Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine July 2018 | Page 138

Chef
Sean
Kuylen
shared with Mélange . . .
About his cuisine
“I have coined the term ‘Inspired Belizean
Cuisine’ where I take learnt French and proven
cooking techniques and apply it to cultural
dishes and indigenous ingredients of the
country. This includes Maya Yucatec, Maya
Ketch, Maya Mopan, Creole, Garifuna and East
Indian Cultures. The cooking style will always
use traditional techniques and ingredients,
but presented in a more contemporary way.
About his favourite dish
My favorite dish to prepare is Sere Lasus with
Hudut which is a rich seafood broth of freshly
squeezed coconut milk, garlic, onion, wild
basil and fish served with and enjoyed with
a dumpling of mashed green plantain called
Hudut. This dish is of the Garifuna Culture.
About the difference between
Belizean cooking and others
Belizean Cuisine and cooking is differentiated
from other countries from the simple fact that
the ingredients are simple and fresh, because
there is no other way! The value added term
of Farm to Table and Organic is a way of life
and not a marketing tool in our cuisine. The
freshest seafood comes ‘line and wild caught’
from the second largest barrier reef in the
world, coconut, plantain, cassava, chayote
squash, herbs, corn, annatto spices, heart
of palm, turmeric (yellow ginger) and game
meat all come from literally our backyard and
never imported or frozen or with a barcode!
Again, our food is not made with marketing
appendages like organic and sustainable for
profit, but rather it is simply truly a Way of Life!
Cooking Tips
My number one cooking tip is to always
cook from the heart using connotation of
childhood and mom/grandmother and what
feels right. Often times we go and try to
replicate recipes from foreign cookbooks and
we get frustrated from the unavailability of
ingredients like Saffron, Foigras and galangal!
When, if we would stay true to ourselves and
cuisine, all that we want is right here and
the smell, feel, taste and sight will always
evoke sensory connotations and memories
of childhood. This powerful intangible tool
and tip to me is the most powerful ingredient
there is!
About his other interests
My other interest beside cooking is definitey
music. As a matter of fact, before becoming
a chef, I was a musician with the now famous
Garifuna Bands and Genre of Belize which
is now celebrated worldwide. I have learnt
to transfer the Rhythm into cooking and the
result is a beautiful symphony of flavors!”
Panades
“Belize is a wonderful country with a strategic location that I like to say makes us dual citizenship.
We are considered both Caribbean & Central America because of our location bordered to the
North by Mexico, West by Guatemala and South by Honduras. Because of our Colonial past,
we are the only English Speaking country in Latin and Central America making traveling and
communicating easy. The number one advantage of my Belize is that you can sleep in the jungle
and wake up to lush dew kissed rainforest and the orchestra of wildlife sounds in the morning, and
within three hours, explore a Mayan Temple or be on the Barrier Reef snorkeling and fishing and
then back for dinner by evening just in time for a refreshing rum cocktail and even have the chef
prepare your catch of the day paired with local ingredients and traditional cooking techniques!”

- Chef Sean