Jordi Roca's signature desserts? A 26-year-old Paraguayan-born woman who went straight from the University of Barcelona to Tickets' kitchens executes them to perfection. Here is Julieta Mora's story.
The story
It's already been two and a half years since her first day, yet to Julieta Mora, it still doesn't feel real that she has joined the great professional family of the Roca brothers. At just twenty-six years old, she is the pastry chef at Mas Marroch, a restaurant of the del Celler group located in Girona, where she takes care of the desserts on behalf of an ace like Jordi Roca.
Born in Luque, in the capital's suburbs, Julieta became interested in cooking in her family: "My passion started at a very young age, I always liked cooking at home, I learned everything thanks to my mom and grandmother. I moved to Spain in 2015; my parents had already been living here for a few years, while I was working and studying in Paraguay. From one day to the next I decided to come and study cooking, because that was what I really wanted to do. And although my parents would have rather wished for a university career, they strongly supported me in my education. The fact that they were already staying here was advantageous in that they could open many doors for me while I was studying in Europe."
The first steps were at Cett - University of Barcelona, where Julieta studied Kitchen Management; she was then immediately employed by Albert Adrià. "I approached professional cooking for the first time at Tickets; I went straight from the university to this restaurant, where I received all my training. I have great memories of that time. It is the place where I learned to work as part of a team, helping each other. That's what Albert Adrià is: the team comes first. I must say that he is also someone who is quite demanding, and none of us ever had a breather when we were working with him.
But her dream was fully realized when she joined the Roca team, to be precise at Mas Marroch, where the historic menu of Celler classics is served. "At the moment I work in pastry, and I must say that at first I thought it was not for me. But with Jordi Roca I discovered that I love it." At just 26 years old, however, there is still plenty of room for growth.”
Mas Marroch
And Julieta does not feel she’s made it yet. "I think that one day I will return to homeland think about it every day. I don't know for sure if I will open my own restaurant, because you need a lot of money for that, but I would love to contribute to Paraguay's restaurant industry with the knowledge I have acquired. So that I can magnify our gastronomy, which at this time needs identity work, so we enhance what we have to offer and show the world that Paraguayan cuisine is unique."
Source: abc.com.py
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