Road to graduation

It really seems like yesterday when I started my school program at Helsinki Culinary School Perho. Looking back, I still feel the excitement and nerves when opening the admission letter two summers ago. However, getting in was the easy part. Ahead, hard work.

I started my studies in Perho, in August 2014. Before that I worked in Restaurant Eatos, professional Mexican kitchen, where I took my first steps at the other side of the pass. Stoves, knifes, cuts and burns became my new comrades which have definitely stayed with me ever since. New faces, recipes, techniques, books, videos, adrenaline and more hard work than I'd had ever experimented, were there to embrace. And so did I.

Autumn 2014 was the turning point of my life. I knew I loved cooking but I had never been as motivated as then. Surrounded by eager students and dedicated teachers, a whole new culinary vision opened widely in front of my eyes. New goals, new philosophies, different understandings and a whole variety of flavors. I was in the right place. Time has never went as fast and spring was just around the corner.

After the academic year, the Chef Competition took place in March 2015. Interesting comeback to the professional field, working side by side with who, without any doubt, are excellent chefs. This event was the warm up for my next experience: Restaurant Rivoli.

Rivoli is currently the oldest restaurant in town. It's been established in early 60's and is clearly an example of how a traditional bistro has an important impact on the cuisine scene of our region. There I had the pleasure to meet brilliant chefs who became my role models (and friends). It was then when I truly understood that despite all the hard study I'd done, I'd still have an entire unknown world ahead.

Several weeks of training in Rivoli came with results and paid back. From August of 2015 on-wards, I started working professionally as a backup-cook for the company. That is an experience I still value and enjoy. From that moment on, I started to work at the same time I attended my school duties. Anyways, my rehearsal time came to and end and in May of 2015. After that I had an adventure with my girlfriend. Thailand.

What started as a leisure trip, ended up with a complete growth of mind. Seeing a literally unknown world taught me how different, yet similar human beings are at the other side of the Globe. Diversity in cultures equals beauty and it applies to the food as well.

In Ko Lanta to ran into Man; a local who owns an Organic Farm. He showed us how flavorful (and spicy) a simple papaya salad can be. We truly ate and cooked Thai food as Thai locals do. Thailand and its people are, without a doubt, a treasure to discover. From Ko Lanta we got to see some of the beauty of that fantastic land. But the more days passed by, the closer our return to the North was.

Many kilometres later and many memories and new friends richer, we came back to Finland, to embark towards my next destination: Restaurant Bronda.

Where do I start from? Bronda is at the moment one the best places to go to eat in Helsinki. It's not only about eating food, but the valuable experience this can bring with it. Everyone there strives for perfectionism and they didn't hesitate demanding it from me. Right now I can assure I am far from mastering cuisine, but during those months I was among Bronda's staff I developed exponentially.

The passion these people talk about food with is contagious and plays an important motivational role. To be chef of a cuisine is a vocational job, an attribute, which meaning my colleagues there knew very well. Undoubtedly, it was luxury to have the opportunity to be in Bronda as part of my study program and develop as a cook and as a person.

December arrived and my trainingtime came to an end. If felt odd since I had been there almost a half a year and I got to know my colleagues. Once again, it was time to say "see you later" with all the friends I had made in the restaurant of the BW franchise. I started to head up to my next destination. Home.

I don't know how I did it, but I was able to manage a spare month at home in Spain during the Christmas period. Well, it's out of question to explain what an extraordinary feeling is to reunite with your beloved ones. Sharing the same jokes, emotions and even problems made me feel like the time there had stopped and it started to go on again when I came back.

Obviously home is alwasy a culinary trip. In Galicia we are definitely privileged what comes to food. To anyone reading this entry, please make a sneaky visit to Wikipedia for Galician cuisine. But despite the culinary luxury every galician has at home, I still play with advantage.

My dad has been a chef his whole life and I can truly affirm that to grow up eating healthy, extraordinary and tasty dishes can't be anything else but magnificent. Christmas came with its food, and my dad was there to delight our palates with his cooking and teachings. And of course, enjoying food comes as its best when it's shared with your beloved ones. Life is good.

And so it comes January of 2016. After being so long time involved in the professional field, far from the student routine, going back to lessons felt at least like a swim in the icy water after sauna: painful at the beginning but excellent afterwards. I was reunited with my old class mates and the new courses and projects jumped to the upper part of the "to do" list.

While building my next line of work before graduation, something came up. A scholarship and an opportunity to go to Santiago de Compostela, capital of my nostalgic land Galicia, to work in one of the most notorious restaurants of the galician culinary scene of the moment. A Horta do Obradoiro.

My roots define who I am. I consider essential to know the role the gastronomy I grew up with plays in cuisine nowadays. If I want to become a professional of the industry is crucial to be able to implement my roots into my cooking. Galicia is an opportunity I can't just let go. So, next stop: A Horta do Obradoiro.

In a blink of an eye a lot has happen. I just can't wait to see what the future will bring. However, to think about my past helps when building my road to graduation. It really seems like yesterday when I started my school program at Helsinki Culinary School Perho...