Macon Magazine

60 maconmagazine.com | FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 ABOVE La Bella Morelia's welcoming location on Mulberry Street. RIGHT The restaurant is best known for their authentic Mexican tacos. STORY BY EDNA RUIZ ADAMS PHOTOS BY YADIRA SANDOVAL RODRÍGUEZ S ince childhood, Angelica Marin knew she'd be a restauranteur. With a never- ending cup of determination and a dash of destiny, she made that goal a reality in Downtown Macon. Together, she and her children have surpassed that dream, expanding to a food truck and tequila bar. Abuela and the rancho Angelica grew up on a rancho (ranch) in Ciudad Hidalgo – a rural city of about 71,000 people in the Mexican state of Michoacán, which lies between the Sierra Madre de Sur mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Angelica's abuela (grandmother), taught her so much, including how to cook homemade meals, Angelica said. Living on a rural rancho, sourcing groceries from the store wasn't a feasible option due to transportation hurdles and food cost. On Ciudad Hidalgo tables, most ingredients were home-grown in backyards or family farms within walking distance. That was the case for Angelica and her family. They made what they could with what they had. Still, those circumstances led to the soulful and authentic Michoacán dishes that have earned La Bella Morelia such a loyal following. Take for example their deceptively simple carnitas. Just three ingredients: pork, lard, and salt. But it's made mouth wateringly complex by the regional method of slow-cooking it confit in its flavorful fat. Serious Eats describes Michoacán regional cuisine as "the soul food of Mexico" for the way it uses readily, locally available ingredients, resulting in dishes that stick to your ribs after providing a powerhouse experience for your palate, even when ingredients are few compared to the extensive pantry required for, say, a Oaxacan mole. Angelica still remembers Abuela specially L a B e l l a M o r e l i a : F o o d , f a m i l i a , a n d f a i t h preparing her favorite childhood meal – huevo en salsa (eggs in salsa), a scrambled egg with homemade salsa. Simple, yet delicious. "I loved my abuela's dishes. They were always so good," said Angelica. "My parents traveled a lot, so I stayed with my abuela, and I had to learn how to cook and do chores. She was much older and needed help." By the time Angelica was seven or eight, she'd begun to recreate Abuela's recipes. Angelica would go on to make those dishes for her own family. She raised four children in Mexico: Marco, German, Nayeli, and Yari, before deciding to pursue the American dream. In 2001, she moved to Macon. Tireless early years in Macon She had many jobs – anything to support her family. During the week she would work at restaurants like Margaritas or American Deli, as well as a textile

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