Day 319: Sandra Gutierrez
“… it’s like that saying, you know, ‘Life hands us lemons ….’ Well, I refuse to make lemonade. I always think about well, how about lemon meringue pie or lemon sorbet or a lemon bar? I really think life is too sweet to let it go sour.”
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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Sandra, for agreeing to be part of our Project, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Sandra Gutierrez: Thank you, Toni. I’m a food writer and a culinary instructor. My name is Sandra Gutierrez, and I have just authored a cookbook due out with the University of North Carolina Press next January, 2011. I’ve been in the business for over two decades now.
Toni: Well congratulations to your new book.
Sandra: Thank you.
Toni: Sandra, when you think of the word inspiration, who do you inspire, and how does it happen?
Sandra: I hope I inspire my readers and my students, mostly to break the stereotypes about people and those that surround food. I’m known as a culinary Latinista, and one of my goals is to break the stereotypes that surround Latin cuisine. I’m showing that not all Latinos eat the same kinds of food. I show people that there are more than 20 different Latin cuisines, each with its own individual characteristics, flavors, and cultural roots. In other words, I hope to inspire people to have a keen desire to really investigate new culinary possibilities and to think a little bit outside the box.
I also hope to inspire them to want to cook, you know, to have the curiosity to try new ingredients prepared in different ways. You see, Toni, I really believe that everyone has time to cook from scratch, even though the popular thing today is to say that no one has. I really believe that good-for-you-food that delivers flavor and soul is at everybody’s reach every day.
I find it sad when people say they hate to cook. Granted, you know, cooking is a creative force, an art, just like sculpting or painting, but I believe that unlike painting or drawing or other art forms which may be hard to learn, cooking can really be done by everyone. If they’re aided with a good formula or a recipe, with time, not necessarily a lot of it, just some time, and especially with good ingredients, everyone can prepare meals with their family. And by good ingredients again, I don’t mean expensive ingredients, but quality ingredients.
For example, I look at an egg or a ripe, juicy tomato and some artisan bread, and I see it as a making for many different dishes, not just one, but many. And I think that with a little bit of imagination and with some spirit of adventure, I can inspire my students to create magic in their own kitchens. For some it could be an egg and tomato sandwich. For others, it could be a French toast with tomato coulis, and yet for others it could just be a breakfast casserole. It’s the same ingredients, but the inspiration is different, because food is transformative.
So my hope is that through my articles, my cooking classes, and my upcoming books, I will be able to inspire cooks to take a leap and try new flavors and get out of the culinary rut that sort of binds them.
Life is very flavorful, and I really think it tastes good.
Toni: What a great way to say that! Sandra, when you’re teaching and inspiring others to think differently about this type of food – and I love the word “soul” that you spoke about – how do you think someone who will step out of their box so to speak and their thinking around Latin foods, or just in general, really, how does that help people to explore their own potential?
Sandra: Oh, great question. Well, I would say that as a teacher, I do this by introducing them to the idea that they can turn anything around in order to make their own dreams possible. People have so many limitations that they set themselves up in the kitchen, things that they limit themselves with, thoughts that are negative. “I can’t do that.” “Nobody taught me how to do this.” In the kitchen, what I do is I often show them that they can each have the ability to produce a great meal, even when they insist that they can’t even boil water, which they tell me a lot.
It usually involves going back to the basics, from teaching them how to handle a knife to how to select ingredients, to how to read a recipe and perhaps prepare the ingredients before actually starting to cook a single thing. What I notice is that as they master each step, their confidence grows, so that when it comes time to put it all together and assemble a dish, they’re really armed with a good attitude and a clear direction towards their goal. And whether it’s Latin or American or Asian cuisine, to me there is nothing more rewarding – and I know it’s rewarding for them as well – than to see their triumphant expressions on their faces when they really succeed.
And in this case, of course, we’re talking about an immediate goal of preparing a recipe successfully, but I really believe that this lesson in the kitchen carries into life in general, because when we believe something is possible, then it really becomes possible. And in life, you know, when people are down in the dumps, feeling overwhelmed, if they only would take a little minute to turn things around, to find the positive, as small as that may be – sometimes it’s very tiny – just that ray of light, and grab it, they can use that as traction to start getting out of their situation.
That little first step is already a new starting point in a new direction, and by going back to the basics – which it’s so important to go back to the basics without fear of feeling insecure because they’re going back, but the basics teach us that we all can start achieving small steps that will ultimately carry us closer to a positive goal.
You know, I really believe that there is something to be said about food memories, and I often tell my students to try to recreate the dishes of their childhood. Those that their grandmas or moms made for them when they were little. It’s incredible how much comfort and inspiration can be found in those, and sometimes a dish – a food memory – can elicit enough positive thoughts or be that first step to help someone during a difficult time and inspire them to get up and try again.
Toni: Sandra, what inspires you?
Sandra: Oh, I would have to say people inspire me. Many people inspire me. My colleagues inspire me. My students inspire me. So many of the writers who have paved the way, allowing me to dare to dream that one day I could be one of them, some of whom I’ve been blessed to have met, and most of whom I’ve only met through their own words in the pages of their own books, but they really to inform me through their teachings and inspired me to try, to dare to dream, and to dare to push myself.
I would have to say also that the women in my career particularly inspire me. You know, those who have overcome the same obstacles I have overcome to get where I am today.
As funny as it may sound, the biggest inspiration in my life, I would have to say, are my daughters. They really inspire me every day. You know, they remind me that I only know so much, that I have so much more to learn, and that in itself inspires me to go and find that knowledge and keep on searching. They also inspire me never to give up, no matter the difficulties in my past, because they are constantly watching me.
Kids watch us, every single step, and they sort of, you know, so to speak, “take notes.” And if I ever give up, then what I’m telling them is that it’s okay for them to give up, too. So they inspire me to keep on going and keep on stepping in a positive direction.
Toni: When you find yourself needing inspiration, do you tend to reach for the same type of resources? You sound like such a positive influence and role model in what you’re doing, and I’m just wondering as others who are listening to this, you know, what do you tend to reach for when you are seeking inspiration?
Sandra: I tend to reach for knowledge. The knowledge to help me get out of something that I don’t really know how to. So I tend to reach for books. I tend to reach for friends. I try to surround myself by people who know more than I do. Some people feel that that’s a challenge or they feel inferior that way. I don’t. I love to be surrounded by people who know a lot, who are teaching me constantly, and hopefully I teach them something as well.
But I gain so much from strong people, strong women who, not that they don’t have difficult times, but just the strength in their goal searching and fulfilling of dreams. So I reach for that, and yes, I definitely am a big comfort food cook, so I will also reach for my food memories to help me when I’m having a hard time.
Toni: What’s your favorite comfort food memory?
Sandra: Oh my goodness – I would have to say my grandmother’s chicken soup. I have a lot of memories of learning to cook in my grandma’s kitchen while all my cousins were playing around. I was very shy, and so I was always given tasks to do in the kitchen and learned that way. So comfort memories surround my grandma’s house for sure.
Toni: What are you doing now, Sandra, that you are exploring your own potential to keep realizing your dreams?
Sandra: I guess what I do is to continue to be challenged and not be afraid of failure in order to continue to reach. You know, I’m not someone who takes no for an answer. What I hear instead is “Not here, not now, maybe not yet” but I never hear the absolute negative in the word “no” because life is too short to accept the negative, especially when there’s so much positive out there that’s waiting to be grabbed by anyone who finds it, and I really would like to be that person who finds some of it.
It’s that traction that I was talking about before. I give myself a little nudge and ask “Okay, Sandra, what’s next?” And it helps me to stop being afraid, because fear paralyzes me. And I’m not saying that I never feel fear, because I feel a lot of it, but I try to overcome it and I fight it hard so I can start moving forward. It’s incredible to me how fear disappears when I conquer something.
Toni: Where does the courage come from?
Sandra: It comes from knowing that I failed before and I’ve gotten up, that failure is just temporary, and that the possibilities if I don’t try, then I will never know. You know, it’s like that saying, you know, “Life hands us lemons ….” Well, I refuse to make lemonade. I always think about well, how about lemon meringue pie or lemon sorbet or a lemon bar? I really think life is too sweet to let it go sour.
Toni: I love that! I absolutely love that! Oh my gosh … Sandra, thank you so much for being part of this Project. Your enthusiasm and passion for what you do comes through loud and clear, and I wish you a lot of luck with your cookbook, too – how exciting that must be for you – and thank you. Thank you very much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Sandra: Thank you, Toni, for inviting me to be part of it. I really appreciate it.
Toni: You’re welcome. Take care of yourself.
Sandra: You too.
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For more information about Sandra Gutierrez: www.sandraskitchen.typepad.com
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