Jacarandas are blooming in Mexico City: where to see them

March 2, 2020

Jacarandas at the Glorieta de los Cibeles in Roma Norte, La Roma — Perhaps no other neighborhood is as associated with 21st-century Mexico City as La Roma is. (Cody Copeland)

The warm weather in February gave one Mexico City spring tradition a head start. The jacaranda trees are already in full bloom, their bright purple blossoms filling their leafless branches like something out of a book by Dr. Seuss.

There are some neighborhoods in the capital where their colorful splendor is on full display. A stroll down the famous Paseo de la Reforma Avenue is an essential start on any jacaranda tour of the city.

The famous stretch of this avenue from the city’s Historic Center to Chapultepec Park is a great place to snap photos of the trees with a famous monument or two in the background. The avenue continues to dazzle as it extends through the Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood, to the west of the park.

Popular with tourists, the Condesa neighborhood also has a couple of fine spots for viewing jacarandas. Parque México and Parque España are both lit up purple in the month of March.

Horacio Street in the ritzy neighborhood of Polanco, north of Chapultepec Park, is also lined with jacarandas, as are the streets of Concepción Beistegui and Nicolás San Juan in the Colonia del Valle neighborhood, to the south of the Roma district.

Jacaranda trees at University City in Mexico City. — Jacaranda trees at Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City.

Further south, the Ciudad Universitaria, the sprawling campus of the National Autonomous University boasts lots of jacarandas whose purple blooms drift like snow over the black volcanic rock of the Pedregal area.

Just beyond, the Bosque de Tlalpan Park is a great place to view the trees in a less urban setting.

Not native to Mexico, jacarandas were brought here from South America by Japanese gardener Tatsugoro Matsumoto at the beginning of the 20th century. The tree is native to Brazil, where it is called yacarandá.

There are a couple of versions to the story of how Matsumoto filled the city with the purple trees. The most widely accepted is that a wealthy landowner from Hidalgo brought Matsumoto to Mexico after the Revolution to design a garden for him.

The capital at that time was expanding out from its Historic Center, and neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa were attempting to carry on the European style of architecture and city planning promoted by Porfirio Díaz.

It is said that Matsumoto fell in love with the city and decided to make it his home. The trees became a popular element in people’s private gardens. His work became famous throughout the country, and now jacarandas can be found from Oaxaca to California.

Parque México in La Condesa. cody copeland/mexico news daily

Although there is no documentation to back it up, another version of the story claims that Matsumoto was sent by the Japanese government to work with Mexican authorities to have them adopt the jacaranda tree as a Mexican version of Japan’s famous cherry blossoms.

No matter which version of the story is true, people today are grateful for Matsumoto’s work and flock to the streets in search of that perfect purple photo for their social media profiles.

Act quickly, because the magic doesn’t last long. Deep green leaves will soon replace the purple blooms, and you’ll have to wait until next year to see them again.

Sources: El Heraldo de México (sp), La Verdad (sp)

Women’s earnings have plummeted nationwide in last 10 years

Cody Copeland

March 2, 2020

Fewer women are earning higher salaries, the statistics institute reports.

Women’s salaries across the country have fallen drastically in the last decade, according to data published by the national statistics institute, Inegi.

The data reveal that the number of women earning five times the daily minimum wage fell 55% in the last 10 years, from 1.255 million workers to just 555,000 in the last trimester of 2019.

With the minimum wage set at 123.22 pesos (US $6.33) per day, the benchmark used for the study, five times that amount, works out to a daily salary of 616 pesos. The number of women earning that much fell to its lowest level since Inegi began collecting this data in 2005.

The study found, however, that the number of women earning twice the daily minimum wage rose 64.2%.

On the state level, those women earning a higher salary in Morelos, Baja California, Guerrero and Tamaulipas fell over 75% in the last decade. In Morelos, that decline was as high as 90.4%.

There are only 1,173 women in the state that earn more than the 616-peso benchmark, much lower than the 12,243 women in this earning category in the state in 2009.

Baja California saw a similar drop in the 2010s, with an 89% reduction in women earning such a salary. Their numbers fell from 49,195 in 2009 to just 5,576 at the end of 2019.

Baja California Sur, on the other hand, saw these numbers change very little, with only 89 fewer women earning 616 pesos per day at the end of the 10-year period.

The 555,000 women earning higher salaries represent only 2.5% of the total number of women in the workforce, who numbered 22,032,000 at the end of last year. Among men, that sector is higher, as 4.3% of men in the workforce earn five times the daily minimum wage, which equals 18,483 pesos per month.

The Senate is currently discussing an initiative proposed by the Chamber of Deputies that would aim to bring equity to this disparity in earnings. The initiative cites information from the International Labor Organization revealing that women earn on average 23% less than men.

The project would oblige government institutions and public and private companies to offer equal pay for the same job regardless of the worker’s sex.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare reports that the national average of monthly earnings for men is 7,206, while for women it is 5,536. In some states the difference is much higher, such as in Nuevo León, where men on average earn 3,000 more pesos per month than women.

The only state in the country without such a disparity in wages is Chiapas, where both genders earn the same average salary. However, that average salary is the lowest in the country at 4,250 pesos.

The state with the lowest wages for women in the country is Oaxaca, where females earn an average of only 3,600 pesos per month.

The Ministry of Public Administration announced that it would launch an open call for applications to federal public administrative offices on Thursday in honor of International Women’s Day, which will be celebrated on Sunday, March 8.

The ministry has allocated 300 positions to be occupied exclusively by women.

“This is another example of the perspective of gender and human rights of the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador,” said Public Administration Minister Irma Eréndira Sandoval.

Source: Milenio (sp)

10 detained, suspected of setting up cartel HQ in Cancún

Cody Copeland

March 2, 2020

Police in Cancún arrested 10 presumed members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) for possession of drugs and firearms on Sunday.

Quintana Roo Attorney General Oscar Montes de Oca told a press conference that the people arrested were planning to establish a center of operations for the cartel in the popular tourist destination.

He also said that they are believed to have already carried out murders and kidnappings of rival gang members in the city.

Among the 10 was a man identified as José R., who is believed to be the leader of the CJNG’s illicit activities in Cancún.

“From the investigations we were able to determine that one of the people arrested, who responds to the name José R., is identified as the leader of this criminal cell and that he was about to establish an operations center in the city,” said Montes de Oca.

The arrests were carried out in two separate operations. Six were arrested in the first when police found them moving guns from a building to a vehicle outside.

Authorities seized five .223-caliber rifles, 381 rifle cartridges, 135 bags of marijuana, tactical gear, shirts similar to those worn by state and municipal police, radio broadcasting equipment, cellphones, handcuffs and hats bearing the initials CJNG.

Montes de Oca noted that another of the objects seized was a state police riot helmet bearing the name Archi. The discovery could shed some light on the killing of state policeman José Antonio Archi Yama, who was murdered in Cancún in September of last year.

The second operation led to the arrests of four more presumed CJNG members and the seizure of 175 bags of marijuana, two pistols — a 9mm and a .40-caliber — and ammunition.

The detainees were brought before a local judge to be tried by the delegation of the federal Attorney General’s Office and investigated on charges of possession of firearms and drugs and other federal crimes.

“For its part, the state Attorney General’s Office is continuing to consolidate its investigations to avoid impunity,” said Montes de Oca.

Source: El Universal (sp)

AMLO’s approval rating plunges 19 points, though most still like him

MND Staff

March 2, 2020

President López Obrador’s approval rating has fallen nine points in the space of three months and 19 over the past year but he still retains the support of almost six in 10 Mexicans, a new national survey shows.

Conducted by media company Grupo Reforma with 1,200 adults between February 25 and 29, the poll found that 59% of respondents approve of López Obrador’s performance as president. A similar number – 55% – said that they had a lot or some confidence that the president is taking decisions that benefit the country.

Reforma polls published in March and December 2019 showed that AMLO, as the president is commonly known, had an approval rating of 78% and 68%, respectively. The government’s failure to reduce violence and improve the economy appear to be the main reasons for López Obrador’s lower rating.

Two-thirds of respondents said that the president has not made any ground toward reducing violence – 2019 was Mexico’s most violent year on record – while 62% said that he hasn’t produced any results that show that his government has succeeded in weakening organized crime.

Almost three-quarters of those polled said that they believed that violence against women has increased during the past 12 months and six in 10 said that impunity is to blame. Only 25% agreed with AMLO’s claim that neoliberal economic policies implemented by past governments were the reason behind the high number of femicides.

Just over half of those polled said that the economy – which contracted 0.1% last year – has not improved under López Obrador’s leadership.

Seven in 10 respondents identified insecurity as the main problem in Mexico today, the highest level Reforma has recorded since it began conducting polls in 1994. The figure has grown 15% compared to March 2019, when 55% of those polled said that insecurity was the No. 1 concern in the country.

The government has, however, had success in reducing the perception of corruption: just over one in six respondents identified corruption as Mexico’s main problem a year ago whereas the latest poll showed that just one in 17 people thought that it was the country’s biggest concern.

Still, only 37% of respondents said that AMLO is doing a good job tackling corruption compared to 42% who told Reforma that he is doing a bad job.

Those polled rated the president more highly for his efforts on education, reducing poverty and taking care of the environment, with 46%, 39% and 38% of respondents, respectively, saying that he is doing a good job compared to 30%, 37% and 34% who said that he isn’t.

Just 35% of respondents said that López Obrador is managing the economy well, while 34% said the same about the public health system. Medicine shortages and problems with the introduction of the government’s new universal healthcare scheme have both damaged AMLO’s popularity.

Only a quarter of respondents said that the president is doing a good job on the issue of insecurity, and just under a quarter had a positive view about his response to organized crime. The government came under heavy criticism after it took the decision to release one of the sons of convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán after the Sinaloa Cartel reacted violently to his capture in Culiacán last October.

Although AMLO was rated harshly in terms of his response to a range of issues, the president scored well when poll respondents were asked about his personal attributes. Two-thirds of those polled said that he is likable compared to just 23% who said he is not, while 60% said that he is fair, more than double the 26% who said he is not.

AMLO is an honest president, according to 58% of respondents, while only 24% said he is corrupt. Almost six in 10 said that he is capable of governing, 54% said that he governs for everyone and 53% believe that he speaks the truth. Just under half of respondents said that they believe that the president unites the country compared to 38% who said that he divides it.

The poll also shows that a majority of respondents believe that by the time López Obrador leaves office in 2024, the quality of public education will be better, access to healthcare services will have improved, quality of life will be better, there will be less poverty and corruption and the justice system will have improved.

In addition, the survey shows that the ruling Morena party remains the most popular political force in the country, making it well-placed ahead of midterm elections next year. Asked who they would vote for if there was a lower house election today, 46% said Morena.

The next most popular parties were the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which was last in power during the 2006-12 presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, and the National Action Party (PAN), which governed from 2000 to 2012 under the leadership of ex-presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón. However, the PRI and the PAN garnered just 16% support each from the poll respondents.

Speaking on Monday about his lower approval rating – another poll published Sunday showed that the president’s rating had declined to 62% from 67% in late November – López Obrador said that his popularity had taken a hit because his government has faced up to “corrupt conservatives.”

However, he brushed off any suggestion that the people were abandoning him en masse. “About my popularity, we’re fine. We have the majority, the people are supporting us,” López Obrador said.

The president charged that conservatives, a term he often uses to disparage his political opponents and members of the governments that ruled Mexico in recent years, are “extremely annoyed” that his administration has cracked down on corruption and closed tax loopholes.

He also said that if the people come to the view that they don’t want him as president anymore, he will retire to his ranch in Palenque, Chiapas.

“I’m not going to be like some presidents who have 10%, 15%, 20% approval in their countries and they’re still [in power]. How can one govern without the support of the citizens?”

López Obrador said that his aim in running for president was not just to occupy the position but to transform the country, adding “that’s why we’re not going to stop carrying out the changes [it needs].”

The president has said repeatedly that he intends to hold a “revocation of mandate” vote halfway through his six-year term, which will give the people the opportunity to decide whether he continues as president or not.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Whale calf freed off Pacific coast after becoming trapped by fishing nets

Cody Copeland

March 2, 2020

The net in which the whale was entangled.

Students and faculty from the University of Colima freed a humpback whale calf that was trapped in a fishing net off the state’s coast with the support of the navy and the federal environmental protection agency, Profepa.

Members of the university’s School of Marine Sciences noticed the trapped whale calf on February 26 and immediately contacted Profepa and the navy to ask for boats and equipment to free it.

The researchers are part of an interinstitutional group called the Network of Assistance to Enmeshed Whales, which is dedicated to rescuing the marine mammals from fishing nets.

The calf and its mother were spotted between the coastal towns of Manzanillo and Barra de Navidad, traveling north on their migration route as water temperatures rise in the higher latitudes.

University of Colima whale researcher Cristian Ortega said that he hopes to hear good news of the pair from researchers and activists up the coast. A similar group in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, keeps watch for migrating whales and also helps free them from fishing nets.

He and other students and researchers are expecting to see dozens of whales this month as they migrate to warmer waters. He asked fishermen and others who spot whales to check to see if they have nets attached to their bodies in any way and to contact his department if so.

Profepa said in a press release that it “continues to support surveillance and rescue actions for the protection of marine mammals, with the purpose of … conserving their populations during the season that they arrive to [Mexico’s Pacific coast].”

Sources: El Noticiero de Colima (sp)

Chinatown sales plummet following reported cases of coronavirus

MND Staff

March 2, 2020

Business is slow in Mexico City's Chinatown.

Business owners in Mexico City’s Chinatown reported that their sales fell by as much as 70% over the weekend after the first cases of coronavirus in Mexico were confirmed on Friday.

Anna Torres, owner of a shop that sells grilled ice cream desserts, told the newspaper Milenio that she had never seen Calle Dolores – the single street along which Chinatown runs in the capital’s historic center – so empty.

“It’s alarming. … People aren’t coming to consume and when they do come, they ask me if we don’t have coronavirus here, that annoys me. … I don’t know if they’re joking but it affects me,” she said.

Roberto Olivera, who sells baozi – steamed buns stuffed with fillings such as pork or sweet beans – said that sales had never been so slow in the 20 years he has been working in Chinatown, which is usually bustling on weekends with visitors and locals alike.

He said that before the news that the arrival of Covid-19 – as the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, late last year is known – to Mexico was likely, he sold between 150 and 300 baozi per day. However, in recent days Olivera has only sold about 50 a day.

“It worries me. Now that there are [coranavirus] cases in the city I’m afraid that my products won’t sell,” he said.

Alfredo Saldaña, a resident of Tampico, Tamaulipas, visiting Mexico City for the first time, told Milenio in Chinatown that when he heard that Covid-19 had reached the capital, he bought a face mask and anti-bacterial gel to protect himself against the possibility of being infected.

He said that he was visiting Chinatown to take photos and walk around but explained that he had no plans to eat in any of the Chinese restaurants located there. His disinclination to patronize the eateries on Calle Dolores was evidently shared by others.

Chinatown restaurants were half-empty, Milenio reported, adding that some waiters could be seen cleaning the dining rooms as if to demonstrate to passersby that they take hygiene seriously and there was nothing to be afraid of.

However, no amount of cleaning is likely to be sufficient to wash away people’s prejudices.

Mauricio Rodríguez, an epidemiologist at the National Autonomous University, told Milenio that in “critical situations,” the surfacing of discrimination and ignorance is hard to avoid.

“Fake news has emerged on social media that everything that comes from China [places you] at risk of catching the virus and that’s false. The only way Covid-19 can be transmitted is via direct contact with the illness,” he said.

Five cases of Covid-19 have now been confirmed in Mexico but there is no evidence that the virus is spreading within the country. All of those infected contracted the virus in northern Italy, where hundreds of cases have been detected.

More than 3,000 people have now lost their lives to Covid-19, the vast majority in China, where the virus was first detected in December 2019.

Source: Milenio (sp)

At 4th annual Mezcal Fest, Zihuatanejo goes with the flow

Elisabeth Ashe

March 2, 2020

A parade, live music and many varieties of mezcal contributed to the festive vibe at Zihuatanejo’s fourth annual Mezcal Festival, held February 28.

It started, as most things do in Mexico, with a parade; this one proceeded from Plaza Kyoto to the downtown core. Although small, it was an enthusiastic crowd of both participants and spectators alike, with free samples of mezcal along the way — probably why this parade was slower than most.

After the parade — or before the parade had actually ended — my friends and I headed to the beach in front of the museum where all the good Zihuatanejo festivals take place. It wasn’t too crowded yet, so we were able to scoot into the lines of stands and sample as many kinds of mezcal as we could. And there were far more than I ever thought was possible.

There was coffee-flavored mezcal, fruit-flavored mezcal and mezcal with scorpions on the bottom, as well as creamy concoctions that I think I liked even better than the more traditional ones. One mezcal even had real gold flecks in it, but at 2,500 pesos a bottle I can see why no free samples were given out.

The ever-present row of food vendors lined the sidewalk directly in front of the museum and offered a wide variety of taste experiences from tacos to paella, with shrimp on a stick and fresh bolillos stuffed with roasted pork. For those not as mezcal oriented, you could wash it all down with beer, fruit juices or water.

A participant in the Mezcal Festival parade.

By 7:00 p.m. the place was packed, and I was happy to watch from the sidelines as a show commenced that involved youths with masks, a tiger and lots of whips — all performed to the sound of flute and drums. Then the band started up: an energetic, youthful and extremely talented group called Auraccion, and I was coaxed, not unwillingly, to the dance floor.

Another first-class, well-run festival in Zihuatanejo has come and gone. After four successful mezcal festivals, all I can say is, I can’t wait till next year.

Youths vandalize police cars, station in Michoacán

Cody Copeland

March 2, 2020

A group of masked youths in Buenavista, Michoacán, vandalized patrol cars and the local police station on Sunday, overturning vehicles and lighting them on fire.

They also threw rocks at National Guard troops, who did not respond to the aggression.

Some reports state that the young people were acting on behalf of the Los Viagras cartel, which is active in the region, while others state that the violence was in response to a recent police operation to verify automobile documentation.

The Michoacán state police said that no illegal acts would be tolerated and called for the residents of Buenavista, located 87 kilometers southwest of Uruapan, not to involve themselves in criminal activity.

The force said in a tweet that police were supported by army and National Guard troops to reestablish order in the municipal seat of Buenavista Tomatlán.

“With the purpose of safeguarding and guaranteeing peace in the town, the security forces are carrying out coordinated actions in the area, where traffic was also reestablished,” the force added in a second tweet.

As of Monday, there were no reports of arrests. The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into the events.

Sources: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)

An urban legend from Aranza, Michoacán, when times were happier

Alasdair Baverstock

February 29, 2020

In Aranza, fond memories of the pig scam.

There’s an urban legend in central Michoacán, on the road from Uruapan to Guadalajara.

The route winds its way through the mighty cones of defunct volcanoes, now covered in avocado groves which thrive in the rich igneous soil. Along this route sits the town of Aranza. There’s not much more to it than a strip of houses straddling one of the few straight sections of the road.

Today, avocado is big business, but that has only been the case for the past 20 years.

Previously, the locals had a different scheme for making a quick buck.

As cars sped through the town, they might suddenly see the emergence of a pig, running at full speed across the road. Too late to swerve, and slamming on the brakes, if the swine tossers hiding behind a wall by the side of the road had timed their throw to perfection, the poor animal would lie thrashing in the middle of the road.

Horrified families would descend from their vehicles to see the animal perish, squealing as only such animals can. Alongside them would appear the owner, concealing his satisfaction at his well-executed ploy, for it was he and an accomplice who had heaved the animal into the path of the speeding car.

Sidling up alongside, amid the confusion the Aranza native would confront the driver with the immortal line:

“Pagas puerco; o chingas madres.”

You pay for the pig, or you get a beating.

It would take a cool head in such a situation to argue. And while some might have paid whatever sum was demanded on the spot, others argued over ownership of the pig. With enough space in the car, the expiring porker might happily be loaded in next to the kiddies.

A life’s traumatization, but a year’s worth of bacon.

Those days of the swine ruse are long gone, but the legend remains.

Today in Michoacan, where cartel violence is infiltrating the avocado industry, bloodshed is a daily occurrence, and human life is not valued as before.

With an ongoing cartel war for control of Uruapan, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel is moving in on turf historically controlled by Los Viagras, gangsters from Michoacán. It’s coming down hard on locals. Business are extorted, civilians murdered and there’s no response from the local authorities.

One local avocado producer told us how a group of armed men, fully dressed in combat tactical gear and carrying high-powered rifles, presented themselves in his orchard in the name of the Jalisco organization.

Their leader carried a full rundown of his recent harvest. How many tonnes he had produced, how many workers had been on his land, how many truckloads of avocado had arrived at the processing plant, and finally, how much he had earned.

He was given three days to deposit US $10,000 in cash under a nearby road sign. Twelve hours later, the farmer put the cash where it had to go. He knew the consequences otherwise.

Those who have refused the gangsters’ demands have been murdered. Members of two of the longest-established avocado producing families have lost their lives.

In times of such brutality, the urban legend of “Pagas Puerco” is now looked back upon fondly, as a simpler and happier time.

Alasdair Baverstock is a freelance foreign correspondent and reporter for CGTN who has covered Mexico and Latin America for nearly a decade. You can follow him across social media at @alibaverstock.

Mexican chef, 25, only woman in international gastronomic competition

MND Staff

February 29, 2020

Xrysw Ruelas of Xokol restaurant in Guadalajara.

A 25-year-old chef from Guadalajara, Jalisco, will represent Mexico on the world stage as the only female competitor in the Grand Finale of the S. Pellegrino Young Chef competition.

Cynthia Xrysw Ruelas Díaz, sous chef at the Xokol restaurant in Guadalajara, qualified for the event to be held in Milan, Italy, on May 8 and 9 by winning the Latin America regional final last September. She will now compete against chefs from 11 other regions of the world for the title of Young Chef 2020.

Ruelas, who goes by her second name Xrysw (which means piece of gold in Greek), won the Latin America final with her signature dish Milpa y Mar (Cornfield and Sea) – native lisa fish wrapped in lengua de vaca (a wild Mexican herb) and served with blue-corn tortillas, a fish broth and native corn.

An emulsion made of red, yellow and black chiles, Mexican dark chocolate, agave lechuguilla vinegar and lisa roe accompanies the dish.

Almost six months after wowing the judges at the regional final in Lima, Peru, and just two months shy of jetting off to Italy for the grand finale, Ruelas spoke to the newspaper Milenio about her love of cooking and what inspires her in the kitchen.

Ruelas' signature dish, Milpa y Mar. — Ruelas’ signature dish, Milpa y Mar.

The chef said that her interest in pursuing cooking as a career began when she was 17 but that her life has always been intertwined with food because her family made and sold tacos and tamales.

“I was going to study medicine but I realized that I didn’t want that. I think that gastronomy is a science, it’s artistic and [requires] a lot of research. That’s what attracted my attention. It’s a career in which a lot of things have an influence, not just one,” Ruelas said.

She explained that before she started working at Xokol, she worked at Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone’s cruise ship restaurant, Share. “It was there that I realized that [being a chef] is what I wanted to do,” Ruelas said.

The young chef said that she finds inspiration from the cooking “techniques of our ancestors,” explaining that she and her colleagues at Xokol like to research traditional cooking methods and dishes from different parts of the country.

“We don’t copy the dishes as they are,” Ruelas said, adding that she and her fellow chefs instead reinvent the recipes that were first developed in Mexico many years ago.

She described cooking Mexican cuisine as a search for her identity as a cocinera tapatía – a chef who is native to Guadalajara.

“Food from the center of the country, from Puebla, Oaxaca and even Yucatán, is always spoken about but I think food from Jalisco has been forgotten,” Ruelas said.

“Whenever you ask about typical food from Jalisco, people always speak about Guadalajara; we have birria [a stew traditionally made from goat or mutton], carne en su jugo [another stew – literally meat in its juice] and the torta ahogada [a pork sandwich ‘drowned’ in chili sauce]. We don’t know more [dishes] but we have more than 100 municipalities and each one has something,” she said.

Asked about where the idea for her Milpa y Mar dish came from, Ruelas responded:

“I was inspired by what was the role of the man and the woman, the interaction they had and the harmony … with the environment. The man was always in charge of hunting and fishing. The woman took care of the cornfield and cooking.”

She added that her signature dish is sustainable because lisa, a fish from the mullet family, is not highly-valued in Mexico and she uses all of its different parts.

Ruelas described her experience to date in the S. Pellegrino Young Chef competition as a “very significant professional challenge,” explaining that she had to prove her own capabilities to herself.

She also said that she has had to face claims that it was her mentor, Alcalde restaurant’s Francisco Ruano, or her partner and fellow Xokol chef, Óscar Segundo, who really invented Milpa y Mar.

“Those comments affect you. … I obviously had their support but the ideas are mine and having won [the Latin America final] is a great satisfaction.”

Source: Milenio (sp)

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