here, just gonna slip this in real quick although it’s not related… ““Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act” Act. No. 17 of April 11, 2019 To create the “Puerto Rico Energy Public Policy Act” for the purposes of establishing the Puerto Rico public policy on energy in order to set the parameters for a resilient, reliable, and robust energy system with just and reasonable rates for all class of customers; make it feasible for energy system users to produce and participate in energy generation; facilitate the interconnection of distributed generation systems and microgrids, and unbundle and transform the electrical power system into an open system…” And we know what’s happening there with LUMA.
If we were in competition with someone, it definitely wouldn’t be ourselves. I have never once felt in competition with any of my Puerto Rican food writer colleagues. I personally don’t feel like I’m in competition with companies like Healthy Rican or Loisa. And if you’ve been here for a while, I’ve even given Loisa props on the vibrancy of their sazon. To me, none of us are the same. Although it’s Hispanic Heritage Month and you’re about to see all of us oiled up and pinned against each other in the Gladiator pit of capitalism. It’s “them” who make us feel like we’re in competition. It’s “them” that make this a Highlander situation, “there can only be one,” even though they’ve created (and do create) whole ass issues of magazines dedicated to Italy and France. My pitches have even been stolen by publications and given to other Puerto Rican food writers. Yes, I say stolen because my pitches are always off the top of my dome and coming from a place of originality. To be able to put the amount of trust into a publication by giving them that valuable information and them rejecting it at the time, coming back to you a whole ass year later to ask if you’re available to write the story and when you say no they simply replace you and have another Puerto Rican writer write your own fucking story is absolutely insane. Am I mad at the PR writer? Fuck no! I’m mad the publication because “in the publication we trust.”
Where’s my fucking issue dedicated to Puerto Rico? Because let me tell you, the entire island is not the same. An island that has a coast line where a palm tree-lined beach is on one side and a conifer forest is on the other side with nothing but a 10-foot road separating them. An island where I could be in El Yunque’s tropical rainforest one minute and 3 hours later looking at a fucking cactus in the desert-like conditions of Guánica.
While I don’t feel in competition with my fellow Puerto Rican food content creators, I do feel a strong sense to protect or come to their defense. This has always been one of my toxic Aries traits, loyal and fierce self-designated protector. In 2020, also known as the unfortunate hey-day of ensuring BIPOC creators were getting a fair shake, any time I saw my colleagues post a brand partnership on their social media accounts I would immediately swoop into their DMs (uninvited) and ask if they got paid. It’s only been 2022 since I thought to myself, “Girl, no one even asked for your help!” Getting paid was not always the goal of a lot of my creator colleagues, some were just happy to throw their hat in the ring and it wasn’t my place to rate shame them either just because getting paid was my goal. Even though I low-key believe that by you doing free work for these companies you’re undermining all creators, buts that’s neither here nor there. In my eyes…I was just protecting them. To them…they weren’t asking for the protection. Hell, they probably didn’t even need the protection.
What was my point? Oh, yes. The point is…stop it. You can both support me and other Puerto Rican creators who you think may be similar to me. You don’t have to be #teamillyanna or #teamwhoever. Stop asking creators “which is better, this way or this way.” Because we don’t fucking know! What’s better for one person is not better for you. You’re your own person, spending your own money, make your own decision.
Also - please buy my adobo and my book. Haha.
There’s still some jars of adobo left, get them while you can!
Thanks so much to everyone who was able to snag some spices! I did not anticipate sazon selling out before adobo, considering B&B produced equal amounts of both blends. I thought people would be too intimidated by the sazon. But, I’m hoping that my attempts to show y’all what to do with both blends helped? The sazon will not be restocked until the next achiote season. Since it’s wild achiote, we’re working with Mother Nature. However!
There are rumors that a small supply of surplus achiote is on the way to B&B to make a small batch of sazon. Be on the lookout!
Don’t forget that my pre-orders for my book are still going! And it’s just as important as it was when I announced it last week.
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW!
Great post. I used your sazón and adobo yesterday to make taco meat with impossible beef, which is already kind of salty, so I’m glad I grabbed your salt free stuff. I’m also glad I bought your versions right when you emailed us because they were gone so fast! Hope that encouraged you that you and mami have some loyal followers! 💜💜💜
BRAVO. Can't wait for my book to come in the mail!!!