Oaxacan chef inadvertently sets Toronto ablaze, steals limelight from Clinton, Clooney

Steals limelight from Clinton, Clooney …

Oaxacan chef inadvertently sets City of Toronto ablaze

Alvin Starkman, M.A., LL.B.

All Pilar Cabrera really wanted was to do a little promotion for Oaxaca, and make a few Canadian dollars during one of the slowest months of the year for tourism. But by the end of Chef Pilar’s four-week September visit to Toronto, she had set both local and national media on fire – so much so that coverage of her trip resulted in every restaurant in which she was scheduled to cook being sold out; she had to turn down last minute requests to work her culinary magic at additional private dinner parties and cooking schools.

The stellar reviews throughout the trip kept chatter alive; Sheryl Kirby of Women’s Culinary Network described her cena at Frida, a highly praised Mexican restaurant, as “one of the best meals of my life,” then continued to note “the sheer brilliance of Cabrera’s 30-ingredient authentic Oaxacan mole.”

Like many Oaxacan women, Pilar learned to cook from her mother and grandmother. But when the time came to think in earnest of her future, her path diverged from that of others. While living in Mexico City she earned a degree in food sciences and nutrition, and thereafter worked in research and development for food giant Herdez, McCormick. She then returned to Oaxaca to open Restaurante La Olla, and Casa de los Sabores Cooking School.

Pilar has been featured in publications such as Bon Appetit and The New York Times, and lauded by the likes of acclaimed restauranteur Rick Bayless who regularly brings his staff to Oaxaca where they take her classes. Over the years she had been offered and then rejected opportunities to teach and cook outside of Mexico. It was not until Spring, 2009, at the encouragement of this writer, and with the invaluable media and culinary industry contacts of Toronto food researcher and writer Mary Luz Mejia of Sizzling Communications, that the Toronto tour became a reality.

A planned two week tour rapidly turned into three, as eateries and a prominent cooking school expressed immediate interest. The trip was extended to four weeks when the Mexican Consulate to Canada learned of Pilar’s trip and asked her to represent Mexico at the Toronto Harbourfront Centre International Hot & Spicy Food Festival – Pilar was a judge at the Emerging Chefs competition, and was pitted against Louisiana in the Iron Chef main event.

Throughout September, the diversity of plates Pilar prepared was matched only by the broad range of restaurants and teaching venues in which she plied her trade – as honored guest chef, and as instructor. At the high end was Frank, the 120-seat dining room of the Art Gallery of Ontario, with a menu which included tiger shrimp al mezcal skewered with mango, fresh Ontario sweet corn bisque garnished with pomegranate, and chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms and poblano chile atop a bed of tomatillo salsa. Pilar’s opportunity to showcase Oaxacan botanas came near the end of the trip at Torito Tapas Bar where a packed house munched on tostaditas with habanera-marinated red snapper and with octopus a la hierba santa, red mole tacos, mushroom and epazote quesadillas, bacon and cheese memelitas, with pastel de tres leches at the finish.

Pilar spent two days at Nella Cucina Culinary School. Managing Director Joanne Lusted lauded Pilar and Ms. Mejia for somehow managing to sell out sessions totaling 80 students, where prominent Canadian chefs had failed to attract such numbers. And at The Chef’s House, the restaurant and hands-on teaching facility of George Brown College School of Culinary Arts, Pilar taught both chefs and students, ultimately providing totally enthralled foodies with the likes of potato and chorizo molotitos, sopa Tehuana, pescado Istmeño, flan de vainilla with seasonal berry coulis, and café de olla.

Media activity began prior to Pilar’s arrival, with The Toronto Sun, in an upcoming events column noting Pilar’s tour ahead of President Bill Clinton’s much-touted talk to Torontonians. The day after her arrival she was live on National TV, showcasing five dishes she had prepared that morning, as well as Herencia del Mezcalero mezcal. September 11th she was in the test kitchen of The Toronto Star preparing moles – verde and amarillo.

“I was nervous about being able to source the ingredients I would need, in Toronto, especially for dishes like verde,” Pilar admits. “I knew the newspaper would not publish a recipe unless all ingredients could be purchased locally. I was amazed at how many of our herbs, chiles and other foodstuffs are found in Kensington Market.” And so was The Star; on the 16th it ran almost a full page about Pilar in its Entertainment & Living section. While the photograph of George Clooney promoting the Toronto International Film Festival was a bit larger than that of Pilar, Jennifer Bain, The Star’s food editor, was allotted much more space to write about our own Oaxacan star.

Other media coverage included several food blog entries, articles in magazines such as City Bites, and a wonderful little piece about Pilar’s take on huitlacoche, aired nationwide on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Here and Now.

All told, Pilar judged, competed, cooked and instructed 11 full days and evenings, in addition to at least an equal number preparing – sourcing ingredients and meeting with administrators and chefs.

The epic journey did allow a few days for visits to several museums; Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and tastings at wineries; a cottage on Lake Simcoe for relaxation; and even Casino Rama (“not for me, but it was interesting to see Las Vegas – style gambling”). And there was an opportunity to sample ethnic eateries including Thai, Sechwan, Ethiopian, Indian, Jewish and Greek; as well as indulge at restaurants ranging from the finest of French (Auberge du Pommier) to neighborhood jazz and wings bistros.

“The warmth with which I was welcomed into the kitchens of other chefs to ask and learn, and the appreciation shown for the little I was able to impart to Torontonians about Oaxaca, was truly remarkable. There is so much the people of Toronto and Oaxaca can learn from each other, relating to gastronomy and other aspects of culture and tourism.”

Indeed. The tour has ignited interest in future tours by Pilar as well as other Oaxacans. With the continued support of the Consulado General de México, and the willingness of the Mexico and Toronto Tourism boards to jump on the bandwagon, perhaps the State of Oaxaca will see the benefit in providing more support and encouragement for its own to travel abroad, for the benefit of all Oaxacans.

Alvin Starkman has a Masters in Social Anthropology from Toronto’s York University, and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Alvin ceased practicing law in 2004, when he and his wife Arlene began living permanently in Oaxaca. Since that time, Alvin has written over 90 articles about life and cultural traditions in and around Oaxaca and its central valleys, for newspapers, magazines, and websites promoting tourism in Mexico and abroad. Alvin and Arlene operate Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.oaxacadream.com).

It's time for Mexico's Calderón to act against Canada

Alvin Starkman, M.A., LL.B. (July, 2009)

As much as president Felipe Calderón is doing to combat drug trafficking in Mexico, he’s doing little if anything to combat Canadian anti-Mexico sentiment. And the result has been taking an enormous toll on tourism to previously popular Mexican tourist destinations. Now is the most opportune time for Calderón to strike back.

It’s fine for the Canadian government to warn against travel to Mexico. In 2006 travel advisories were rampant against travel to the southern state of Oaxaca as a result of civil unrest there, despite the fact that no Canadian (or American) tourist was harmed or even threatened – videographer Bradley Will was not a tourist but rather a wannabe journalist electing to embed himself, video camera in hand, with the far left in the midst of conflict with government troops.

Just two short months ago Canada did it again, telling its citizens to not venture to Mexico because of the swine flu.

Mexico just sits back, while its economy continues to take hits to the head.

Just last month The Toronto Star’s Linda Diebel scared the heck out of Canadians through her series of articles about the Mexican drug trade. She began by tracing the problem to conflict and violence in British Columbia. So where was Calderón? Should he not have been issuing warnings to his people against venturing to war-ravaged British Coloumia?

And where has he been more recently, with new statistics regarding reported cases of swine flu indicating 20 per 100,000 Canadian residents, yet only about 7 per 100,000 of his own countrymen? Should he not be warning against travel to Canada? “Stay on the American side of Niagara Falls, folks, where reported swine flu cases are no more than they are here in Mexico.”

The most recent example of the Mexican government’s lackadaisical approach to tourism and Canada is how it has sat back and let the new visa requirements pass, without significant protest. At least the Czech Republic had the cajones to make a statement, through its actions.

Isn’t it time for Mexico to strike back against Canada, for all that the Canadian government and its journalists have done to adversely affect travel to Mexico? A plea to President Calderón: teach a lesson to Canadians who rely on tourism from Mexico for their livelihood. You’ve got the swine flu, the visa requirements, B.C.’s drug violence – and just take a look at the Greater Toronto Area pages of The Toronto Star newspaper, every day, if you want to see how dangerous it is in Toronto; teen killings, children disappearing, and the continual violence in the northwest corridor of Toronto known as Jane-Finch. Just one strong travel advisory should teach Canada a lesson, and convince its weak and impressionable Prime Minister Harper to think, independent of the U.S., before he acts.

Former Toronto resident Alvin Starkman now resides in Oaxaca, where he operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.oaxacadream.com), boasting all the attributes of downtown Oaxaca hotels, with the quaintness and personal touch of country inn style accommodations. Alvin is also a writer and tour guide, taking couples and families to the ruins, craft villages and market towns in Oaxaca’s central valleys.

Oaxacan chef to visit Toronto, Canada

Renowned Oaxacan chef Pilar Cabrera is taking the bull by the horns. With tourism predicted to be a little weak for the remainder of the year as a result of the adverse publicity generated by the Swine Flu, her way of dealing with an economic downturn which will likely impact the entire country, is to not only seek ways to bring tourism to Oaxaca, but to take a little bit of Oaxaca on the road ... and out of the country; at least for a couple of weeks.

September is traditionally a slow time for tourism, so Pilar is seizing an opportunity by flying up to Toronto, and with the assistance of a well-known food researcher, writer and television and documentary film producer, is offering her services to Ontario restaurants and cooking schools:

The press release features a couple of photos, with the following text:

A Taste of Oaxaca, Mexico in Toronto, Canada with Chef Pilar Cabrera Arroyo
The sun-drenched valley city of Oaxaca, in the Mexican state of the same name, is considered by many to be the country’s culinary capital. Apart from being the land of seven moles (pron. moh-leh), Oaxaca also boasts an impressive gastronomic repertoire long admired by the rest of Mexico and gastronomes the world over. Working within the state’s rich and proud culinary heritage is one of Oaxaca City’s brightest lights in the food world, Pilar Cabrera Arroyo (in photo holding one of her luscious flans).

This September, 2009, Pilar will be visiting Toronto, ON to share those well-preserved traditions with food enthusiasts throughout the GTA.

Pilar grew up in Oaxaca City surrounded by the state’s vast food history and ingredients- including chile dusted fried grasshoppers (chapulines) and pre-Hispanic dishes that tell the tales of ancient, native peoples. After completing a food engineering and nutrition degree, she worked in research and development for the food giant Herdez-McMormick before returning to her true passion- cooking. In 1994, she opened her own restaurant, the award-winning “La Olla” (or the Pot), featuring the produce of regional (when possible, organic) farmers who help make her Oaxacan cuisine a living work of art.

Pilar has also found a growing fan-base of intrigued foodies around the globe through her “Casa de los Sabores” (House of Flavours) cooking school where banana leaf wrapped tamales, rose petal sorbet and Oaxacan yellow mole have become oft-requested recipes. Oaxacan cuisine is a labour of love that requires attention, a deft hand, fine-tuned taste buds and old-world knowledge. Pilar learned the basics and the cuisine’s subtleties from her mother and grandmother. She’s an excellent teacher and speaks English fluently.

Some of Pilar’s Oaxacan Menu Options Include:
• Sopa Azteca (Tortilla soup seasoned with avocado leaves)
• Tamales de Calabaza con Chocolate (Squash and chocolate tamales)
• Taquitos sauves de nopalitos (Tender cactus paddles in soft corn tortillas)
• Mole Negro con pollo o guajolote (Black mole with chicken or turkey – see photo inset)
• Memelitas (Small corn tortillas stuffed with cheese)
• Gelatina de rompope (Eggnog gelatin)
• Flores de calabaza rellenas de requesón (Squash blossoms filled with requesón cheese)

For Pilar, sharing the food of Oaxaca with Torontonians is akin to giving them a glimpse into the region and the dishes that satisfy both body and soul. And for the first time in the chef’s illustrious career, she’ll finally have the opportunity to do just that this September.

To inquire about restaurants and cooking schools in Ontario where Pilar will be working her magic, or for further information regarding opportunities for your own restaurant or cooking school, please contact:
Mary Luz Mejia - Sizzling Communications (in Toronto)
E: mluzy@hotmail.com ; Cel: 416 -992-2644 ; Office: 416-763-3455

Alvin Starkman - Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast