All for Mom
To say that Four Seasons Punta Mita restaurant chef Jorge Gonzalez received strong encouragement to go into the culinary arts is an understatement. The way Four Seasons staffer Claudia Silva tells it, Gonzalez’s mother literally said to him, “you’d better learn to cook, or you’re not going to survive.”
And with those words, Gonzalez began mastering the deceptively simple art of his mother’s cheese enchiladas, which she stuffed with onions and slathered with red sauce. But more than that, he’d found his passion.
Schooled in the culinary arts in his hometown of Guadalajara, Chef Gonzalez specialises in “Chino Latino” fusion cuisine, or, as he puts it, “Asian dishes with Latin flair, or vice versa. There’s a lot of room for creativity.”
It’s probably that quality—creativity—that really defines Gonzalez’s style. “You have to understand the product and respect the ingredient before you can get creative,” he says. “Run your hands through the soil, watch the fish swimming and cut it to experience the freshness. That’s the quality I want to show.”
Creativity has also earned Gonzalez some very prestigious accolades. In 2006, he placed first in a national Young Mexican Chefs competition. The prize for that was a turn in the kitchen of Ferran Adrià, arguably the world’s greatest chef and the visionary behind molecular gastronomy.
But you’d never know this talking to Gonzalez himself. “He’s very humble,” says Silva. “When you talk to him about his success, he says he really has to thank his mom. If it weren’t her, he never would have gotten into the kitchen and discovered his passion.”
In fact, you could say Gonzalez’s whole career is a tribute to his mother. “I made some of her enchiladas for myself again a couple of years ago and almost cried from happiness. It was just the flavour, the way she made them.”
Try some of Gonzalez’s cooking for yourself, and you’ll want to thank his mom for inspiring him, too.
