Ingrid Hoffmann becoming ubiquitous

No hablas español? Then you probably have no clue who Ingrid Hoffmann is. That's about to change.

Despite her Germanic name, Hoffmann is the Hispanic world's answer to Martha Stewart (if Martha were feisty, realistic and really, really hot). And she's about to go mainstream in a big way.

This 40-year-old Miami resident (raised in Colombia) is an easy answer to a television-industry prayer. She slots perfectly into so many must-have demographics — youthful, Hispanic and focused on food and home.

And that's why she's in the midst of working on deals that are expected to land her envious dual network-television spots to bring English and Spanish versions of her cooking-and-lifestyle show ("Delicioso" on DirecTV) to millions of homes.

"When people ask me to describe my show, I always say it's 'Sex in the City' meets Martha Stewart," Hoffmann says.

She already appears regularly in the pages of BuenHogar (the Spanish version of Good Housekeeping magazine) and on Univision. And she's also just signed on to film cooking segments for Wal-Mart's in-store television network (they begin airing next month) and has a deal for her first cookbook (due out early next year).

Why the massive rollout for somebody so few people have heard of?

Because so many have heard of her. The nation's Hispanic population is huge and growing fast, and marketers want a piece of that. And if they can muster cross-ethnic appeal, all the better.

Hence the deals that aim to make Hoffmann a household name.

Regardless of whether Hoffmann lives up to the hype, the surge behind her speaks volumes about what to expect in grocery stores, cookbooks and on menus during the coming decade. Hoffmann calls it pan-Latin. Second-generation Hispanics are less interested in re-creating grandma's recipes, and more prone to blending the flavors of their heritage — the cilantro, the chipotle chilies — with the popular foods of their home, Hoffmann says.

And that's how you end up with chorizo hot dogs and quinoa as the darling new grain of foodies everywhere.

"It's the combination of the burgers and the beans," she says, "What I mean by that is the joining of the two cultures, which is how I live and how I eat. I mix American food with Latin food."

Americans also are realizing that Hispanic means more than just Mexican. Latin American foods offer an almost stunning range of flavors, many with roots in European foods and traditions, Hoffmann says.

"That's something I've started noticing a lot of, the addition of Latin flavors in restaurants where you maybe five years ago would have never found that," she says.

But unlike so many American food trends — which often trickle down from high-end restaurants and pricey gourmet shops — the Latin influence is bubbling up. It's not just a numbers thing; Hispanic foods are simply more accessible.

"Remember the demographic, the social status of the Hispanic in this country used to be incredibly poor," Hoffmann says. "It still is."

For Hoffmann, at least, that seems on the verge of change.