Maricel Presilla

Maricel Presilla is a chef, culinary historian, and author.

Biography

Maricel E. Presilla is the first Latin American woman to have been invited as a guest chef at the White House. She was nominated twice for James Beard Foundation journalism awards for articles witten for Saveur magazine. She was a four-time James Beard Award nominee and won as Best Chef Mid-Atlantic on May 7, 2012. A year later, on May 4, 2013, her book Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America (W.W. Norton, 2012) was named Cookbook of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) chose Gran Cocina as the best general book on April 9, 2013. She is the chef-co-owner of Cucharamama in Hoboken, New Jersey, Zafra and Ultramarinos, her Latin American markeplace, bakery and chocolate shop also in Hoboken. She specializes in the foods of Latin America and Spain. Presilla also "holds a doctorate in medieval Spanish history from New York University and has received formal training in cultural anthropology."

She has studied tropical crops, cacao and vanilla agriculture, as well as chocolate production and "is the president of Gran Cacao Company, a Latin American chocolate research and marketing company that specializes in the sale of premium cacao beans from Latin America.". She writes the column Cocina for the Miami Herald since 2003. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Latin American food studies program of the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio. In September 2009, she received the prestigious Silver Spoon Award from the trade magazine Food Arts for her sterling performance in the culinary arts. In 2012, she was appointed as the chairman of the newly created Felipe Rojas-Lombardi Memorial Scholarship Fund of the James Beard Foundation, and is a board member of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA). Presilla is a contributing editor for Saveur magazine. Presilla is also a Grand Jury member and one of the founders of the newly minted International Chocolate Awards based in London (http://www.internationalchocolateawards.com).

Publications

• Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America (WW. Norton, October 2012)
• The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural and Natural History of Chocolate with Recipes (Ten Speed Press, 2001, revised edition 2009).
• Feliz Nochebuena, Feliz Navidad: Christmas Feasts of the Hispanic Caribbean (Holt)
• Life Around the Lake (Holt)
• Mola: Cuna Life, Stories, And Art (Holt, 1995)