“Emprendimiento a la carta” is a collection of recipes cooked by vulnerable entrepreneurs of Fondo Esperanza who have succeeded thanks to small businesses engaged in gastronomy. It includes 42 recipes of savory and sweet dishes made with ingredients from popular, mestizo and indigenous cuisine that recover the culinary identity and tradition of Chile.
The entrepreneurs present a recipe and also tell their personal story and explain how they have built their future to support their families thanks to cuisine. The book combines the world of entrepreneurship and gastronomy.
The Roca brothers, BBVA ambassadors and owners of El Celler de Can Roca, one of the best restaurants in the world, attended the book’s presentation.
“This book contains several biographies with very powerful messages. It’s a fascinating book, we’ll take it home with us, it’s already in our suitcases. It has to do with values, memory, sacrifice, hardship… An important thing for us is to listen and learn from these people. Ultimately, it’s a book of recipes, but it’s also about life and pride”, said Josep Roca.
According to Jordi Roca “Fondo Esperanza is a summary of old culture, of popular wisdom, which has published a very carefully edited book that makes it possible for the people who participated to have their work recognized”.
Rosa Rupallán is a Mapuche entrepreneur who presents in “Emprendimiento a la carta” a home recipe of smoked pork she learned from her mother. Rosa runs an ethnic tourism restaurant, a picturesque place located in an Indian hut, the traditional Mapuche dwelling, where diners sample typical and tasty dishes of indigenous cuisine.
Taking part in this project has been an unforgettable experience for Rosa. “I’m happy and grateful for the opportunity of becoming a businesswoman. I’m an entrepreneur with very little formal education, but with great achievements, and this one has surprised me. Fondo Esperanza has always supported me in becoming a businesswoman”, she says.
Savory dishes like meat pies, quinoa or sea bass, and dessert recipes such as eggplant cakes or pancakes are some of the dishes that the entrepreneurs propose in “Emprendimiento a la carta”. They prepare these dishes at their small gastronomy businesses or in the kitchens of their homes to sell them at retail or at local fairs.
Mario Pavón, the general manager of Fondo Esperanza, says that gastronomy is a sector that offers opportunities for vulnerable entrepreneurs. “Traditional gastronomy, eateries, as well as confectionery, are very valuable tools for thousands of women and men who have the chance not only to create more resources for their families, but also to recover part of the cultural heritage of the different areas in the country”, he explains.
“These women have made cooking their trade, a passion and a chance to survive. This book is an exception, since it offers a set of emblematic recipes from a forgotten and invisible universe of cooking, the story of women who have preserved ancient knowledge and languages”, says the anthropologist and writer Sonia Montecino in the book’s foreword.
The Chilean Minister of Culture, Ernesto Ottone, said that this recipe book “is a work that recovers the country’s culinary identity and tradition and is an account of many female entrepreneurs who have progressed thanks to gastronomy”.