Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2018 | Page 129

Eva Longsworth
shared with Mélange . . .
About her background
“Born in the city at the old Hospital located
on Eve St., only four houses down from my
mother’s family home, my earliest childhood
memories are attached to extended family on
that street being submersed in the Creole &
Mestizo Cultures. I was raised in the outskirts
of Corozal Town, where my parents ran
their Cinder Block Company. There I spent
my childhood days chasing after my older
brother and sister up and down the mounds of
sand, and white marl; they evaded me to the
point that I’d slip and fall face first in the dirt.
Perhaps this is why I am drawn to ingredients
that have a heavy earthy, mineral flavors, and
rustic outdoor cooking techniques like open
fire cooking, smoking, and charring.
A passion for cooking developed at the age of
eight when my sister received a kids’ cookbook
for her birthday. I instantly flipped to the last
recipe in the back believing at the time that,
like schoolbooks, the problems at the back are
the most challenging. It was Vegetable Rice; I
made constant versions of rice pudding with
vegetables for weeks until I perfected the dish
and then worked my way backward to the
front of the recipe book.
Becoming a chef was not always my ultimate
dream. I started college pursuing a degree
in Biology and Fine Art. I tried my hands at
multiple types of jobs, however they were
not quite the right fit for me. In 2011 I finally
took the leap of faith and enrolled at the Art
Institute of Houston and found myself in a
culture shock; awed by richness of cuisine
the world, and a city like Houston had to
offer. I spent an additional year in Houston
working as a Sushi Chef at Benihana. It wasn’t
the initial direction I wanted to take for my
apprenticeship. Like many others I wanted to
explore the Mother Cuisine and improve my
“French Cooking Techniques”. In the end it
was the simplicity, bold flavors and skill of the
Japanese cuisine that I fell in love with.
In 2014, I made the journey back home to
Belize and rekindled my relationship with the
diversity of culture, and the rich ingredients
this country has to offer. The first few years I
worked in resorts with breathtaking views of
our Caribbean Sea, manipulating the finest
seafood our reef has to offer, but I found
myself paired with management that were
obsessed with “importing culture”, asking for
dishes that were iconic to different countries.
Though I miss the thrill of working in resorts
and the direct contact with the guests, I find
restaurant consulting to be truly rewarding.
It’s an opportunity to influence the over-all
dining experience while creating signature
concepts & recipes that showcase the beauty
and diversity of Belizean Cuisine. To assist
struggling restaurants in maximizing their
profit means more job availability in Belize’s
budding Culinary Industry. To share the
knowledge of Cooking techniques and food
science with those that don’t have ready