That was one thing my mama instilled in me: to be well trained in the kitchen. Growing up, I was always in the kitchen with her. You name it, I make it: red beans and rice, lasagna, chicken, pork. I am the queen of cooking.
My inspiration was my mom. She's a great cook, and she still cooks, and we still banter back and forth about cooking. Growing up in a mostly Portuguese community, food was important and the family table was extremely important. At a very young age I understood that.
Everyone's past is locked up in their recipes - the past of an individual and the past of a nation as well.
My grandmother used to make the most incredible chicken divan, and my mom has carried out that tradition. It's my comfort food. It's amazing how you can almost taste the memories with a dish like that! And the more leftovers, the better.
No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, and the wisdom of cookbook writers.
To me, my recipes are priceless.
My mom was Sicilian, my dad was Sicilian. Mom was a great cook, but all the women were.
The culinary tradition in my family is very strong. My mother, a very wise woman, spent the better part of her life in a kitchen. It's a very strong part of her identity. I grew up there next to the fire.
My grandmother was the genesis of my connection and passion to food.
My mother and my grandmother are pioneers of Mexican cuisine in this country, so I grew up in the kitchen. My mom, Zarela Martinez, was by far my biggest influence and inspiration - and toughest critic.
My great-grandmother taught my mom to cook and she passed down the recipes to me.
My grandfather was a chef for a Baron in Sicily before he came to America. I grew up with him. I used to do my homework at one end of the kitchen table while he cooked at the other end.
My cooking style is exactly like my mother's.
Just like if you were brought up on a farm, you would most likely carry on your father's business as a farmer; I was brought up in the kitchen and ended up becoming a chef.
