Huell led us to salsa paradise
Huell led us to salsa paradise
By: Bill Mead
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Posted by editor Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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My wife and I contribute to television station KCET, the PBS station in Los Angeles. Because some right-wingers think public television is at the core of a left wing conspiracy you might ask why rancid conservatives like us would send our money that direction.
In the first place, watching KCET hasn’t turned us into flaming liberals. If the station has a subversive agenda it sure isn’t working. But the main reason we support KCET can be summarized in two words: Huell Howser.
The countrified Huell has almost single-handedly put the word “golly” back in the dictionary. As he takes viewers to points of interest throughout California, Huell’s unsophisticated enthusiasm has made an art form of being corny and has dragged in legions of viewers like us who like sincere more than slick.
Huell digs out interesting people and places that are seldom noticed by other journalists. He has been in Tehachapi at least a couple of times, recently visiting the late Bill Stokoe’s amazing collection of railroad signals.
A few weeks ago we caught one of Huell’s “California Gold” segments during which he visited Tinitas Salsa Company in Antelope Acres, only a few minutes south of Tehachapi. I’ll bet thousands of people from Tehachapi routinely drive past the place without noticing it’s there. As we have numerous times, we followed Huell’s footsteps and stopped at Tinitas Salsa.
We have a love affair with good salsa as do most other Americans who now buy more salsa than ketchup. In my case, salsa is an essential ingredient in my world-famous Gringo Tortilla Soup, the recipe for which I will generously give to you without charge if you’ll email your request to me at the address below.
Tinitas Salsa is a heart-warming story of how little people can make it big in the business world if they have the right stuff. Company owner Helen “Tina” Bonsall told us her business is just three years old but it’s making impressive inroads on the retail world. More than 60 stores in the Antelope Valley now sell Tinitas Salsa, including the prestigious Hangar, stadium of the Jethawks minor league baseball team in Lancaster. Tinitas Salsa is also pleasing the palates of Northern Californians who buy it at Whole Foods Markets, an upscale chain of 40 stores. The product is just now entering the Tehachapi area.
The company’s factory and home office on 90th Street West in Antelope Acres gives no hint of this kind of success. For many years the building housed a roadside saloon. Now scrubbed and airy, it’s a pleasant place to sample the several varieties of Tinitas Salsa, served up by the cheery founder herself and her equally charming mother and co-worker, Graciela Peterman. Their sparkling personalities may help explain why Huell Howser chose to feature them on his popular TV show. Huell may come off like a farm kid from Tennessee but the guy clearly understands what makes good theater, not to mention what makes good taste.
(For a free copy of Bill Mead’s Gringo Tortilla Soup recipe, email him at williammead@hotmail.com. Please put “tortilla soup” in the subject line.)
In the first place, watching KCET hasn’t turned us into flaming liberals. If the station has a subversive agenda it sure isn’t working. But the main reason we support KCET can be summarized in two words: Huell Howser.
The countrified Huell has almost single-handedly put the word “golly” back in the dictionary. As he takes viewers to points of interest throughout California, Huell’s unsophisticated enthusiasm has made an art form of being corny and has dragged in legions of viewers like us who like sincere more than slick.
Huell digs out interesting people and places that are seldom noticed by other journalists. He has been in Tehachapi at least a couple of times, recently visiting the late Bill Stokoe’s amazing collection of railroad signals.
A few weeks ago we caught one of Huell’s “California Gold” segments during which he visited Tinitas Salsa Company in Antelope Acres, only a few minutes south of Tehachapi. I’ll bet thousands of people from Tehachapi routinely drive past the place without noticing it’s there. As we have numerous times, we followed Huell’s footsteps and stopped at Tinitas Salsa.
We have a love affair with good salsa as do most other Americans who now buy more salsa than ketchup. In my case, salsa is an essential ingredient in my world-famous Gringo Tortilla Soup, the recipe for which I will generously give to you without charge if you’ll email your request to me at the address below.
Tinitas Salsa is a heart-warming story of how little people can make it big in the business world if they have the right stuff. Company owner Helen “Tina” Bonsall told us her business is just three years old but it’s making impressive inroads on the retail world. More than 60 stores in the Antelope Valley now sell Tinitas Salsa, including the prestigious Hangar, stadium of the Jethawks minor league baseball team in Lancaster. Tinitas Salsa is also pleasing the palates of Northern Californians who buy it at Whole Foods Markets, an upscale chain of 40 stores. The product is just now entering the Tehachapi area.
The company’s factory and home office on 90th Street West in Antelope Acres gives no hint of this kind of success. For many years the building housed a roadside saloon. Now scrubbed and airy, it’s a pleasant place to sample the several varieties of Tinitas Salsa, served up by the cheery founder herself and her equally charming mother and co-worker, Graciela Peterman. Their sparkling personalities may help explain why Huell Howser chose to feature them on his popular TV show. Huell may come off like a farm kid from Tennessee but the guy clearly understands what makes good theater, not to mention what makes good taste.
(For a free copy of Bill Mead’s Gringo Tortilla Soup recipe, email him at williammead@hotmail.com. Please put “tortilla soup” in the subject line.)
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