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A Taste of Oaxaca: an interview with chef Susana Trilling
article by Clarisa Marcee “THERE ARE MANY things that make Oaxacan cuisine so special: the traditional way in which it is prepared; the ingredients that are used; the food is allowed to ripen on the vine and is picked and used at its prime flavor essence; there is also the way in which it is cooked and served. Some dishes are only made certain times of the year for certain occasions. They [Oaxacans] really take the time to do things in an old-fashioned manner. The time is taken to roast and toast everything — things are not just thrown into a pot! People really take a long time in food preparation. Then there is the eating of the food — it is not a rush-job to eat,” so explains Susana Trilling, world renowned chef, author of Seasons of My Heart: A Culinary Journey Through Oaxaca, Mexico (Ballantine), and star/creator of the PBS series of the same title. Through her book and series, Trilling has brought forward the true soul of the world of Oaxacan cuisine. The journey that led her to this place is as interesting and varied as the ingredients used in her many recipes. Her love of cooking all started with her childhood which she spent between her birthplace of Philadelphia and her grandparents’ home in San Antonio, Texas. Spending those Summers with her grandparents, especially her grandmother, gave her the initial taste for cooking. Her grandmother ran a restaurant inside of Hospital of Santa Rosa in San Antonio. Although her grandmother was from Tampico, Mexico, most of her cooking was Tex-Mex. “When I was 10, I started cooking,” recalls Trilling. “I remember the first time I made Beef Wellington, but with ground beef and puffed pastry! I really loved cooking as a kid and I just kept going at it. I always worked around food to make money for college. I went to college for two years and decided, ‘I’m going to give this up for a year and see how the real world is.’ I never went back. My career in cooking began. “I learned French cooking, and I did a restaurant for someone in a Victorian hotel in New Jersey on the beach. Then I moved to Austin. I worked at Sweetish Hill when they first moved to Pecan Square. I was the first chef, and was very lucky to work under Tom Newhouse and Patricia Slate. Then I went over to Fonda San Miguel and worked with Mark Ravago and Tom Gilliland and learned the classical Mexican dishes. When I worked at Fonda San Miguel, I really learned the differences of the interior Mexican cuisine. It was really excellent.” Trilling says that working at Fonda San Miguel pretty much defined what she wanted to do with Mexican cooking. While at Fonda, she was also very heavily influenced by the “madriña” of Fonda San Miguel, Diana Kennedy. “Everybody had to use her books,” recalls Trilling. “She is such a stickler for the traditional way, and I just felt like I had to follow that. She influenced me until I came upon my own path of discovering the [traditional ways]. She really influenced me in using the real chilies instead of chili powders, looking for the right ingredients, taking the time to make the old-fashioned things, looking for the old-fashioned ingredients, trying to discover the old. “She really is like a food historian as well as a wonderful cookbook writer. She is sort of the standard to try to keep up with. When I wrote Seasons of My Heart, sometimes I would stop and wonder, ‘What would Diana say?’” laughs Trilling. “Other people have taught me about the business side, but Diana has taught me the most about Mexican cooking. Then, of course, I moved to Mexico, and learned a lot more for myself.” After leaving Fonda San Miguel, Trilling ventured to New York and started a Mexican catering business. Later, she opened a Creole restaurant. Then her journey led her to Australia where she tried to do Mexican food. “It was |
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