Growing up with two incredible cooks and a pastry lover was not considered important for me at the time. I had no idea the techniques and recipes I learned then would keep me prepping and cooking into the future. I discovered handmade caramels with my grandmother, baked empanadas with my father and some of the most delicious simplest quick dishes with my mother. She was fast in the kitchen and everything was perfect including the salt content. I started in the kitchen about 10 years old and by the time I was 14, I was using my mother’s collection of Life Cookbooks to make American desserts and other favorites.
My mother is Peruvian and father, Chilean and ‘abuelita’ was from Peru and she was famous back in Peru for all the desserts she made from scratch. The cuisine at home was homemade every evening and we didn’t eat fast food. Eating fast food was a treat. My grandmother loved White Castle and so perhaps once or twice a month she would take my brother and I out to eat as many tiny square hamburgers as we could. I grew up in NYC and its famous for the Pizza and anyone that has traveled to NYC and tried the pizza knows what I am talking about, ‘You know what I mean?’
My father and mother loved to eat well so we went out all the time in the city and frequented Spanish, Italian and Asian restaurants. My father would get invited to some of these places and he knew how to get in with the owners and chefs. Not before long they’d be coming to our home and cooking and entertaining with us. That’s how we all started learning about food from the world.
Here’s a drink you’ll enjoy that will quench your thirst.
Serve a glass of white wine half way and top it off with tonic soda. Serve with a slice of orange.
