TORONTO – Brown sugar was foaming in the pan. Add the pickled goat meat and it will sizzle. Heap spoonfuls of olives and capers into the mixture. Then Altagracia Albino, who could make this dish with her eyes closed, froze.
“Did I put any seasoning in here?” She whispered in Spanish.
Albino, 66, was careful not to make as much noise as it was 7:22 a.m. Her husband and grandson Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 20, one of baseball’s brightest young stars, were sleeping in their room. The family’s Toronto apartment. But I couldn’t avoid the familiar smell of grilling meat.
Caught in the net, the silver-haired albino bent down to examine the meat and, deciding it was really bad, reached for a bag of crushed red peppers. She had just enough time to finish the feast with white rice, stewed beans and goat before Guerrero woke up at 11 a.m. and quickly departed. Carrying bags of food to share with Blue Jays teammates and opponents for the Rogers Center.
Albino is probably the most popular and powerful grandmother in baseball. For nearly 20 years, she has filled the tummies of hundreds of athletes. Most were Latin Americans far from her hometown. Eating her comfort foods is a tradition that has made her especially popular Among players from the Dominican Republic, the family’s homeland.
Some people call the albino “abuela,” or grandmother, but most have never met her. she was there Every stage of the career of her son Vladimir Guerrero Sr.; She was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year, and she now oversees her son’s Hall of Fame.
“I do this for love,” Alvino said recently, sipping coffee at his restaurant table while his food cooked.
Alvino learned to cook in bulk at his mother’s food stand in Don Gregorio, a small, baseball-loving town in the Dominican Republic. After experiencing his family’s financial difficulties, Alvino took over the stand’s cook duties at the age of ten.
No country outside of the United States has produced more MLB players than the Dominican Republic, and few families have produced more MLB players than Guerrero. Alvino’s four sons, Vladimir Sr., Wilton, Eleazar and Julio Cesar, all became professional baseball players, as did several of their children. Rookie Vladimir Jr. is currently the only grandson in the major leagues.
She would live with Vladimir Sr. for most of his 16-year career, but initially with his older brother, Wilton, who reached the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers just weeks before Vladimir Sr. joined the Montreal Expos in September. 1996.
Wilton told his mother that his Dominican and Venezuelan teammates craved home-cooked meals, so she made them for him to take to the stadium. She felt relieved when Wilton was traded to the Expos in 1998, allowing her to cook for her two sons. Wilton left Montreal in 2000, but Alvino stayed with Vladimir Sr. for the remainder of his career, including stops in Texas, Baltimore, and Anaheim. Even Angels owner Arte Moreno joined Alvino’s feast.
Alvino thought he was done cooking for baseball players in 2011, when Vladimir Sr. ended his major league career. But in 2016, Vladimir Jr., whom she helped raise, became a professional athlete, and Alvino returned to his daily life. She lived with him at every level of the minor leagues, from spring training in Dunedin, Florida, to Class AAA Buffalo. Guerrero joked last year that if he somehow ended up in China, he would go there with him.
“As long as I have power, I have to give it to them,” Albino said of his grandchildren. “So I dedicated myself to this work.”
To this day, Albino refuses to even cover the cost of supplies, let alone payment for his efforts. Guerrero, who asked his grandparents to come live with him in Toronto, felt proud to be part of the tradition of sharing food.
“I had to keep going,” he said.
Her support isn’t just limited to cooking. She attends every home game and when she sees him complaining to the referee, she rolls her eyes and encourages him to maintain an even temperament.
“She always told me to respect the game and respect my teammates,” Guerrero said.
Her mother’s personality brings vitality to her cooking. She does all the chopping, stirring and cooking as a labor of love, even when her knees hurt. She recently joked that the players she has raised over the decades are her own offspring, along with 23 of her own grandchildren and six of her great-grandchildren.
“I didn’t expect her to still cook, but I was glad to see she was still cooking,” said Minnesota Twins slugger Nelson Cruz, 39, who first tried cooking for an albino when he was 25. I followed her example and brought meals to the park for my team and guests. “I ate her food when we came to Toronto this year. “She still has the same delicious food she had in 2006.”
On a recent morning, Albino cooked 15 pounds of goat, 2 pounds of red beans and 10 pounds of rice. She speaks enough English to order most of the things she needs from a store near her grandson’s apartment, just a few blocks from the Rogers Center. During the long homestand, the refrigerator in the kitchen and the small refrigerator in the living room rented from the Blue Jays are full.
Although many people have sought out Alvino’s recipes, including the Blue Jays’ clubhouse chef, she does not have an official recipe.
“The only thing I measure is rice, so it’s not undercooked.” She said, pouring rice and water into a large pot.
Her secret is her beloved bean stew sauce (soffritto). She started with cilantro, onion, garlic, celery, and oregano puree. She said she came from the Dominican Republic because it tastes better. She believes it sets it apart by adding a little sweetness to the beans by adding tomato paste, seasoning blend, chicken stock powder, and sugar.
Cavan Biggio, 24, a Blue Jays second baseman from Texas, said of Albino’s cooking, “It’s really amazing.”
“It’s the best,” added Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, a 22-year-old Dominican native who likened Alvino’s cooking to that of his mother and grandmother.
Everyone knows that Alvino is the backbone of the Guerrero family. When the Blue Jays wanted Guerrero to lose weight (last winter he was listed at 6-foot-2, 250 pounds), they shared her story with her.
“Boss,” said Puerto Rican Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. He made sure to meet her during her trip to the Dominican Republic after she joined the company.
Alvino said he lost 12 pounds during spring training after feeding Guerrero mostly smoothies, multigrain toast, grilled meat, fish and vegetables.
But his diet during the six-month regular season – and that of players who receive special meals – doesn’t matter much because he burns so many calories practicing and playing.
Although players from all countries eat her food, Albino always checks with her grandson to see how many Dominicans are on the opposing team. Last weekend, there was only one player among the visiting Seattle Mariners: Domingo Santana.
Athletes do not need to request a meal. Guerrero personally brings them to the park, and a clubhouse assistant brings them to the visitor’s clubhouse.
“Sometimes I don’t even try to cook it myself,” Alvino said.
It may seem that every Dominican player knows an albino or has a connection to her. Yankees pitcher Luis Severino, 25, said his family’s cook in New York was his albino daughter-in-law. Before one game in Toronto this season, Albino’s Yankees clubhouse delivery was gobbled up so quickly that Severino had his daughter-in-law request a special order. He received it the next day.
“When we’re together as a family, she always cooks,” said Arizona Diamondbacks utility player Ketel Marte, 25, who is married to one of Alvino’s granddaughters.
There is only one rule for people accepting food from albinos in the stadium. Plastic containers are washed and returned. When Severino did not return after one game, Alvino sent him another game the next day, with a note on top of it: “Please return the container.”
