Los Angeles News Group Opinion Editor Mariel Garza

The Only Thing Better Than One Hot Sauce Is Two

Mariel Garza is the opinion editor for the Los Angeles News Group newspapers. Before moderating a panel on the dearth of women in L.A. city politics, she talked hot sauce, camembert cheese, and virtual harp in the Zócalo green room.

Q:

What do you wake up to?


A:

The sound of a harp—on the iPhone—that’s what I wake up to in the morning. Birds cheeping, dogs licking my face …


Q:

What’s your favorite condiment?


A:

That’s got to be a tie between Tapatío and rooster sauce—Sriracha. You know I’ve never tried them together … maybe I should.


Q:

What advice do you give to aspiring journalists?


A:

Go into a different business.


Q:

How did you get into trouble as a child?


A:

I used to drag things from the street into the house. One time a Christmas tree in January—it just looked so forlorn out there on the sidewalk, I dragged it up in my room. So my mom wasn’t very thrilled about that. I still drag things off the sidewalk now—old furniture, animals, people.


Q:

What do you proselytize for?


A:

As an opinion journalist, pretty much anything and everything.


Q:

How do you get politicians to answer a question?


A:

Ask them. Ask them again. Ask them again. Ask them a different way. Ask them even another way. And hopefully, eventually, they’ll answer the question.


Q:

What item would you bid for on eBay?


A:

Or what have I bid for on eBay? The last thing I bid for on eBay were 10 mid-’60s orange flower tiles. So, that.


Q:

Did you win them?


A:

I did. They’re now in my newly retiled bathroom.


Q:

What promise to yourself do you break most often?


A:

To be nicer to myself.


Q:

What cheese best epitomizes you?


A:

A cheeky little camembert—something stinky, but remarkable.