Maricel Presilla is a chef, culinary historian, and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. She is best known for her

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

restaurants Cucharamama and Zafra. She is also a former history lecturer at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

before she entered the food industry.

Biography

Maricel E. Presilla is the first

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

n woman to have been invited as a guest chef at the White House. She was nominated twice for

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...

journalism awards for articles witten for ''Saveur'' magazine. She was a four-time

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

nominee and won as Best Chef Mid-Atlantic on 7 May 2012. A year later, on 4 May 2013, her book ''Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America'' was named Cookbook of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. The International Association of Culinary Professionals chose ''Gran Cocina Latina'' as the best general book on 9 April 2013. Presilla is the chef and co-owner of Cucharamama in

, Zafra and Ultramarinos, her Latin American marketplace, bakery and chocolate shop are also in Hoboken. She specializes in the foods of Latin America and Spain. She also "holds a doctorate in medieval Spanish history from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and has received formal training in cultural anthropology. She taught at

in their history department" Presilla has studied tropical crops, cacao and

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the p ...

agriculture, as well as

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

production and "is the president of Gran Cacao Company, a Latin American chocolate research and marketing company that specializes in the sale of premium cacao beans from Latin America." She writes the column ''Cocina'' for the Miami Herald since 2003. She is a member of the advisory board of the Latin American food studies program of the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

in San Antonio. In September 2009, she received the Silver Spoon Award from the trade magazine ''Food Arts'' for her performance in the culinary arts. In 2012, she was appointed the chairman of the newly created Felipe Rojas-Lombardi Memorial Scholarship Fund of the James Beard Foundation, and is a board member of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association. Presilla is a contributing editor for ''Saveur'' magazine. She is also a Grand Jury member and one of the founders of the newly created International Chocolate Awards based in London.

Publications

* ''Peppers of the Americas, Lorena Jones Books (2017), *
Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America
', W. W. Norton, (2012). . * ''The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Chocolate with Recipes'', Ten Speed Press, (2001, revised edition 2009). * ''Feliz Nochebuena, Feliz Navidad: Christmas Feasts of the Hispanic Caribbean'' (Holt) * ''Life Around the Lake'' (Holt) * ''Mola: Cuna Life, Stories, And Art'' (Holt, 1995)

References

External links

#Philipp, Channaly (August 20, 2015). The Epoch Times
"Q&A With Maricel Presilla "
Retrieved 2015-8-23. #Politano, Teresa (August 19, 2015). The Newark Star-Ledger

Retrieved 2015-8-23. {{DEFAULTSORT:Presilla, Maricel Year of birth missing (living people) American chefs American food writers Living people Culinary Institute of America people James Beard Foundation Award winners