“I’m from Santa Cruz, and my mother runs a tortilla business in which she operates what they call “3 tiempos”, which means she does fresh tortillas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Unlike younger generations that tend to rebel against what their parents and culture do, I decided to pursue a career in the field! My mom’s always been in the business, and my family always enjoyed cooking; so I grew to love it and decided to join.

I studied here while I worked, and I really enjoy it – being so close to home and all. It’s also interesting meeting people from all over the world, and when chefs do visit they always leave behind some more knowledge that we learn from. Even though we’re all about preserving traditions, learning about different cultures is very interesting. We even make an effort to maintaining our mother tongue “Mayan” alive, it forms part of our roots and tradition!”