You can’t ask a magician what his tricks are and expect him to reveal them without asking for anything in return. But in a conversation of almost 45 minutes with the amateur chef from Quito Andres Arrata it is possible to sift with relative ease the not-so-secret secrets that led him to be crowned the champion of the third edition of Master Chef Ecuador (Teleamazons), reality show TV series that ended on February 21.
Well played! Andrés Arrata wins the third season of ‘Masterchef Ecuador’
Their passion for cookingas he repeated several times during the contest, was molded in each family meal that her grandmother celebrated paternal Inés for her 8 children and more than 20 grandchildren.
“She was a great cook. She taught my father how to cook and he taught me, ”recalls Andrés while we talk in a cafeteria in Urdesa. “She left her legacy in a notebook. Each of her children had her recipes handwritten in a notebook. The one that touched my father I now have. It is the same notebook that packed Colombia when it participated in the gastronomic competition months ago.
In that memory recipe there is also his maternal grandmother from which he absorbed his first culinary formulas. She “she lived in Guayaquil and was the daughter of Italians. As a good Italian, she always invited her family and friends on Sundays. And from very early, from six to seven in the morning, she prepared the pasta”. In fact, she clarifies her, the plate with which he entered MasterChef they were some gnocchi what he learned from her.
Their dominion behind the burners was also formed at the tip of curiosity and experiences. As an advertising photographer he participated in multiple sessions of food styling and with his Creole appetite he left entering the kitchens of others, with great respect, to explore what stands out in each preparation. Like the crispier patacones that you have tasted in your life (the tactic is to moisten them before throwing them into the overflowing boiling oil) or some delicious drunk oritos of cart. Although his biggest challenge is still the empanadas de morocho, but so far test, ask and investigate It has taken him very far, as half of Ecuador has seen.
Who is Andrés Arrata?, the charismatic winner of the third season of Masterchef Ecuador
The kick of the fanesca
Andrés began to profile himself as one of MCE’s favorites when he prepared, in less than an hour, a version of the fanesca of his grandmother Inésin one of the program challenges. The slogan, imposed by the Chef Javier Urrutia (Hotel del Parque), was to prepare a dish that evoked memory, remembrance and tradition.
“You were bold and riskythat is important”, Urrutia had emphasized when he declared it victor of the challenge to be the only one who had projected family values on a saucer.
“One of my childhood memories is the Holy Week weekends in Quito, in my grandmother’s house. She took out all the furniture, put tables for 40 people. The sons, the grandsons, the daughters-in-law, the friends from the neighborhood were there”, says the professional photographer.
that same stew has been able to reach the hearts of thousands of Ecuadorian diners in the last days, just as it befell the Colombian chef Jorge Raush when he took for the first time in his life a spoonful of the traditional Ecuadorian Lenten soup. “I don’t know if she looks fanesca or not, but I really like the taste”, he had expressed in that episode.
One of the first projects that Arrata completed after his participation was precisely the preparation of the fanesca for a chain of restaurants at the level of Guayaquil, Quito and Cuenca. Until noon on Thursday, when we conducted this interview, more than 7,000 fanescas had been sold for three weeks, says Andrés, exceeding his expectations.
“The most important thing was transfer a 16 liter recipe to a 1,500 liter pot. And we spent a whole week testing until we managed to make the mass-produced fanesca taste, almost exactly, like my grandmother’s, ”he shares. “In addition, the cooks gave him an incredible affectionwhich I also value very much”.
Grandma’s trick was not to use all the ingredients that by law has the fanesca, rather he took two (one of them is the heart of palm), to make the broth less heavy, plus a special technique to process the cod that, yes, is family secret.
more fans please
One of the medium-term aspirations for Andrés is to materialize a project for television. Although he has various formats in mind, essentially he would like find other hobby cooks like him“people who cook well and who are hidden… give them an opportunity like the one I had, so that their recipes can see the light.”
For this he advises all beginners to train inside the house first. “I think that if one likes cooking it is because it has a family aspect, that is why the first thing to do is look inside, find who cooks in your house and join that person”, he recommends.
“If it’s your grandmother or your mother, find those flavors in them and get together with them to cook”he says, to retransmit the memory of seasonings that each family has, in the same way that happened to him.
“Later refine with technique. It is very important, the technique can change 100% a good preparation. That was what I learned in MasterChef”.
Alberta Vallarino, what’s next after MasterChef
a media liability
Words are not enough to express how has your life changed after the popular contest that ended two months ago. He’s still processing it, he confessesas has also been adapting to his new family residence in Galapagos, where he has lived since January.
This process includes reaction of the public when they see it on the street. While we were recording these photos in Guayaquil, several people came to greet him: two ladies from a van, a young man who confessed that “when Ernesto (another participant) came out, he knew he was going to win,” and a cleaning worker, very happy to meet him in person. He returned the greeting to all of them with the same effusiveness.
To this must be added the comments from your followers on social networkswho did not censor themselves in judging everything that bothered them about their season, considered the most challenging and the most controversial at the same time. Andrés was one of the few who was saved from the negative judgments of the fans.
“I am very grateful to people, because they have been very generous with me. Even so I put together a campaign antihate in the networks, because certain colleagues of mine received harsh comments. I’m not against viewers having an opinion, but how they choose to express it is another thing.”
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As long as the public’s affection continues to grow, the ‘master chef’ will continue to cook up those ideas that can contribute to his community of fans and the rest. “I am understanding that people liked my character, because they are looking for a positive reference. That is why this title goes far beyond a victory in a television program”, points out the winner.
“If I can leave a message, it is that you can go far by being good, which is something that they have erased from our heads, because they have told us that to achieve something we must be known, alive, toads, have leverage”, he reflects. “We must recognize that the Ecuadorian is a hardworking guywho likes to make an effort, who enjoys what he is living in each step he takes and above all injustice bothers him”.
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
