Born in Sagua La Grande, Cuba, I spent the early years of my life living in my family’s sugar mill, Constancia, in the province of Las Villas. I was the youngest of five brothers and sisters and was fascinated by the importance of family and how everything was inter-related to food and family gatherings.
Both my parents shared the joy and importance of the dinner ritual. Supper was served at a specific time and we all sat together at the dinner table.
At an official gathering, my father met the sous chef at the French Embassy in Havana, named Locadio, who was born and raised in Jamaica. My father was so impressed by this person that he convinced him to come work at the sugar mill as an ‘in-house’ chef. He had been trained in the diplomatic corps, and with my Mother’s guidance, what developed was an exquisite Cuban cuisine with international flair. It was not unusual to find me in the kitchen with Locadio and my Mother prepping for special events.
Every night was a feast. It was not unusual to have 15 guests sit at the dinner table. It is this celebration of food and family gatherings that I always cherished and which naturally developed into my love for cooking.
Unfortunately in 1960 we were force to exile to this great nation of freedom that welcomed us with open arms, I was 12 years old when we arrived in Miami.
Growing up in exile was very different. I had to work since very early on, and cooking became like second nature to me. Later in College in Gainesville and living with roommates I was assigned ‘cooking duties’. This would relieve me of the cleaning and dishwashing, but it was a challenge to put food on the table at a very low budget. Sometimes I would earn some extra cash by preparing romantic dinners for my roommates when their girlfriends from Miami came to visit for Homecoming weekend or special occasions.
From there I moved on to Thunderbird Graduate School in Arizona, fortunately, I was able to keep similar arrangements, while picking up on some of the Southwestern flavors and techniques.
After several years in the marketing field, the Company I was working for was sold, I had signed a non-compete clause which forced me out of the field for some time. It was at then that my love for food led me to create my own catering business.
I started a low-fat daily food service which fit in with changing times for the health conscious, with additional programs for Diabetics and low carbohydrate diets. In between we have owned a few restaurants, the latest being Don Mamerto, an upscale Cuban cuisine restaurant. All these years of experience and influences from various cuisines is what we bring to you at Key Bites Catering.
We hope you will give us a try.
