Paula Méndez Carreras
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Paula Mendez Carreras is a popular Argentinean chef who was born in Buenos Aires in 1972. Her passion with the art of cooking started from an early age in Corrientes where she used to spend her summer holidays and the carnival. These festivities, in which music, parades and flavours were combined all together,gave her the opportunity to learn the secrets of the lebanese cuisine which is very popular in that region. Learning the Arab cuisine awakened her interest in other types of cuisine which at that time were not usual in Buenos Aires, and introduced her to the world of herbs, spices and vegetables in a whole new way, which was going to have a long lasting influence in her career.
By the time Paula was eighteen she already knew she wanted to be a professional chef. She studied in the Cordon Bleu in Paris where in 1994 she obtained a Diploma in Cuisine and Pastry. Five years later, in 1999, the Cordon Bleu gave her a grant to finish her studies in London, where she did the Grand Diplôme Le Cordon Bleu in Cuisine et Pâtisserie.
She worked as executive chef of 'Splendid' and 'Le Biblo', two french restaurantes in the trendy area of Palermo, where she helped to promote the gourmet boom experinced in Argentina in the early nineties, positioning herself as the 'Green Chef' due to its healthy and natural cuisine which uses a large amount of fresh vegetables, herbs and spices.
In Latin america she is well known due to three TV programmes she made for a regional network: 'Fusion', 'Hierbas y Vegetales' (Herbs and Vegetables), and 'La Huerta' (The Orchard).
Paula is a firm supporter of natural and healthy food and is recognized as one of the main promoters of 'green food' in Latinamerica.
