Tacos in Tuxedos and Creative Salsas by Chef Maria Mazon

In today’s episode, I talk to chef Maria Mazon, a two-time James Beard Award semi-finalist and contestant on Season 18 of Top Chef. She’s also the owner of Boca Tacos and SONA Tortillas in Tucson, Arizona.
You’ll learn her inspiration for tacos and special affinity for creative salsas, and how the flavors of her hometown in Sonora, Mexico come through in her food. She shares the lessons she learned and what she found challenging as a contestant on Top Chef, and how her life changed afterwards. You’ll also hear a special recipe that you can make at home if you’re in the mood for a taste of Mexico.

What you'll learn with chef Maria Mazon

The simple beginnings of her food (2:50)
Where the food comes from and how Maria Mazon sources it (4:10)
The tortilla making process (4:32)
Chef Maria Mazon's relationship with her business partner (5:38)
Why her next project won’t be about tacos (7:53)
Why you don’t see everything on the menu (10:30)
The constant evolution of salsa at Boca (11:36)
How being a business owner influences her creative process (12:27)
Where Maria Mazon finds inspiration (13:35)
The memories that charcoal brings out from her childhood (14:40)
How the flavors of Sonora come through in chef M aria Mazon's food (15:54)
Why her salt is so special (16:40)
How her family talked her into going on Top Chef (17:33)
What Maria Mazon found the most challenging about being on TV (19:04)
Her biggest lessons and takeaways from the show (20:19)
How life changed after Top Chef (21:13)
Chef Maria Mazon favorite challenges on the show (21:59)
A Maria-style dish you can cook at home (24:11)
A food tour of Tucson (27:06)
Her guilty pleasure food (28:10)
The best Mexican cookbook you’ve probably never heard of (28:29)
Maria’s biggest kitchen complaint (31:07)
The condiment she’s learned to love and the spices she can’t live without (31:21)
Series of rapid-fire questions.
Link to the podcast episode on Apple Podcast

Links to other episodes with woman chefs

Conversation with chef Suzanne Goin from Los Angles

Conversation with chef Masako Morishita in WDC

Interview with chef Tiffany Derry in Dallas

Interview with Pastry Chef Erin Kanagy-Loux from Brooklyn

Conversation with chefs from “her Name is Chef” documentary

Conversation with Mely Martinez

Interview with chef Elizabeth Falkner

Interview with chef Silvia Barban from Brooklyn

Conversation with chef Misti Norris in Dallas

Conversation with chef Kim Alter in San Francisco

Links to most downloaded episodes (click on any picture to listen to the episode)

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Little by little, I became in love with the blender. I became in love with the types of flavors that I can put together. That's how my salsas came about.

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The salsas were something that allowed me as a chef to still be creative, still cooking tacos, and not get bored. That is the number one key I think for us chefs because you don't want to get bored. Because if you get bored, you get burned out. 

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I cook with my heart. I cook with memories. I cook with music, I cook with flavors with smells.

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I believe that good ingredients can speak by themselves and don't have to charge an arm and a leg.

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