Zarela Martínez is a
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
-based restaurateur and cookbook author. She learned cooking from her mother Aida Gabilondo, also a cookbook author. Martínez serves on the board of directors for the Mexican Cultural Institute of New York.
Biography
Martínez has been instrumental in introducing Americans to authentic Mexican food through her restaurants and writings. She has organized food festivals in New York City and given cooking lessons, demonstrations, and lectures on Mexican cuisine and culture.
Chef
Paul Prudhomme served as Martínez' mentor after he discovered her in a
cooking class and around 1979, Martínez opened her catering business ''El Paso''. In 1987, Martínez opened Zarela, a Mexican restaurant that is credited as being a pioneer of regional Mexican cuisine in New York City. The restaurant closed in 2011, citing rising expenses and financial issues prompted by an increasing economic crisis.
Martínez has made several television appearances and her 2001 cookbook ''Zarela's Veracruz'' was written as the companion book to the 2001
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
series ''Zarela! La Cocina Veracruzana''. In 2004 she was labeled one of seven individuals that helped redefined the American culinary landscape since the last half of the twentieth century by the U.S. State Department's online publication ''E-Journal USA: U.S. Society & Values''.
As of March 2017, she was working on a book about naturally light Mexican food.
Beyond cooking
From 2004-2007 The Zarela Casa line of soft goods (tablecloths, place mats napkins, shower curtains, towels and other bath items, pillows) inspired by traditional Mexican textile designs were on sale at Walmart stores around the country.
In 2016 she starred in the movie ''Moronga'', where she sang and acted.
In 2017, Martínez launched her first album as a singer ''Sad Songs from my Happy Heart''.
In 2020, she launched a podcast
''Cooking in Mexican from A to Z'' on
Heritage Radio Network
Heritage Radio Network is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit covering the world of food, drink and agriculture. The member-supported radio station has more than one million monthly listeners in over 200 countries.
History
In 2009, largely insp ...
. Co-hosted with her son, Chef
Aarón Sánchez, the show explores the food, flavors, and history of Mexico through lively conversations with their guests.
In 2021, "In a Taste for Life with Zarela¨, she shares her inspirational "building blocks" for living well with Parkinson's disease (PD) and for healthy and delicious eating.
Awards and accolades
*Best International Book of the Year for ''Food from My Heart: Cuisines of Mexico Remembered and Reimagined'',
The 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 ...
(1993, nominated)
*''Who's Who of American Food Professionals'', James Beard Foundation (2013)
Personal life
Zarela lives in New York City. Her son Aarón Sánchez is the co-star of the television shows
''Chopped'', ''Heat Seekers'' and guest chef at
''MasterChef'' season 7 and the chef/owner of the restaurant Johnny Sanchez, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her son Rodrigo is a lawyer. Zarela has two grandsons and a granddaughter.
In 2004, Martínez was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
, triggered by an accident in which she was hit by a taxi cab. She was the partner of pornographic filmmaker and actor
Jamie Gillis from 2003 until his death in 2010.
References
External links
*
Papers of Zarela Martínez, 1920-2013.
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Zarela
Mexican chefs
Living people
People from Agua Prieta
People with Parkinson's disease
Year of birth missing (living people)
Mexican emigrants to the United States
People from New York City
Women cookbook writers
Mexican restaurateurs
American cookbook writers