LOS ANGELES, Calif. — According to the 2022 U.S. census report, over two million people from El Salvador live in the U.S., and over a third live in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles-based Salvadoran writer Karla Vasqez saw a gap in the media's representation of Salvadoran food and culture, so she wrote a cookbook called "The SalviSoul Cookbook." 

It's a cookbook that celebrates the food stories of the Salvadoran diaspora in the U.S., particularly in Los Angeles. Vasquez did this after searching through Salvadoran cookbooks and finding only two ever—printed copies, which are no longer available.

"Historically, Salvadoran narratives, Salvadoran people, have been ignored," Vasquez explained. "We have issues in immigration to tell you that, foreign policy to tell you that, so why wouldn't it also be the case for cookbooks?"

Jocelyn Duarte is the executive director of the Salvadoran American Legal and Education Fund (SALEF), and says for that reason, Vasquez's cookbook is more than just a cookbook.

"What she did is she turned it around. Not only at a time where there's a lot of negative stereotypes around Central Americans, particularly Salvadorans, but at a time where it's important for us to curate our own stories," Duarte said. 

According to the Pew Research Center, Salvadorans are the third-largest population group of Latinos in the U.S., behind Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. 

The "SalviSoul Cookbook" is available now everywhere books are sold.