Somos lo que comemos, Chef Alex Salgado

WASHINGTON D.C. USA MAY 2018 Chef Alex Salgado

WE ARE SOMOS WHAT WE LO QUE EAT COMEMOS

EMBASSY CHEF CHALLENGE

THIS IS HOW COLOMBIA PRESENTS ITSELF TO THE WORLD

The Promotion Plan of Colombia Abroad is a cultural diplomacy initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, which seeks to promote knowledge of the country’s cultural expressions internationally, in the fields of art, music, dance, theatre, academia, literature, cinema and gastronomy. Between 2010 and 2017, more than 1700 activities developed within the Promotion Plan of Colombia Abroad in over 70 countries have positioned Colombia as a creative, contemporary, innovative, diverse and inclusive country.

During these years, and as an important part of its initiatives, it has also promoted the promotion of the various Colombian cuisines, through gastronomic proposals that combine the best of tradition and innovation, which has allowed to show the world an innovative and creative local gastronomy that simultaneously preserves its culture and legacy. In this way, the unique and diverse cuisine of Colombia has had a presence in more than 30 countries, thanks to the contribution of renowned chefs and researchers from different regions of the country, who through various activities have promoted what since 2014 we have called “Gastronomic Diplomacy”.

Showcasing Colombian kitchens and their diversity through conferences, workshops and tastings in schools and cooking academies, meetings with chefs and presentations of menus specially created for diplomatic events in the embassies of Colombia, as well as the participation of our chefs in gastronomic festivals are some of these activities.

This is a small taste of what we cook and serve in the tables of our country.

PRE SEN TA TION

CREATIVITY, TRADITION AND FLAVORS With passion and creativity chef Alex Salgado arrives from Colombia to showcase his talent and cooking flavor at the Embassy Chef Challenge. A passionate researcher of Colombian Ethnogastronomy, he fuses avant-garde culinary trends with native ingredients and flavors typical of the countryside of our country.

Tonight, every ingredient has a story to tell about the farmers who sustainably produce them and the traditions they embody. The protagonists of this menu are the producers who have guided us on this journey across different regions of Colombia to discover their best products.

We invite you to read this story by Alex Salgado and join him on this culinary adventure.

Enjoy!

i discovered He woke up. When he opened his eyes, he remembered that in the corner behind the fridge was the chicha and the fermented guarapo he had made a few months ago, a recipe inherited from his grandfather, one of the last Muisca Indians in the region. After taking the first sip, his neighbor Carlos arrived, a Spanish migrant, who taught him the art of baking using local products, from which he was inspired to prepare a characteristic amasijo from the Colombian Andean region. By heating the hogao sauce that would accompany his lunch, he evoked that history book that highlighted the African influence in his culture and cuisine with the use of fried foods and oils. Finally, it was enough to open his door to look for some aromatic and medicinal herb that would aromatize the dulce that he learned to cook from an Arab community on the Caribbean coast. And so he discovered and valued the enormous diversity and multiculturalism that make up the great Colombian cuisine.

By: Felipe Castilla y Alex Salgado

Aร AI COLOMBIANO: The fruit of the Aรงai Palm (Euterpe oleracea) grown in the Putumayo Region of Colombia. This fruit is the product of supporting and training families that were previously engaged in the cultivation of the coca leaf, reinforcing the empowerment of the peasant to his land with licit products. It is a social viable structure that works together with wildlife: birds and rodents are the best allies of this system, because they spread throughout the territory the seeds of future palms that will provide work for more families. The aรงai harvesting is done manually, in palms that can reach significant heights, the climbing technique can vary between peasants, but it must be done with great care so as not to damage the fruit. It is also a plant that has a life expectancy and production of between 70 and 80 years, which increases the biomass per area, increasing the life of both fauna and flora.

Produced by: Edgar Montenegro, Corpocampo

CACAO: Cacao produced in the Sierra Nevada Mountain in the Colombian Caribbean. The producers of this cacao use their ancestral traditions, and have turned it into a sustainable option for their communities. Farmers grow an exceptional cocoa, which gives life to a chocolate with notes of red fruits, citrus, cinnamon and panela.

ORIGIN: SIERRA NEVADA 64%. Produced by: Carlos Ignacio Velazco, Cacao Hunters.

HIERBAS DE AZOTEA:

“Roof Herbs� is a set of aromatic herbs cultivated by African-Colombian communities of the Colombian Pacific region, used for medicinal and culinary themes. They receive the name of Roof Herbs because they are cultivated in the high places of the houses, so that they do not flood during the floods of rivers and mangroves, typical of the rainy region. Among them are purple basil, cimarron coriander, oregano and pennyroyal.

CHUCULA:

Ancestral formula of cocoa, corn and grains, produced in different regions of Colombia.

DULCE DE Ă‘AME Y COCO:

Sweet paste prepared by cooking for a long time the yam and the coconut, produced by the WayĂşu indigenous community from la Guajira, Colombia.

ENCOCADO DE CAMARĂ“N:

Shrimp stew with Roof Herbs (*Hierbas de Azotea) and coconut milk.

GUARAPO:

Beverage made from fermented pineapple and panela (concentrated sugar cane juice).

MISTELA COLOMBIANA:

Drink made with aguardiente (alcoholic beverage from sugar cane and anise), aromatic herbs and fruits.

PALMITO COLOMBIANO: It is an edible product obtained from the bud (stem) of some species of palm trees originating in South American countries, including Colombia. It is harvested in association with the African-Colombian and indigenous communities, who exploit sustainably the Aรงai Palm (Euterpe oleracea) that grows wild in the Pacific Jungle. In Putumayo, the palm hearts of the Chontaduro Palm (Bactris gasipaes) are harvested by small scale producers. The stem of this palm reaches approximately heights greater than 20 m and a diameter of between 15 and 30 cm. Produced by: Edgar Montenegro, Corpocampo.

TUCUPI O AJI NEGRO: VAINILLA COLOMBIANA:

Ferment of wild yucca (cassava) with mix of chilies, produced by the Huitoto indigenous community in the Colombian Amazon.

In El Valle, municipality of BahĂ­a Solano in ChocĂł, farmers wanted to bet on the planting and commercialization of vanilla, as an important alternative to improve the quality of life of their community, reduce the clearing of forests and preserve in time the species of flora and fauna. This Vanilla is grown sustainably from the wild orchid that beautifies and aromatizes the jungle in the Pacific Region of Colombia. The flowering of the vanilla only happens in April and May, the only time when pollination can occur to produce the fruit, which depends on the help of the birds and bees in the wild. After the flower is pollinated and the fruit is born, farmers wait eight to nine months to harvest the fruit (pod). The collected pods are exposed to the sun to dehydrate them and during the night and rainy days they are reserved in wooden boxes, which allow to increase the typical organoleptic characteristics of the vanilla, increasing its quality, and this process lasts from 4 to 6 months. Produced by: Cristian Garcia Murillo

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bio

ALEX SALGADO Economist by profession and chef at heart, ALEX SALGADO, owner and chef of the OCIO Restaurant in Bogotรก, he aims to promote the importance and identity of Colombian produce, the tradition and the culinary knowledge of the different ethnic groups of the country. A passion that was born at home from a very young age and that he potentialized with its different educational projects and experiences lived in Colombia, South America and Asia. Connoisseur by a sheer curious nature, through the observation and research of the oral tradition of indigenous communities, he incorporates in his recipes the knowledge transmitted from generation to generation, to offer en each dish an encounter with all the flavors of our country.

His interest is to further research COLOMBIAN ETHNOGASTRONOMY: the study of food and the interrelation between human beings, ethnic groups, with the use and benefits of food; including, preparations and their properties, nutritional values and product aggregates, harvest and harvest season, management of plants and spices, etc.

He currently works with the director of the Javeriana University Herbarium in a space of experimentation and innovation that integrates the knowledge of the two disciplines with the purpose of incorporating forgotten species, plant varieties or new species for their use and application in the kitchen.

*THIS BROCHURE IS PRINTED ON ECOLOGIC PAPER 100% SUGAR CANE FIBER AND FREE OF CHEMICAL BLEACH TO PROTECT OUR PLANET”