SABOR: Chef Josefina Santacruz Plates Astonishing International Fare, Promotes Diverse Mexican Cuisine

Serial restaurateur Chef Josefina Santacruz plates astonishing fare in the Mexican tradition, but she also brings delicious Asian street food to Mexico City. Hell-bent on amplifying appreciation for Mexico's City's gastronomical richness, she's also interested in acquainting the public with her passion for eastern cuisine.

Years before receiving a hotel management degree from Universidad Iberoamericana, Chef Josefina knew she wanted to be a chef but sought a hospitality degree because there were no culinary schools in Mexico City at the time. Her inclination toward cooking began early. She shadowed her mother, who, like her mother before her, was a terrific chef and welcomed women into her home for cooking classes. Her mother filled their home with baked goods, cookies and gingerbread houses, prepared from October to December, to sell. Likewise, Chef Josefina made a habit of baking cookies or peanut brittle to sell for spending and shopping money.

"We weren't allowed to watch TV, the six of us, but [my mother] needed a way of keeping us busy and not fighting with each other," Chef Josefina told Latin Post. "There was not a KitchenAid appliance at the time, so she kneaded dough for the bread and the best prize would be to get chosen to punch the dough. She cooked a lot, and she would say, 'Come on, help me.' We'd fight over the spatula to ice the cake."

Her family didn't only like to cook together, they liked to eat together. Sitting together at the table wasn't just important, it was necessary. They sat together to devour every delicious dinner or lunch, and that's what inspired her to cook. She's always viewed cooking as a way of sharing, stating, "When you cook for somebody, you're really giving yourself to them. In Latin culture, or at least in Mexico, it's a way of pampering someone. A way of showing your love is to feed people. I think my first encounters with the kitchen were through my mom, and I finally convinced my dad it was a profession after I completed my college degree."

The cook moved to Hyde Park, New York to study at the respected CIA (Culinary Institute of America) to train to become a pastry chef. After completing her education, she worked at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, and moved back to Mexico where she opened La Trufa and a French cuisine restaurant. She continued to open restaurants (Mai Pei, Pámpano, Zengo, La Sandía, Dumas Gourmet, Sesame and Paprika) in the U.S. and Mexico, hoping to capture and investigate foods native to Mexico, as well as international flavors.

"Mexico City is amazing, and there's interesting things happening in Oaxaca, Puebla and Yucatan, which are the richest gastronomic areas...and Mexico City, of course," said Chef Josefina, who completed a food demonstration at the Signature Grand Tasting at Pier 94 with Chef Mary Giuliani on October 16. "Go to markets in Latin America because that's where life is taking place. Sopes and tortillas are made from freshly ground corn and they're freshly pressed, deep or pan fried, and topped with a bed of black bean, sauce, cheese and always raw onion. But, they can be topped with chorizo, sausage, shredded chicken or sautéed mushrooms. ... You can add fish, shrimp or anything. Sopes are an alternative to the typical puff pastry thing or anything with wheat, and they keep very well when you freeze them. If I'm on a diet, I can stop eating bread, but I cannot quit eat a tortilla."

According to Chef Josefina, Mexico City's food scene has changed drastically over the last decade. Chilangos have begun to stop looking outside when seeking elevated cuisine and they've begun to seen their food as amazing. At the same time, Mexico City locals are also opening their eyes to foreign styles of cooking that they were once resistant to.

"I think what's happening, gastronomically speaking, in Mexico is amazing. It took us too long to really have the courage to finally fool around with our own cuisine," said the owner of Mexico City's Paprika. "Everyone was very into the traditional, which nobody dared to touch, and I think the young chefs that dared to do it are doing a great job. I still love the more casual and streetfood-y things, but they're putting Mexico's gastronomy out there, internationally speaking.

"Mexico City has opened up to all these cuisines. Now, I have this Asian restaurant, which is like the new kid on the block, and doing better than the restaurant that I opened 10 or 15 years ago. Mexico has opened its palate, its views to other cuisines. With Paprika, a Middle Eastern restaurant, I'm trying to put all of these other foods on the table. Culinary speaking, Mexico is waking up. A lot of things are going on, so it is a fiesta. There are a lot things happening. We're a lot more than tacos and enchiladas, there's a lot food, and a lot stuff going on."