Family Tradition and Manabi Inspiration, a conversation with José María López, Gastronomy student of the ICHE School, scholarship holder of República del Cacao.
We promote the exchange of knowledge through academic alliances with national and international institutes, with the objective of supporting the training of professionals who in turn will drive positive changes in the world. Since 2021, we have maintained a prosperous alliance with the Iche School of Gastronomy, located in the province of Manabí in Ecuador. The objective of this institution is to contribute to the gastronomic education of young talents in the region, through high-level classes, qualified teachers and both theoretical and practical learning methods.
In 2022 we awarded a scholarship to one of its students, José María López, who is specializing in the pastry area and has developed a project to make products using cocoa husks. We talked to him and learned more about his story.
Tell us a little about yourself, who is José María Chávez?
I am from Manabí, I come from the community of Caras, which belongs to the city of Bahía de Caráquez. I had always wanted to study gastronomy but I could not find an opportunity to study the career because here in the area of Manabí there are usually no schools for that profession. However, thanks to a friend of mine I learned about Iche and I was able to enter the school here and have the opportunity to study gastronomy.
I was always interested in studying Gastronomy, but when I left school the pandemic started and I didn't have the opportunity to start studying until after two years finally in Iche.
Why did you decide to study Gastronomy?
It was because of my grandmothers and my mother, because we always had family gatherings where we all shared around the Manabita oven, always in my grandmother's house was that oven and we all shared together as a family preparing food.
What has your experience been like studying at the Fuegos institution?
It was a very good experience, with all the people and teachers who work here. We always received good treatment, and also if we talk about knowledge, I came with a basic knowledge and here I was able to learn many things, that was the best thing. I always thought I liked hot cuisine more, but here I started to learn about pastry and confectionery, and I really liked it, so now I am going down that path and I want to continue specializing more in that branch. Also, the whole experience with my colleagues was very good, the people who work in the restaurant taught us a lot too.
How did you feel when you found out that you were selected for the Republic of Cocoa scholarship?
It was something I was very happy about, when I learned more about the project I was very excited because as I like pastry it was a way to learn more about it.
How did you conceive the cocoa husk innovation project, what was your objective with this?
First we started working together with the Laboratory Coordinator, Ana Lobato, we had several ideas, we talked about different prototypes and that's how the idea of this project with cocoa husks came up. It caught my attention because we could develop several products such as tea infusions and different flavors, and I also realized that in this area the husk is a product that is not used much, it is wasted because if the farmers do not sell it then they throw it away, so we came to this conclusion and our goal with the project was to develop different products based on cocoa husk to take advantage of this ingredient. It also caught my attention that when I started studying in Iche I realized that here, on the other hand, they did use this ingredient for different purposes in desserts and dishes.
What are your next goals?
My next project is to look for another institution to improve myself more in pastry and also to do an internship in this branch in a restaurant. That in fact was what I liked the most about Iche, because apart from having the classes we also went to the restaurant, and even if we had to elaborate advanced dishes or desserts we did it, and it was something incredible because in a theoretical class I would not have applied it in that way.
Recommendation for future Iche Gastronomy students
That they take advantage of it, that they take advantage of the teachers they have here and all the cooks, because they know a lot. If they have any doubts, they should ask, they should talk to the coordinators and everyone, and they should not be afraid to ask because here there will always be someone who will help them with whatever they want, and they should never stop wanting to learn.