“All that we have learned has been, as we Cubans say, ‘ a golpe .’”

Amanda Melendez is explaining the success of her food truck in Kissimmee, Florida, and it’s quickly becoming clear that her popularity did not come by accident: It was forged out of fire.

“A golpe” literally means “by blows,” and when Melendez says she learned that way, she means that she did so through struggle or sheer force of will.

It would be easy to forget this while salivating over a plate of her cerdo asado , or roast pork, the meat falling apart under a gleaming sheet of crispy skin. Served over Cuban rice and beans with pickled onions, fried sweet plantains, and yuca, the knock-out dish makes customers feel at home.…