Bren Herrera, owner of the award-winning culinary blog of Flanboyant Eats, subsists on passion. The private chef, life stylist, food blogger, television personality and queen of chic has developed a career by sticking to her passions, producing grand meals, and being her most authentic self.

Walnut candied yams, the mac and cheese, French green beans prepared with truffle oil and garlic and all of the non-Cuban things are consumed on Thanksgiving. But, the day after, the Herrera family hosts a Cuban Thanksgiving, which features black beans, rice, plantain, yucca, ham, lechón, flan and a variety of Cuban things.

"We do traditional on Thursday, and then, on Friday, it's our food," Herrera told Latin Post. "It's an unspoken policy not to do turkey on Friday."

The Afro-Cuban chef is like any other, embracing any and every aspect of her identity in order to plate food that's personal and imaginative; and she's motivated by a lust for zest, culinary tourism and sensational flavors. Nonetheless, Herrera took the scenic route to becoming a professional chef, first falling in love with legal rhetoric and international policy, which led her to law school. Then, she resigned to become a corporate paralegal secretary before moving to Atlanta, where she attempted to realize her dream of becoming a musician. However, no matter what she was doing in her career, she always cooked.

"I always cooked," said Chef Bren. "When I worked in law in D.C., I was very well connected to politicians, lobbyists and lawyers, etc. So, I would host dinner parties all the time, and my food was always a big point of conversation. I hosted dinner parties, making everything from the cocktails, to the punches, to main course, to the desserts. ... [I]t was a major spread every time. My friends and colleagues always wanted one particular recipe, my pollo fricassee, which is chicken cooked in a really robust red wine and tomato sauce."

Entertainment was also a huge part of the chef's life in Atlanta, and she eventually began sponsoring huge annual events to raise money for charities. In 2007, she asked a local celebrity to MC her fundraiser, which led to her being invited to cater an event for the celebrity's publicist.

Herrera called her graphic designer and her web developer to help her create a logo and the "Flanboyant Eats" website. The name derived from a family-wide love of flan; it being both her and her mother's signature dessert.

"My mom absolutely and unequivocally was the reason I started cooking," said Herrera. "In Latin culture, everything of meaning happens in the kitchen. Growing up in that environment with my mom, who cooked six days a week for many kids and my dad, I was just always exposed to really great food. In Cuban culture, food just drives everything, and my mom took interest in teaching us all the importance of good food, quality food and fresh food. Seeing people's reactions to my mom's food, I thought, 'there's something special about her cooking.'"

Herrera's mother's food was such a hit that Herrera's father's co-workers created a fund to pay her to cook for them each Friday. Then, the demand intensified, prompting her mother to start a food truck years before food trucks were popular. There, in front of the immigration services building in Arlington, Virginia, her mother sold yellow rice, picadillo, fresh coffee and classic Cuban foods.

"One dish that mom has always been remembered for are her black beans and her pot roast," said Herrera. "I'm still not on her level when it comes to Cuban food. She said I'll have to be married and have a least two kids in order to understand...to get to her level of cooking."

Chef Bren explained how flan became such a delicacy in her home. Her mother only prepared it two or three times a year, and her father was given half, while the other half was rationed between five people. Herrera decided she didn't want to fight over flan, she would learn how to make it herself. Then, she took it to another level, incorporating flan into her brand.

Chef Bren's signature savory dish is braised oxtail, prepared in a pressure cooker. Also, she enjoys utilizing different oils, using smoky flavors, and using lavender in many creative ways.

"I'm like infusing different olive oils, heightening them with flavors like chili," said Herrera. "Hot food is not a Cuban thing at all. We use a lot herbs and spices, but our food isn't hot-spicy. Nonetheless, I've been trying to tame my palate to tolerate it a little more. I've been working with different flavors into my oils so that the spice is there, but not so 'top-layer'. I'll add chili or habaneros in my olive oil just to get that lift, but again, not searing heat. Also, I like smoky... I love cumin a lot. My mom thinks that I overuse but I think it's very versatile. Also, I really like lavender. If I can make lavender work, I'll make lavender work: lavender butter, lavender oil, lavender sugar... anything."

The Flanboyant Eats, once a standalone website, was driven by recipes, recipe development, reviews, chef profiles and product reviews. Last year, Herrera merged Flanboyant Eats and all of her brands under BrenHerrera.com. The newer site captures her adventures as a chef, lifestylist and jetsetter. She's done away with chef profiles and restaurant reviews, and she's focusing on recipe development and recipes that speak to her lifestyle and trends.

"On my site, it's not just a picture of a dish, there's always a backstory to how the recipe is developed, or why I love it, and what made it work, and what didn't, and what inspired it," said Herrera. "It's very much inspiration driven. I don't post every day. I'm not a recipe site; I'm a food and lifestyle site."

The rising chef has a number of projects in the works, including a reality show and a cookbook tentatively titled, "No Pressure: Modern Pressure Cooking Made Easy," to be released October of 2016. The cookbook will capture her love of the pressure cooker, and it will include French, Cuban and American cuisine. The Cuban section will include a lot of flan.

"It's going to be a really great technical and practical book on how to use a pressure cooker, coming from the vantage point of a young person who just fell in love with the cooking technique," said Herrera. "I want people to fall in love with it the way my mom helped me fall in love with it over 20 years ago. They'll be a timeline helping readers to understand it."

Chef Bren said being completely authentic is the best tool for getting where you need to be. According to her, whenever she's decided to deviate, it hasn't worked out. Simply put, "Be authentic, and don't be apologetic for it. I'm not into apologizing for who I am or how I do things. Be consistent, open and authentic about your work, and fans will follow you. I put passion into everything that I do: designing my home, creating recipes and my workout regimen. Everything."

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