“Don’t miss out on enjoying the meal because it’s really something exceptional; you may find lots of feelings in it. There are many times when chefs reflect their feelings, what we actually feel at a time, by making a ish.”

Jaime and I interviewed Karla with the curiosity of meeting the only female hef in Vallarta, and we did it for the grand opening of this magazine section. We found out a lot of things in this friendly encounter.

First of all, we want to ask you where and when you discovered your fondness of cuisine I’m from San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. My grandma on my father’s side had this ranch and she used the stove and the flat stone for grinding corn, and I remember I used to get impressed by her cooking.

She used to make very typical dishes from the region, especially one cooked for parties that consists of a bread soup and prickly tomatoes, very much like the capirotada people make here, but in that neck of the woods it was called bread soup. I remember that very much as the origins of my flair for cooking.

Can you tell us when you made up your mind to try your hand professionally at cuisine and how much you’ve achieved from that professional standpoint?

I was always drawn to studying something related to foodstuffs. Back in prep school I didn’t know there was this kind of course at a time when I was seeking courses on, for instance, nutrition, food chemistry and the like. One day at the house of an auntie of mine, she told me about this institute teaching gastronomy courses. I went there, to the Mexican Culinary Institute and I graduated from the gastronomy course. I enrolled in a seminar on restaurants and as an undergraduate I worked in a restaurant in Puebla called “1800” that serves typical meals. That’s a very famous and recognized eatery, so I kept on working there for a whole year while piecing my thesis work together.

As soon as I walked out of college I started sending my resume through the Internet and the first place I got a call from was the Fiesta Americana here in Puerto Vallarta. I worked there for a year, first as a cook class B, and two months later after my arrival I was in charge of the specialty restaurant. At the same time, I was teaching at the CONALEP and currently I teach at the University of Guadalajara.

I’d like you to go back to San Cristobal de las Casas and its cuisine richness. In addition to the bread soup, what other things that left a good aftertaste in your mouth do you actually recall?

Oh, there’re so many things in San Cristobal. The traditional pastry is great. I remember those heart-shaped cookies at the delis, and that peach-fermented soft drink called Nectarin. I used to treat myself with both.

I also remember superb meals like the chicken a la casserole with olives and potatoes; a kind of tamale called untado that comes with stringy meat and a pinch of saffron, as well as another tamale called bola, this one stuffed with pork meat in red sauce. Well, there are so many things in San Cristobal, all across Chiapas, like the sausages, the beans and stuff like that that remind me of those times.

Have you managed to merge those elements with your current cooking style? How’s your cooking style now?

At the Mestizo Restaurant, we kind of do contemporary Mexican cuisine, that is, traditional Mexican food melted into today’s cuisine, something designed to strike patrons’ attention with a blend of flavors, textures and aromas, without forgetting about Mexican ingredients. My dishes always carry some Mexican ingredients or a Mexican-style touch.

Then, how would you pigeonhole your cooking style?

Contemporary Mexican cuisine. Those coming to Mexico for a first time strongly believe that Mexican cuisine is heavily seasoned with spices. What will you say to those with that idea in their minds?

Well, I’ll tell them to get a crack at my dishes and we’ll sit down to talk later on. There’s such a huge variety of ingredients in Mexico that it’s not hard to get a well-balanced meal. For example, at the Mestizo I make a cacao a la mescal sauce with no spices. At the end of the day, the patron leaves the restaurant with a different idea about what Mexican cuisine is really all about. Traditionally, chefs have always been male, though that concept appears to be changing quite a lot.

How do you feel about it and how do you see the road ahead?

Truth is I went through quite a lot in this job because, as you just said, the whole thing is very masculine and it’s a bit of a drab for a woman. They are very jealous and not open at all in front of a woman. They were not teaching anything. But time rolls on and you start getting stronger and believing in the fact that you can make it.

Now I run a kitchen full of men, I know it’s tough, but I’m the one calling the shots and they have to do what I say. It’s also way too hard to make them accept you when you’re hailing from a professional environment. There were times in the past when you used to speak to them in terms they didn’t quite understand. You need to change the entire cooking concept, manage new standards that are not commonplace in many restaurants, though you do hear about them in hotels because many of them are in the corporate level. It’s an uphill battle but I guess we’re moving in the right direction, and the future is bright for female chefs.

How have you fared in practical terms? Is it similar to what you thought when you used to watch your grandma cook?

No, I used to watch my grandma cook with great patience, yet a chef’s life is on the fast lane all the time. There’re no opening or closing times, and you have to be cooking and cleaning everything.

It’s a tough career, but it gives you many good satisfactions. The fact of stopping by a table and being congratulated for the meal is a sensational reward. I love to interact with patrons, to hear their opinions and so forth. At the Mestizo, since it’s a small restaurant, I can do that. I introduce myself and we talk. Many of them get an entirely new concept of the Mexican cuisine. I’m in love with my career and I wish I could do something in my country and become an important person.

Does every chef dream of having his or her own restaurant?

You bet! And that’s mine, too! The point is I believe I still have a long way to go, travel more and know more before making my dream come true: have my own restaurant.

What’re your star ingredient and your role-model chef?

My number-one ingredient is salt.

Without salt, no meal gets the flavor it takes, and I also love prickly tomatoes. Yet seasoning is the most important thing of all. As to my favorite chef, I had this professor who taught me the foundations of the culinary art. His name is Lee and I grew to look up at him a lot. He taught me everything I learned about the love for cooking. If salt is your favorite ingredient, then what’s your favorite dish?

As a good Mexican, I love tacos. I love dining on tacos, and I love Italian food, pastas, the sauces. I truly love all food. What about what you cook?

What I cook. Well, I love making crème brulle with a pinch of tequila, mutton in mutton sauce with a tad of chipotle, and a tart of goat cheese with slices of chili.

You told us the greatest satisfaction comes from your interaction with patrons. What about the least satisfactory moments?

The time you need to be in the kitchen and the hot temps you endure in there.

Do you believe in the assumption that men are conquered by fireside love?

I do believe that a good dish could make any man fall in love with a woman.