Alejandro Cuéllar is the chef-companion of Canasta Picnic Bistro, a restaurant that caters to the scrumptious and sustainable, while at the same time expressing Colombia’s variety of flavors on a plate. Alongside his other passions – pictures, track, and film – Cuéllar has evolved a signature style to his dishes, stimulated by using the auteur of everything shade, Wes Anderson. While ensuring the arena understands the complexity of Colombian cuisine, the Bogotá primarily based chef is one in a select institution of the Colombian government in charge of preparing our representative staples.
Alejandro Cuéllar (AC): I have been cooking because I have become 14 – perhaps even before – and found it to be a pleasing pastime, no longer a lot extra than an interest. When I graduated from college, I went to France and was brought to the so-called “gastronomic lifestyle”: everything that goes on a plate in different phases. In France, as in many different European nations, each dish has recorded; a motive for current, from the political to the social and, of course, cultural. A connection to nature is also very sturdy with foraging and incorporating suitable plants for eating. This time-examined bond between farmers and customers opened out possibilities for me, and after six months in Paris, I returned to Bogotá. While I was analyzing Business Administration, the most helpful factor I wanted to reflect on was exploring the heart and soul of the Colombian geographical region. I had never come into contact with the character of characters that produce what we consume, so I decided to pursue gastronomy.
AC: My parents have constantly been innovative, and while my mother died in 2007, I decided to begin my kitchen garden within the town of Guasca and named it Santa Beatriz. This natural orchard is the muse at the back of Canasta Picnic Bistro. My mom also played an essential role in growing what has become a differentiator in my career as a chef: foraging and cooking with wild foods. I additionally needed to find a way of linking my other passions in life – music, movies, and images – into my professional existence.
AC: My orchard/herb lawn became a laboratory and nevertheless played a critical role at the coronary heart of what I consult with as my “spontaneous kitchen.” Wild vegetation grows in Santa Beatriz. I just gather them. This unfolded the specter of botanical exploration, the suitability for eating that surrounds us. Flowers are not the simplest lovely but scrumptious. On the farm, I also have bees, free-roaming hens, and trout. The wild kitchen exists around us. Even right here, in El Virrey Park, one ought to eat so much plant life. In truth, one could eat all of Bogotá if one wanted to.
AC: The “wild kitchen” has become part of my culinary narrative, and I have an insatiable interest in my environment. Ironically, I in no way wanted to have an eating place and was nearly pressured into having one. What I experience are avant-garde cooking strategies that I can do in my herbal laboratory. Finding a culinary narrative, like the color choice in a Wes Anderson film, can’t be accomplished by trial and error. Color in food may be used as a device to speak. Gastronomy is a language that allows me to express myself greater eloquently. That’s why you won’t locate me internally in a kitchen.
AC: Sustainability is all about generating a positive impact on the social, monetary, and environmental aspects. One circumstance that the pastime one chooses doesn’t negatively affect future generations in developing an identical activity. I try to communicate this to my customers. If I tell a person, “No, you cannot eat meat, as it’s awful for you,” I will generate a negative reaction, and that is not a sustainable technique for any business. Sustainability is all about incorporating desirable practices in food.
