Jose Garces – A Competitive Mindset

“My parents both immigrated from Ecuador to Chicago in the late 1960s. So I grew up in an Ecuadorian American household. Mom cooked Ecuadorian meals and I mentioned my grandma earlier. She would come most summers and cook regularly. So growing up in that environment where there are Latin flavors going all the time made a huge impact on me, and I gravitated towards the kitchen. I loved helping my mom with her mashed potatoes making cake batters, breading things, whatever she wanted me to do. It was a special time and left a lasting impact and I again I think that the use of cilantro and sofrito and you know cooking of beans, tamale, empanadas, arepas,  all this. These are all foods I grew up with. So even to this day I still make all those things for my children and you know we're seeing market trends where they're becoming more accessible and more widely recognized. So that's exciting as well of cours.