SF State student demands a seat at the table for Mexican, Chicano culture

Nomar Ramirez, a 21-year-old business student, opened Molcaxitl to serve Indigenous Mexican food to the community and keep traditional cooking alive

Emily Curiel, Photo Editor|November 16, 2020

Three varieties of Molcaxitl tacos sit in a biodegradable plate along with two lime slices and sliced radishes, ready to be served at the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)

“Molcaxitl” — pronounced (MOL-CAH-SHEE-TL) in the Nahuatl language, meaning mortar and pestle — is the name that 21-year-old Nomar Ramirez, a business student at SF State, gave his virtual food vending business at its inception in October. His idea originated and grew from the “XOCO Kitchen” YouTube channel, which provided viewers with insightful recipes on cooking with Indigenous ingredients. 

“During COVID, I had this fire burning in me to get off my ass and create something that would help the community one way or another,” Ramirez said. “With my unemployment money, I hired an editor, graphic designer, bought camera stands and lights, the whole thing. In the midst of all that, I would jar salsa and sell that to people I knew. Once it got some really good feedback and attention, I decided I’d open a virtual restaurant.” 

The Molcaxitl menu is displayed on a small rack next to a table which is adorned with Marigold flowers and a sarape at the Molcaxitl booth in the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)

Originating as a way to build community in a time marked by virtual events and social distancing, Ramirez, a first-generation Mexican American, created Molcaxitl as a way for Chicanos and Mexicans to unify through culture and food. And with the help of Catie Giske, Ramirez’s girlfriend, Molcaxitl is now an established vendor at the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market, appearing every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Their main entree? Tacos – L.A. street style.

“I live in the Sunset and have little to no access to Mexican foods and culture, so out of homesickness, I started traveling a bit more to Daly City to go to Mexican markets, and I would just make food I grew up with to comfort me,” Ramirez, owner and chef of Molcaxitl, said. “I’ve always enjoyed cooking, but I found that it was very exciting to me when I got to SF because all of a sudden, it wasn’t just me cooking something tasty for myself, but it was a moment for me to connect with myself through cultural identity and through childhood memories. In LA, I never needed to ‘be’ Mexican because it was all around me, but once I was put in a foreign environment, I found myself in my culture – specifically the food.”
Nomar Ramirez sits on a stool next to his dining room table in his home in the Outer Sunset in San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)

Molcaxitl crafts its meals using locally-sourced produce that is grown at a Mexican farm that also sells at the Outer Sunset market. Using free-range, non-GMO meat and hand-made tortillas, the taco spot infuses its made-from-scratch food with unconventional Mexican flavors and Aztec recipes. The decision behind using more natural sources of ingredients, according to Ramirez, is inspired by Indigenous philosophies and practices with the earth. 

“Tōtolin,” birria turkey, is scooped out of a hot pot to serve on a Molcaxitl taco at the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)

Molcaxitl’s menu at the farmers’ market lists food options including: the “Ayotli” taco, which is Nahuatl for seasoned zucchini; the “Tōtolin” taco, Nahuatl for birria turkey; and frijoles and arroz, rice and beans, in which the beans are infused with “epazote” and the rice infused with “achiote,” both herbs that are native to Mexico. Molcaxitl also offers beverages such as jamaica and horchata to customers that seek the full meal experience from their kitchen.

“All my ingredients are purchased from a Mexican farm that attends the same market I sell at,” Ramirez said. “I buy my meat from local farms, and they’re completely free-range, antibiotics free, non-GMO, etc. Our food is completely made from scratch, and each item has a bit of a spin on it to make it original and closer to what genuine Mexican food is. So essentially, we try to bring mindfulness about the food that has the customer thinking about the ingredients from seed to plate, which is very much based on Indigenous ideologies and philosophies.”
A homemade seasoned rub is poured in with a sharp knife by Nomar Ramirez, owner and chef of Molcaxitl at the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)

Ramirez said that while creating a safe space for Chicanos and Mexicans was at the forefront of Molcaxitl’s origination, the business is also a way for all to embrace and educate themselves on Mexican and Chicano cultures. For Ramirez this includes himself too.

“I sometimes laugh to myself because my family came to the U.S. so I could become some doctor or lawyer, and here I am making tacos!” Ramirez said. “No but seriously, it feels incredible to know that at 21, I already own and run my own business while being the head chef, while getting my bachelor’s. It feels like I’m doing my part as a Mexican in pushing our people forward, and even more than that I’m continuing traditions that are dying before my eyes. It has all become my religion.”

“I quickly understood that it takes a team to make a good business,” Ramirez said. “And it’s not about the individual who’s running it. So in doing so, I wanted to do a couple things. A, everyone that’s working with me are all college students. So Ricardo Silva, he just decided to go full time into photography as his career. He just graduated. Julia Paik, she’s a graphic designer. She did the logo for us. Rebecca De La O, she’s at UCLA and doing accounting, and she’s incredible. So I’m working with people who aren’t necessarily professionals, but are learning to figure it out as I’m also figuring it out. They also have something to put on the resume now for what they’re trying to do in their career, and I’m trying to pay what I can for the services. Because they’re absolutely valuable services, I’m not going to ask for a discount just because they’re people I know. I really want to stimulate a micro economy of college students who maybe otherwise would not have those opportunities, especially during COVID. Focusing on having it be communal, and just especially toward college students.”
(Left to right) Catie Giske, makes tortillas as Jasmin Contreras takes an order while Nomar Ramirez squeezes salsa out of a bottle onto a taco at the Molcaxitl booth at the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 18, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)
Balls of masa sit in a bowl. Catie Giske, who prepared them, uses them to hand-make tortillas for Molcaxitl’s tacos at the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)
Catie Giske flips over a hot steamy tortilla on a grill at the Molcaxitl booth in the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)
“Molcaxtil,” pronounced (MOL-CAH-SHEE-TL) in the Nahuatl language, which means mortar and pestle, is the name of a small Mexican food vending service at the Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market. The vendor specializes in Indigenous ingredients and Indigenous flavors. Their main course is tacos.
A mortar and pestle, which has a $5 bill in it, sits on a table that is adorned with a “serape,” a shawl or blanket worn as a cloak in Latin America, and small pumpkins at the Mocaxitl booth in Outer Sunset Farmers’ Market in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2020. (Emily Curiel / Xpress Magazine)