An Interview With Chef Jorge Orozco, Mexico's Ambassador of Pre Hispanic Cuisine

por Equipo Casa Sauza | Jan 18, 2022 8:23:08 AM

 

Chef Orozco 2019 Mexican Cuisine

We had the honor to interview Chef Jorge Orozco about his recent experience in Europe promoting pre-Hispanic Mexican cuisine and its pairing with tequila. We here share the interview with you.



Interviewer:

Chef, thank you very much for giving us the opportunity and time to have this short interview with you about your trip to France promoting Mexico's pre-Hispanic cuisine and Tequila Sauza as well. Can you tell us a little more about this event, which event was it? what food did you prepare?

Chef Orozco:

Yes, of course! it took place at the beginning of February. We were first at FITUR, at the International Tourism Fair 2019, which takes place every year in Madrid, Spain. It's the most important fair in the world in terms of tourism. We there prepared traditional Mexican and pre Hispanic dishes and offered them at the Mexico's booth. It was a great experience since we had great acceptance by the Spanish. We made tapas, we made montaditos with pre-Hispanic and traditional Mexican cuisine: huitlacoche, calabaza flowers, chapulines.

And of course, the richest and the best pairing for this food, was made with Tequila Sauza; In this occasion, we offered the Silver and Gold tequila, which are the ones sold in Europe. They had a great acceptance, the Spanish people are in love with tequila, Tequila Sauza, of course!

Interviewer:

About the Tequila culture in the world, is the value of the production of tequila is well understood? the value of this spirit drink? Or do they still see it as "it burns, it scares me, shots only"?

Chef Orozco:

I can tell you that during this event that we had in Spain, we were able to see that Spanish people already understand better our Tequila culture, they indeed appreciate it and they also know that tequilas aren't just for shots but to pair them with food as well, both with Mexican dishes as well as with International ones, like us Mexicans do.

We afterwards went to Paris on February 5th, and prepared a tasting for France's gastronomy critics, for the Les Toques Blanches association (which is the largest association of chefs in the world and it is French), and for the association of restaurateurs from Paris. I can tell you that in Paris they still don't know the Tequila culture as well as they do in Spain. They know that it's the drink par excellence of Mexico, but they don't know that you can pair this great Mexican drink with international dishes, or with French dishes, or with Mexican dishes, and that you can make a great food pairing with it.

Actually these kind of events to which I'm invited to attend, are meant to have gastronomy leaders feel and see the colors of the tequila, to have them taste the flavors and the textures that it can have when mixed with different cuisines. And I can tell you that it was all a big success!

It is also the third year that we have this experience in Paris and the response we had was great. It was a great satisfaction for me to see that there were now more than 300 people in the place and to tell you the truth, we had a great time! Everyone got to know tequila well, specially Tequila Sauza, which is a top-level tequila at an international level.

Interviewer:

Tell us about the dishes you paired tequila with, with which tequila did you pair what dishes, what did you explain to the attendants. Let us savor with our imagination a little replicate of what was offered there.

Chef Orozco:

In Madrid we prepared, since we were in Spain, we obviously prepared some tapas and some montaditos, which were a success since in Spain, people are not familiar with our, huitlacoche, with our calabaza flower, all mixed with chilies. We made little calabaza flower montaditos and huitlacoche montaditos as well. The calabaza flower montaditos were topped with a maguey worm and were paired with Sauza Silver white tequila, and to be honest, the taste was amazing!

Interviewer:

Why pair them with white tequila?

Chef Orozco:

Because of the notes that a white tequila brings of a fresh agave plant. It gives the dish a sense of freshness and it also provides citrus notes which match the calabaza flower really well. We also offered this dishes on a bed of guacamole, which goes great with it all. It was a very very good pairing, everyone liked it a lot.

We then prepared a montadito (the difference between a montadito and a tapa is that the first one is prepared with a cooked dish while the second it's only bread with some other un-cooked element on the top) with huitlacoche, which had a touch of serrano chili and was topped with a chapulín. It was a success! I can see people's satisfaction faces, or when they give me a thumb-up... that's the moment when I realize they liked it all...

We paired this second montadito with Sauza Gold Tequila, which really has a very good taste. This tequila offers some notes that start to taste a little like wood, so it gives a more structured flavor to the huitlacoche montadito.

That's what we mostly offered there ... and our famous scorpions! They obviously bring a lot of attention. The scorpion that is best paired with tequila, is a golden scorpion, people were really attracted to this.

When we went to Paris, we prepared wild boar in morita chile and chapulines sauce. That was at formal dinner. We also prepared huitlacoche soup, some toasted maguey worms, and offered tostada with escamoles as well.

For dessert we gave them... it was great since we paired this dessert with a vintage tequila!... we gave them xoconoxtles stuffed with requesón on candied pumpkin or tacha. Mexican candied pumpkin is prepared with cinnamon, panocha a dark piloncillo. Maybe you've had candied pumpkins, which are very common in Michoacán, México, well, you are familiar with the taste. We did the same but with xoconoxltes, which also has a very acid touch. We remove all this acid touch and then stuff them with requesón and give them a touch of tequila... It was so good! Vintage tequila goes great with this dish. I think we finished conquering the Eiffel Tower and the French people with this dish...

Interviewer:

I'm salivating...

Chef Orozco:

To be honest, it's all really good. Now this pairing must be done with national drinks, tequila in this particular case. It offers a touch that won't be found anywhere else in the world, since we are mixing our national drink, with our ancestral, pre Hispanic dishes.

For example, the tostada, which is a dehydrated golden tortilla. Tortillas were made by the Aztecs in order to worship the Sun God, and all this history is also discussed at the events. Where does each thing come from? Guacamole is made with avocado. Avocado is a pre-Hispanic fruit and guacamole is loved all over the world and we are proud to say it's a Mexican dish! Add tequila to all that and well... It gives you an amazing result!

Interviewer:

How do you recommend we pair our food with tequila? What should we try first, tequila or food? How can we mix it?

Chef Orozco:

Well, with the tapas you first have to take a sip tequila, then a bite of the tapa and then another sip of tequila and then "play" with both flavors in your mouth... this offers a delicious explosion of taste. The thing is, tequila makes the dish stronger, it gives it body, it gives it life, and then, at the moment you combine it all, flavors burst inside your mouth and offer an incredible flavor. It really is something that calls a lot of attention.

In Paris, there were chefs from the Les Toques Blanches association, chefs who also have a Michelin star, and we taught them how to combine dishes with tequilas ... you've no idea how much they liked it! They were delighted it since they are not used to making such a strong pairing like the one tequila offers, but they tasted it and felt the explosion inside their mouth... they love it! It's really worth trying it.

Interviewer:

If we wanted to do something similar in Mexico, try something similar at your restaurants, what could it be? What do you recommend? I know they won't be the same dishes but tell us, if we came to your restaurants, what could we ask for if we wanted to have a similar experience?

Chef Orozco:

Here at Los Amores de Frida, at the Gourmet Fondue or at the Pre Hispanic, which are here in Guadalajara, we always make pairings and do tastings with Sauza tequila. When people come to our restaurants, we always give them a tequila to pair it the dish that they chose from the menu. Depending on the kind of dish that they chose, it's the kind of tequila that we offer to them. We give it to them as a courtesy because it's important for us that our guests learn that Jalisco is the cradle of tequila, it's where this drink is produced. The largest production of tequila is carried out here in Jalisco, the most recognized tequila is here in Jalisco, although there are 5 regions that are of origin, the most important one is that of Jalisco.

At my restaurants we prepare, for example... what causes the biggest surprise is the golden scorpion (which also is an aphrodisiac for 7 days) with a shot of tequila. We usually offer this dish with white tequila so that they can feel the freshness of the agave plant and... you have no idea! they go crazy. Especially foreigners. Or even people who come from Mexico City and are not familiar with the agave plant.

Those of us who live here in Guadalajara and in Jalisco, believe that everyone knows the agave plant, but I can tell you that a lot of tourism have no idea about it. We then introduce them to this plant and... they love it! They take pictures with it! When they drink this very traditional Mexican drink... they go nuts!

Interviewer:

Tell us about specific dishes that we can only try here with you.

Chef Orozco:

For example, we here have a crocodile, we have a pheasant, we have buffalo, we have boar, we offer a delicious wild boar dish. We also have insects such as the grasshopper, the Chicana ant, cocopache beetle. We have worms, maguey worm and chinicuil. The maguey worm is the white one, the one that lives at the root of the agave and the chiniquil is the red one, the one that lives in the "pent-house", at the top of the agave plant. The cocopache beetle is the one that lives around and flies around the agaves or magueyes. It's like a plague, and it is eaten, and it is delicious.

Interviewer:

How can we have them here?

Chef Orozco:

Some dishes that are made in a taco and topped with cilantro, onion, a good sauce or a good guacamole. They are delicious! We have the ahuautle which you won't find anywhere else in Guadalajara. The ahuautle is the roe of the fly and we prepare them like shrimp cakes. They are prepared exactly the same but with fly roe instead of shrimp.

We have lamb, we have wild boar, we have the crocodile, we use the crocodile loin. The sauce that we prepare it with is achiote, which is very typical of the south of the country, of Yucatan and it's also pre-Hispanic.

Our menu is truly the largest menu in the entire Mexican Republic. The government of Mexico named me Ambassador of the Pre-Hispanic Cuisine of Mexico, which is why we make so many exhibitions outside the country. It really gives me a lot of pride, a great pleasure, to represent the gastronomic culture of Mexico in other countries and have foreign people know and value our food.

Interviewer:

Chef, tell us about your career. I know you studied in France and in Mexico and that at your restaurants, you do that fusion that you love, Mexican and French cuisine.

Chef Orozco:

I studied at the Grupo Ambrosía in Mexico City. It is a group of gastronomic schools that are very important in Latin America. Afterwards, I went to work to Paris. From Paris I went to Switzerland. From there I brought the fondue restaurants. We offer fondue and raclette as it is prepared in those places. But I always had an itch for our own food, you know? for Mexican food.

Ever since I studied gastronomy, Mexican gastronomic culture always caught my attention and I realized that there was no such thing as a representative of pre-Hispanic cooking. It was then that I began to work, to document myself, to learn the history of how those pre-Hispanic dishes were made. I recovered many of those dishes and brought them to the menus of my restaurants: Los Amores de Frida and Pre Hispanic Food.

I then moved back to Mexico and I now live in Guadalajara. We already have 5 restaurants: 3 of traditional Mexican and pre-Hispanic cuisine, and two more of French cuisine, which is the legacy that I bring to my country from the time I lived in Europe.

I just received an award in Spain called Excelencia Gourmet. That award is given to just one a chef worldwide, one every year. This year was my turn to be awarded with it due to the way I share pre-Hispanic cuisine with the world.

I was telling our tourism secretary, Miguel Torruco, I told him: "This award is not for me, it's for Mexico, for the gastronomy of Mexico." We have a culture, an enviable gastronomy before the whole world. Only Mexico and France are proud to have the UNESCO's title of Intangible and Cultural Heritage in gastronomy. It's something that we really should enhance; we must promote gastronomic tourism in all regions so that this grows more. It's an enviable culture that us Mexicans have before the whole world: the gastronomic culture as well as the one of Mexican spirits, which include tequila.

With these words the interview that Chef Jorge Orozco so kindly gave to us ended. We appreciate his time, it's been a pleasure talking to him.

If you want to know more about the dishes of this important Mexican chef, we invite you to watch this video. We also invite you to come to tequila, Jalisco and take one of our guided tours at our production plant. Have a taste of our international quality tequila!

Click here for more information on Casa Sauza Guided Tours

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