P i s t a c h i o

A cooking class and a language lesson form the perfect cultural flavour combination.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2007

Toronto – “This is a perfect match,” says Carlos Fuenmayor, Chef-Owner of Sabrosito, the caterer and cooking instructor specializing in Pan-Latino cuisine.

And he’s not talking about how well the dolce de leche is going to go with sweet plantain empanaditas.

Carlos is talking about his collaboration with Rosa Maria Tortorici, Founding Director of Living Spanish, the language academy where she spins her unique experiential approach to learning language.

Carlos and Rosa Maria will debut a cooking-class/language-lesson on Tuesday November 27, from 6 to 9.00pm, at Great Cooks at the T Spot, in The Bay Queen Street, Lower Level.

On the menu: striped bass ceviche that will draw the cultural connections between Peru and Japan [she says “ceviche,” he says, “sashimi”]; cachapas, the delicate Venezuelan corn pancakes served with queso fresco [Carlos and Rosa Maria were both raised in Venezuela]; grilled chorizo with the famous Argentine chimichurri sauce; grilled beef tenderloin marinated in a trio of Latino peppers and served with fresh cactus; and to end on a captivating note, the legendary sweet plantain empanaditas with dulce de leche.

Although language is Rosa’s metier, this won’t be the first time she dons a chef coat. She’s enrolled in George Brown’s Chef School to formalize her cooking skills and further her vision for her innovative real-life approach to language learning.

Rosa holds a teaching degree from the University of Caracas. She came to Canada to further her English studies, and in 19XX she opened Living Spanish, with offices at Yonge and Bloor. She has been drawing students from all walks of life, who follow her outside the classroom and into cafés, to the market or joining her for a home-cooked meal, so that real life inspires their language and not the conjugations of verbs.

“I tell my students, ‘Be spontaneous and see how language comes to you,’” declares Rosa, and this is the technique she will use at Great Cooks, stirring in beautiful Spanish words to the dishes that Carlos creates. “I wish I’d learned English this way,” sighs Rosa.

Ironically, English wasn’t the language of Carlos’s culinary training. “At cooking school, I learned to to cook in French,” laughs Carlos, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef with 14 years experience in fine dining restaurants, including the Executive Chef post at The Laurentian Room, where he won the elusive praise of Globe and Mail Restaurant Critic Joanne Kates.

In  2006, Carlos launched Sabrosito to focus on Latino cuisine, both as a cooking teacher at Great Cooks, the LCBO and Dish Cooking Studio, and as a caterer of small, in-home parties for foodies who want to explore this culinary terrain. He also writes a blog, with postings often picked up by foodie ezine Gremolata.

This cultural duo is having a particularly distinguished year: Rosa has been nominated as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians, and Carlos has been asked to participate on a panel at the 2008 Terroir Culinary Symposium at the University of Toronto.

“Food and language form the core of all culture,” asserts Rosa. “I really feel I came all the way from Venezuela to do this,” Rosa adds.