Companies have found that Latin-inspired foods not only resonate with Hispanics - at 14 percent of the population now the nation's largest minority - but also make a splash with mainstream consumers ever on the prowl for new and exciting flavors.

While most of higher education is begging for gifts, the Culinary Institute of America had repeatedly rejected a $35 Million offer over a period of two years. It has finally accepted the $35 Million gift, thought to be the largest single donation to culinary education, to support the training of Hispanics in the food industry.

Of the several Immigration discussions on the weekend talk shows, the most violent (and hence the most realistic) was at Meet the Press, where Pat Buchanan faced Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill). The Politico website says "Food Fight!: The usually-staid “Meet the Press” on NBC turned into a smackdown Sunday…And it wasn’t pretty. There were..."

The nation's 42 million Hispanics are coming into their own and leaving their mark on everything from food, sports and fashion to entertainment and business. They're fawned over by Fortune 500 companies anxious to tap into $800 billion in annual spending. And they're one of the newest obsessions of big media companies eager to stay relevant.

About 1000 nonunion workers, mostly Hispanics upset with the recent firing of immigrants for allegedly providing false documents, walked off their jobs at a Smithfield Foods Inc. slaughtering plant, a union spokeswoman said. Smithfield Foods also has allegedly failed to address problems of sexual harassment and denial of workers compensation claims

Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and ground almonds.It derives its characteristic flavor from bitter almonds, which constitute 4% to 6% of the total almond content by weight. Some marzipan is also flavored with rosewater. Persipan is a similar product, for which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels.Marzipan is often made into sweets: common uses are marzipan-filled chocolate and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables. It is also rolled into thin sheets and glazed for icing cakes and is traditionally used in wedding cakes, Christmas cakes, and stollen. In some countries marzipan is shaped into small figures of animals as a traditional treat for New Year's Day. Marzipan is also used in Tortell, and in some versions of king cake eaten during the Carnival season.In Italy, particularly in Palermo, marzipan (marzapane) is often shaped and painted with food colorings to resemble fruit — Frutta martorana — especially during the Christmas season. In Portugal, traditional marzipan (maçapão) fruit shaped sweets made in the Algarve region are called morgadinhos. There are other regions, as Toledo in Spain in which marzipan is shaped into simple animal shapes, and usually filled in with egg yolk and sugar (yema). In Latin American cuisine, marzipan is known as mazapán and is also traditionally eaten at Christmas. In the Netherlands Marzipan figures are given as presents to children during Saint Nicholas' Eve.In the Middle-East, marzipan (known as lozina, which is derived from the word "lows", the arabic word for almonds) is flavored with orange-flower water and shaped into roses and other delicate flowers before they are baked.The Indian sweet Badam Barfi, also made from Almonds, tastes similar to marzipan.