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Thursday, July 15, 2010

A Few Words About Mentors

Chefs, amateur cooks, housewives, and foodies will often make reference to those major influences that shaped the way that they cook.  Budding French chefs and those who are already established will refer to Julia Child, the books of Auguste Escoffier, or today the culinary magic of Guy Martin of Paris' "Le Grand Vefour".  Italian chefs often make reference to Marcela Hazan in Venice or Lidia Bastianich in New York.   For Cuban cooks and chefs there is only one name in the hallowed halls of the Chef's Hall of Fame.  That name is Nitza Villapol.  Who was and still is, undeniably, THE authority on Cuban cuisine.  Although she is deceased, her tomes on Cuban cuisine live on in many printings.  My mother stepped onto a plane in Havana to come to America with the clothes on her back, one suitcase, and her cookbook by Nitza Villapol, "Cocina Al Minuto"  She still has that cookbook, albeit torn and tattered, yellowed from age.  But it still produces for its reader some pretty knockout recipes.  Before, Giada, before Mario, before Iron Chef and even before Julia, Nitza was playing in thousands of Cuban homes via television.  Cuban households had television before any other Latin American country.  Nitza had her own cooking show and she was worshipped and adored by Cuban housewives in the 40's and 50's.  She never left Cuba for the kinder, gentler political climate in the U.S.  And even after the Cuban Revolution, the Castro Regime still allowed her to have her show on government controlled television.  During and after the Revolution, Nitza adapted her repertoire of recipes to the tough times that followed as a result of the trade embargo and later the fall of the Soviet Union when Cuba lost alot of resources.  So occasionally if you are Cuban and you are reading this blog, you may see recipes that look familiar because your mother or grandmother cooked a similar dish.  My mother, as well as your mother, or your grandmother, or your aunt read those recipes and adapted them to the family needs and tastes.  We owe it all to Nitza...Thanks, girl!

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