How has your heritage influenced your food?
My father’s family were from Spain and Italy. When they came to Brazil during the Second World War, the first place they stopped in was a port city called Paranaguá. It’s where you’ll find the freshest fish and shellfish. At my grandparents’ home, I learned different ways of cooking with seafood. My mum’s side came from Lebanon; from them, I learned to use spices like za’atar and cumin, and different grains. Food is very important in the Arab community, so growing up, we’d sit at the table and talk and eat. That’s something I continue to do, not just with my kids but with the community at large, too. We used to live in the countryside, so I have a strong connection with farming and animals. I understood the importance of growing your own food and knowing how the process works. This is what’s brought me to what I do now.
Has the way you cook changed since you became a chef?
Of course. When I started my career as a chef, I was
