It’s common when referring to an acclaimed contemporary food writer to compare them to Julia Child. But while eminent food historian and cultural anthropologist Maricel E. Presilla has certainly earned the accolade, she’s closer to a culinary Indiana Jones. Whether journeying to the basin of the Orinoco River to make casabe, preparing chuño (freeze-dried potatoes) with Andean women by the shores of Lake Titicaca, or mapping the first cacao trail of the Americas, Presilla has traveled to the ends of the earth to better understand the way food shapes Latin America. It's a joy to follow her there.
Born in Santiago de Cuba, Presilla emigrated with her family to the United States where she pursued her doctorate in Medieval history at New York University. A stint in famed Peruvian chef Felipe Rojas-Lombardi’s Ballroom restaurant in Chelsea pulled her away from academia and brought her into the kitchen.
“I was doing my dissertation at the time so for me this was a fantastic opportunity to relax, to do something I liked,” recalls Presilla. “Through him and because of other people that I met there like Paula Wolfert, I became involved in the exciting New York food world of the eighties, which was amazing.”