Arturo Féliz-Camilo is a Dominican author, chef, academic, and lawyer. He has published about a variety of topics, but is most well known for his cookbooks, usually about Dominican food and its origins, traditions, and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

Early life

Arturo Féliz-Camilo was born in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

in 1977 to Danilo A. Féliz-Sánchez and Ana Antonia Camilo. Féliz-Camilo graduated

Magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo with a bachelor in law. He holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in corporate law from Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra. He is also a professional interpreter, certified by Language Line Services and has completed graduate studies in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

from the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

from the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

, The Origins of Crime, from

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian s ...

, Human Evolution from the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

and canon law and bible interpretation from Seminario Pontificio Santo Tomás de Aquino. Féliz-Camilo has published books about law, politics, Catholic apologetics, Dominican food, culture, myths and legends, and other Dominican culture-related topics.

Early cooking career

Arturo's cooking style and influences come from family traditional cooking and years of his own research in the Dominican countryside. His style is generally traditional Dominican cookery. He has said that he is somewhat opposed to the "New Dominican Style" and "Dominican Fusion Food". His rationale is that Dominican food is paramount to the Dominican identity and as such it should be cared for and promoted so that it is known before it's "tainted by fusion". As many other traditional cooks, Arturo started to learn and cook from a very early age with his grandmother, "Mamá Pura", and his mother "Mamá Antonia". He believes his cooking is part of his being Dominican and

Taíno The Taíno were a historic Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, indigenous people of the Caribbean whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the ...

. Arturo comes from a very ancient Dominican family, tracing his origins back to the Native American

tribe. He also claims Puerto Rican

ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

and has spent considerable time learning the Caribbean recipes that make the core of his menus. Arturo-feliz-camilo

Cookbooks

Arturo Féliz-Camilo's

cookbooks A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

have won multiple Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. In 2014, his book, ''Diccionario Culinario Dominicano'' ("The Dominican Cooking Lexicon") won in the national Gourmand category for food literature. In 2017, his book ''Longaniza Dominicana'' won the Gourmand national categories for "meats" and "self-published" book. ''Longaniza Dominicana'' was shortlisted for the world finals in the "single subject category", going on to place 3rd, and the "Best in the World" cookbook denomination.

Television

Féliz-Camilo has consulted for TV shows including

Andrew Zimmern Andrew Scott Zimmern (born July 4, 1961) is an American chef, restaurateur, television and radio personality, director, producer, businessman, food critic, and author. Zimmern is the co-creator, host, and consulting producer of the Travel Channe ...

's ''Bizarre Foods''. He made an appearance in season 17, episode 5: "Discovering Columbus".

Professional life

Féliz-Camilo teaches

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and Dominican history, as well as

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

. He also consults on Dominican Food, History, and Culture, and is frequently featured on

and international cooking shows. He is married and has three children: two girls and a boy.

Awards and recognition

*''Diccionario Culinario Dominicano''. In 2014 won best cookbook of food literature for Dominican Republic *''Longaniza Dominicana.'' In 2017 won best cookbook in the meats and self-published categories *''Longaniza Dominicana''. In 2018 won "Best in the World" (3rd place) in the single subject category *Donus D. Roberts Coach Award, Quadruple Ruby National Speech and Debate Association Coach. February, 2018. *''Longaniza Dominicana''. In 2020 was announced as "Best of the Best 25" (Best in the last 25 years) in the single subject category

Bibliography

**''Historia, cuentos, leyendas y fábulas de familia''. April, 2012. **''Las recetas de Mamá Pura''. April, 2012. **''El árbol de la felicidad y otros cuentos velados''. August, 2012. **''Porvenir Regulatorio del Mercado de Valores de la República Dominicana''. August, 2012. **''Colección Completa Artículos Socio-Políticos I''. 2008. August, 2012. **''Colección Completa Artículos Socio-Políticos II.'' 2009. August, 2012. **''Colección Completa Artículos Socio-Políticos III''. 2010–2011. August, 2012. **''Colección Completa Artículos Socio-Políticos''. 2008–2011. August, 2012. **''The Lost Garden and Other Veiled Tales''. November, 2012. **''Mama Pura's Recipes.'' May, 2013. **''The best of Dominican desserts''. May, 2013. **''Los mejores postres dominicanos.'' May, 2013. **''The Dominican Cooking Lexicon''. May, 2013. **''Diccionario Culinario Dominicano.'' May, 2013. **''Catolicismo Evangélico''. June, 2013. **''Las falsas denominaciones cristianas''. June, 2013. **''El protocolo de la Miel y la frontera dominico-haitiana''. May, 2013. **''El sazón de la cocina dominicana''. September, 2013. **''Dominican Spice''. October, 2013. **''Las recetas de Mamá Pura. Edición Especial''. January, 2014. **''How to Make Dominican Longaniza''. September 2016. **''Longaniza Dominicana''. January 2017.

External links

*
Arturo Féliz-Camilo's Dominican Food blog

Arturo Féliz-Camilo's Dominican Food blog
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feliz-Camilo, Arturo Living people 1977 births Dominican Republic male writers Dominican Republic academics Male chefs Cookbook writers Dominican Republic short story writers Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo alumni Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra alumni